some features (load/save ACML source files) require an OCaml compiler on your system in the exactly same version as the one used to generate the binary
source archive is a lighter download
whos knows, I might become root on your machine...
Launching ACML without any command-line option give you an interface with many buttons. Try to click on buttons. See what happens.
Try this:
acml cyclic
In this example, you can explore the family of cyclic cellular automata by adjusting parameters in the user interface.
To start/stop the simulation, click on the Simulation button (upper toolbar).
To generate a new CA from the family, adjust parameters as you want and click on Make All (upper toolbar).
To generate only a new initial configuration and keep the same automaton, click on Make Conf (upper toolbar).
When you obtain an interesting rule, click on Save (right toolbar) to save it (automaton with current parameters + initial configuration) as an ACML source file.
When you see some nice configuration, click on Snap (left toolbar) to save it as an image file.
A small program's worth a thousand clicks
The primary goal of ACML is to allow quick writing and testing of new automata rules. To achieve this the key features are:
automtic compilation/dynlink process: you write the source in OCaml, click Open... (right toolbar) in the user interface, select your file and ACML do the rest.
parameters: instead of a single rule, your source code can describe a whole family of rules depending on some parameters. Then, without changing the source code, you can adjust the parameters from the user interface and easily test all the rules in the family.
everything is programmable: you are not only free to write new automata rules, but also new initial configurations, new ways to display the universe, new ways to measure quantities along time, new ways to interact with the mouse, etc. Moreover, all this comes with a simple plugin system which allows to factorize code.
reproducibility: ACML can manage random seeds for you. If you use pseudo-randomness apropriately in your source files, you can generate and simulates as many rules on as many configurations as you want and just click Save when you're happy: a new source file is saved and opening it will reproduce exactly your last experiment.
If your OS has some kind of packaging system, you may find corresponding package names starting from the list above.
Alternatively, you can use GODI (source code OCaml distribution). The following list of GODI packages should be sufficient:
To install these packages, external libraries (e.g. SDL, GTK+2 and CAIRO) must be installed on your system (they are not provided by GODI).
This installation method works on MacOS (tested on 10.6 and 10.4, using fink for external libraries).
Compilation instructions
In the src/ directory of the decompressed archive, type:
make sudo make install
In case of a compilation failure, it might be necessary to do run make clean before another make.
Customization
In the directory src/builtin, you can add or remove as much ACML source files as you want. Each file can contain a family of cellular automata or a plugin. During the compilation, all these families or plugins are embedded in the binary.
