Risc World 3/Risc World 3.iso/SOFTWARE/ISSUE2/BELLS/METHODS/!Methods/Docs/DataFormat

Text File | 2002-05-03 | 5KB | 160 lines

          Format of the ‘Resources.methods’ file

There are two kinds of entries in this text file:

   1) a single word defining the number of bells,
e.g. ‘Singles’, ‘Doubles’ etc. defining the number of changing bells in the
subsequent method definitions. The file finishes with the line ‘End’.

   2) lines defining a methods
These normally contain 8 fields separated by 7 commas, e.g.
‘Plain Hunt,3,X1X1X,1.,1.,1.,W,N’
The fields are:
a) the name
b) the number of changing bells; the method definitions are grouped by their
   number of changing bells, with the least (3) first and the most (16) last.
   The groups are separated by the names defined in 1) above.
c) The ‘In-lead’ place notation (see below)
d) The Plain ‘Lead-end’ notation
e) The Bob ‘Lead-end’ notation
f) The Single ‘Lead-end’ notation
g) and h) are unused but are retained for compatibility with the data
   for !Stringing.

                Place Notation

Place notation defines how the order of the bells change in a method in
going from one row to the next. The following text is a very brief
explanation. For a more complete description see for example:
'Change Ringing. The Art and Science of Change Ringing on Church and Hand
Bells' by Wilfred G.Wilson 1st published in 1965 by Faber and Faber.

Bells cannot move by more than one place at a time so a bell either
swaps with a neighbour or keep its place in the sequence (known in
bell-ringing jargon as  ‘making its place’).

Starting with the simplest example of Plain Hunt singles where there are 3
bells and the sequence of changes defined in place notation are:
 ‘X1X1X’ (in-lead) + ‘1’ (lead-end) meaning that there are 6 changes in a
‘lead’ which is the sequence followed for the 1st bell to get back to the
1st place again.

A detailed change by change description:

we start with rounds

    1 2 3
 X (=exchange all) (swap all possible pairs of bells starting with the first)
    2 1 3
 1 (= the bell in the 1st place keeps its place but all the rest swap)
    2 3 1
 X
    3 2 1
 1
    3 1 2
 X
    1 3 2
 1  (the lead-end when the 1st bell has got back to 1st place)
    1 2 3

In Plain Hunt one lead is in fact one ‘course’ because it has got back to
rounds.

        Now look at Bob doubles:

‘Plain Bob,5,X1X1X1X1X,12.,14.,123.,W,Y’

The ‘in-lead’ notation for this is the same as for Plain Hunt (except we now
have 5 bells:

    1 2 3 4 5
 X  2 1 4 3 5
 1  2 4 1 5 3
 X  4 2 5 1 3
 1  4 5 2 3 1
 X  5 4 3 2 1
 1  5 3 4 1 2
 X  3 5 1 4 2
 1  3 1 5 2 4
 X  1 3 2 5 4
and now, if the ‘lead-end’ notation had been ‘1’ we would have been ringing
Plain Hunt and get back to rounds. Instead it is ‘12’ meaning that both the
first and second bells keep in the same place; so the lead end is:
 12 1 3 5 2 4 (first lead-end)
and we start again:
 X  3 1 2 5 4
 1  3 2 1 4 5
 X  2 3 4 1 5
 1  2 4 3 5 1
 X  4 2 5 3 1
 1  4 5 2 1 3
 X  5 4 1 2 3
 1  5 1 4 3 2
 X  1 5 3 4 2
 12 1 5 4 3 2 (second lead-end)
 X  5 1 3 4 2
 1  5 3 1 2 4
 X  3 5 2 1 4
 1  3 2 5 4 1
 X  2 3 4 5 1
 1  2 4 3 1 5
 X  4 2 1 3 5
 1  4 1 2 5 3
 X  1 4 5 2 3
 12 1 4 2 5 3 (third lead-end)
 X  4 1 5 2 3
 1  4 5 1 3 2
 X  5 4 3 1 2
 1  5 3 4 2 1
 X  3 5 2 4 1
 1  3 2 5 1 4
 X  2 3 1 5 4
 1  2 1 3 4 5
 X  1 2 4 3 5
 12 1 2 3 4 5 (fourth lead-end and the end of the course)

   Here we can see that the Plain Hunt method on 5 bells which has only 10
changes has been extended to 40 by the small difference in lead-end.

   However, there are 5 factorial (=120) possible orders of 5 bells so the
course of Bob Doubles we have rung will have to be extended further to cover
all possible changes. This is done in the tower by the conductor shouting
‘Bob’ or ‘Single’ just before the lead-end. Then the ringers will substitute
the appropriate Lead-end (14 for Bob or 123 for Single) for the ‘Plain’
lead-end (12). Our course of Bob Doubles using only plain lead-ends is
called a ‘Plain course of Bob Doubles’. When ‘Bob’ or ‘Double’ is called it
becomes a ‘Touch of Bob Doubles’. You can simulate these calls in !Methods.

                Full stops in the place notation.

   Whenever a change denoted by a number is NOT followed by an X, it is
followed by a full stop to separate it from the next operation.

                Symmetry in methods.

   Most of the in-lead place changes are symmetric meaning that they are the
same if read from the beginning to the end as they are when read from the
end to the beginning. This symmetry makes for a more pleasing sound from the
method.

                Methods requiring more complicated place notation.

Some methods, notably those called ‘Principles’, cannot be described as
above. The most common of these is Stedman’s principle for which the
definitions are:
Stedman,5,,,,,W,Y,,3.1.5.3.1.,1.3.5.1.3.,3.,1.,3.,1.,345.,145.
or
Stedman,7,,7.,5.,56.,W,Y,3.1.,3.1.3.1.3.,1.3.1.3.1.
where you can see there is no in-lead notation.

Stedman Doubles has two sequential notations:
3.1.5.3.1. (3.) and 1.3.5.1.3. (1.) (where the lead-ends are in brackets)
there are no Bobs but the singles are 345. and 145.

Stedman Triples has an introductory in-lead: 3.1. (7.) followed by pairs of
leads: 3.1.3.1.3. (7.) and 1.3.1.3.1. (7.)
the plain course ends by not completing the last lead but using only the
first 3 changes of it (1.3.1.). You might understand this better by thinking
of just the pairs of leads (like Stedman Doubles) but starting and finishing
mid-way through the second lead.