Using discopygal tools

Discoypgal has two gui main tools:

  1. Solver viewer

  2. Scene designer

1. Running the tools

These tools should be executed from the command line (cmd/powershell/bash).
Make sure the python packages’ directory is in PATH env variable.
The main way to run the tools if using discopygal as a package is to run the created entrypoints as commands.
This means just execute the commands (after activating virtual env if needed):
solver_viewer
scene_designer

If developing or using the sources/repo of discopygal it is possible to directly run these tools with python:

python tools/solver_viewer/solver_viewer_main.py
python tools/scene_designer/scene_designer_main.py
Another option is to run these tools by “double-clicking” on them.
If using virtual env it will be found at:
/home/<User name>/.virtualenvs/<virtual env name>/bin/solver_viewer
/home/<User name>/.virtualenvs/<virtual env name>/bin/scene_designer

2. Scene designer

A tool that is able to create and edit graphically scenes and save them as json files for future use. You can create a new scene or load an already existed one and then save it. Some tips:

  • Read the bottom banner of the gui for instructions

  • Add points with right click

3. Solver viewer

A tool that enables loading pre-created scenes and solvers, running the solver to solve the scene and visualize the paths, graphs and motion. The tool has three parameters:

  1. scene -

    The scene to solve as a json file. It is loaded and presented graphically.

  2. solver -

    The solver object/class to use to solve the scene. The name of the solver class as a string.

  3. solver file -

    An external module that contains additional solvers to upload to the simulation. After uploading this file it is possible to select also the solvers in contains besides the default solvers. This is the path of the module to upload.

There are several ways to run this tool and pass it its parameters. Of course it is possible to combine the different methods and pass every parameter individually as you wish. After setting all parameters it is possible to run the solver and then visualize the paths if is was able to find.

The available ways to use the tool are:

3.1. From gui

The most simple way to use Solver Viewer.
Just run from command line the command of ‘solver_viewer’.

The gui will open and from it, click the buttons to upload scene file, select solver type and upload solver file (if necessary)

Basic steps for using GUI of solver viewer (numbers are according to the picture):

../_images/solver_viewer_steps.png

  1. Upload a scene

  2. Upload a solver to use (select from list, if using a custom solver from a python module upload the module first with the “Browse…” button and then your solver will appear on the list)

  3. After uploading the solvers, it’s settings will upload in the highlighted box. Change the parameters as you needed

  4. Execute the solver to solve the scene

  5. Run the animation of the calculated solution (if found one)

More optional buttons allow you to: (from left to right at the buttons bar)

  1. Clear the scene

  2. Run validation on the solution (checks the paths are valid after running the solver)

  3. Pause/Stop animation

  4. Draw final paths

  5. Draw roadmap/arrangement/bounding box used by the solver

  6. Adjust the speed of the animation using the slider

3.2. From command line

It is possible to pass parameters from command line, and it will be loaded at startup.

usage: solver_viewer [-h] [-sc SCENE] [-sl SOLVER] [-sf SOLVER_FILE]

Solve a 2D scene

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -sc SCENE, --scene SCENE
                        Path to json scene file
  -sl SOLVER, --solver SOLVER
                        Name of solver to use
  -sf SOLVER_FILE, --solver-file SOLVER_FILE
                        Path of solver file to upload

Run the command:

solver_viewer -h

to see all options. All options are optional, an option that isn’t set won’t be loaded at startup and can be loaded manually afterwards from the gui. Note that it is possible to already choose in this step a solver from the given solver file.

3.3. From script

It is possible to invoke the gui from a python script with the function start_gui() from file discopygal_tools.solver_viewer.

The function receives three parameters, which are all optional (won’t set anything at startup if not given)

  1. scene - The scene to upload. May be one of following:

    1. str that is a path to json file of scene

    2. Object from type Scene

  2. solver - The solver to upload. May be one of the following:

    1. A string with the name of one of the loaded solver classes (must also provide a the solver module if isn’t built-in)

    2. An object from a class that inherits from Solver

    3. A class that inherits from Solver

  3. solver file - A str that is the path to a module with solvers to upload

Note that it is possible to already choose in this step a solver from the given solver file.

Using this function in a script will be like this:

from discopygal_tools.solver_viewer import start_gui

start_gui()