Avida-ED – Version History

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Version Change Symbols used:
      Bug fix
      Change
      Feature addition
      Feature removal

• 3.3.4 released 2020 Feb 28

  •  Freezer: added a file to save the autoPause information and now read that file to set autoPause from freezer in a configured dish.

• 3.3.3 released 2020 Feb 26

  •  On Population Layout Page: changed auto Pause controls so they do not use dojo to avoid some errors due to dojo/browser/operating system interactions

• 3.3.2 released 2019 Oct 4

  •  Updated plotly and dojo libraries in response to changes in newer browsers/operating systems.

• 3.3.1 released 2019 June 25

  •  On Population Layout Page: changed sugar checkbox layout from table to grid to increase understanding for those using web page readers.

• 3.3.0 released 2019 June 14

  •  On Population Setup page: Added a select box so that all resources could be changed at once: All On; All Off; or Complement

• 3.2.3 released 2019 May 14

  •  Updated method to export data file (timeRecorder.csv) due to changes in browsers/operating systems.

• 3.2.2 released 2019 Feb 8

  •  Updated plotly and dojo libraries in response to changes in newer browsers/operating systems.

• 3.2.1 released 2018 June 12

  •  Main Menu: Changed configured dish label in menu to increase clarity

• 3.2.0 released 2017 Nov 2

  •  Data File: Added columns for each original ancestor in the timeRecorder.csv file.

• 3.1.4 released 2017 Sep 14

  •  Population Page: Added the ability to chart the number of viable avidians on the mini-plot

• 3.1.3 released 2017 Sep 28

  •  Main Menu: Changed label in menu to increase clarity

• 3.1.2 released 2017 Sep 14

  •  Data File: Added more detailed column header information at the top of timeRecorder.csv file.

• 3.1.1 released 2017 Aug 3

  •  Data File: The timeRecorder.csv file is now saved with the rest of the Population (world) files.

• 3.1.0 released 2017 Aug 2

  •  Data File: added columns to timeRecorder.csv for the chosen set of functions

• 3.0.2 released 2017 July 29

  •  Population Setup Page: added error checking for number of rows/columns and for mutation rate

• 3.0.1 released 2017 June 13

  •  Population Page button label changed from ‘do one update’ to ‘forward’. Drop down menu has both.

• 3.0.0 on the web released 2017 June 16

Thanks to our Beta Testers for helping us make Avida-ED better.

Changes between Avida-ED version 2.0 and version 3.0

  • Hosting
    •  Now on the Web Avida-ED now runs cross-platform in the browser. Previous versions ran as OS-specific applications.
  • Terminology
    •  Energy Acquisition Rate was previously called Metabolic Rate.
    •  Offspring Cost was previously called Gestation Time.
  • Files
    •  FreezerItems & Workspaces are now zip files. These contain the same folder structure as Avida-ED 2 workspace files.
  • File Menu
    •  Export Graphics Only gives instructions on how to capture part of the screen on Mac or PC rather than actually creating a file.
  • Freezer
    •  Change name To rename a freezer item, right click on item rather than simply click.
    •  Delete Item To delete a freezer item, right click menu or drag to trash can.
    •  Export Item To export a freezer item, right click on menu.
  • Freezer Menu
    •  Item placement For touchscreen devices, selected items can be placed using freezer menu (i.e., without needing mouse drag functionality).
  • Dragging
    •  Configured and Populated Dishes To load these, drag to the icon above the map, not to the map.
  • Map
    •  Runs slower To compensate, the dish default size reduced to 30×30 rather than 60×60.
    •  Non-viable avidians show up in the dish as grey (except in Ancestor mode).
    •  Forward by one update The user can click Forward button to advance one update at a time.
    •  Move an Ancestor The ancestors can be moved on the dish grid before the run starts.
    •  Delete an Ancestor An ancestor can be removed from the dish before the run starts.
    •  Ancestor colors New colors for visual accessibility (from http://www.somersault1824.com/tips-for-designing-scientific-figures-for-color-blind-readers/)
    •  Color gradient Changed color gradient to be more colorblind and b&w printer friendly.
  • Statistics Table
    •  Non-viable organism data Non-viable avidians have an energy acquisiton rate, but their offspring cost and fitness are now properly left undefined.
    •  Population Averages are calculated only on viable avidians.
    •  Viable organisms Number of viable organisms in the population is listed.
    •  Ancestors Number of ancestors used to start population run is now listed.
    •  Use of resources Displays the number of avidians that can do all the picked set of resources.
  • Mini Graph
    •  New charting options Number of viable avidians.
    •  Zoom Click-drag to zoom in on a portion of the graph (and double-click to go back to full view).
    •  Data point display Displays update and value based on cursor position.
    •  Functions-performed line Green line indicates number of avidans that perform all highlighted functions (i.e. selected in function pane).
    •  Viable organisms Option to show number of viable organisms or total number.
  • Organism Viewer
    •  Mutations are indicated by black rather than green circles to make them easier to see.
    •  Instruction number Clicking on an instruction dot in the genome will display/undisplay its number (i.e., numbered from the 3 o’clock start position).
    •  Bit bars now have vertical lines every 4 bits and colors changed to increase visibility.
    •  Instruction detail area size Can adjust areas of page to make the instruction detail display bigger so all of the text can be seen at one time.
  • Analysis Viewer
    •  Data point display Displays update and show point values based on cursor position.
    •  Zoom and pan Click Zoom icon, then click-drag to zoom in on a portion of the graph. Click Pan icon, then click-drag to pan. Click Autoscale icon to go back to full view.

• 3.0 BETA (web) released 2016 June 18

A beta version of the next major version of Avida-ED was released June 18, 2016 at the national Evolution 2016 conference. The new version works across all major operating systems by running in the browser.

Visit the Avida-ED 3.0 BETA release access
page, which has a link to the application served from our site, and also installer packages for both MacOS and Windows. The platform-specific installers set up a local web server on your machine and launch an instance of Avida-ED Web 3.0 in your default browser.

• 2.0.41 (Mac) released January 2014.

This is the Golden Release version.

Population Viewer
•  Fixed a bug which caused populations running in Demo mode to fail to replay exactly.

• 2.0 BETA (Mac) released 2013 Feb.

This was mostly a major "under the hood" revision that provides a flexible and powerful foundation for future feature enhancements, but there are some changes that will provide immediate benefits. Major code optimizations make everything run faster with larger world sizes. The speed increase also allowed us to replace the previous pre-evolved ancestor organism with the standard simple replicator ancestor used in the research version of Avida. Following are some of the other noticable improvements and changes in Avida-ED 2.0:

Population Viewer
• Drag and drop organism from Petri dish onto Organism viewer icon to open its genome directly in the organism viewer.

• Drag and drop Petri dish population icon onto Analysis viewer icon to open the current population directly in the analysis viewer.
• New animation flips the Petri dish over to show its environmental setup controls.
• New “Stats” button in Population viewer hides or reveals statistics boxes.
• Word labeled control buttons replace video icon button controls .
• Added “New” control button under Petri dish to start a new experiment.
• Fixed font display problem on mini-graph axes.

Organism Viewer
• New “Details” button hides or reveals detailed information about genome functions and operation.
• Clarified genome execution visualization by reordering the items. (Input Buffer, Registers, Stack A, Stack B, Last Output)
• Changed default for the Instruction Details boxes to be hidden to avoid distraction for novice users. Disclose triangle reveals these.
• Word labeled control buttons replace video icon button controls.
• Added “Reset” button to view the genome execution again with new random mutations.
• Fixed font display problem on timeline axis.
• Added an icon for the offspring genome to allow dragging and dropping to save offspring to the freezer.

Analysis Viewer
• Fixed font display problem on graph axes.
• Replaced thick/thin/dotted data plotting lines for multiple populations with eight color options.

General
• Code optimizations significantly increased the run speed.
• Increased default world size to 60×60 (from 30×30).
• New ancestor organism (simple replicator).
• New Populated Dish example – evolved to 5000 updates.
• Added a “Freezer” menu item for redundant controls to save items to the freezer.
• Simplified the File controls for exporting data .
• Simplified the File controls for saving graphics in different formats, allowing more control of what is exported.

• 1.2.0 (Mac & PC) released on 2011 Sep.

Mac
• Updated OS X version to work with 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and 10.7 (Lion).
• Fixed font display problem in Population mini-graph and Analysis graph.
PC
• Updated PC version to work with Windows 7.

• Multidish BETA (Mac) released Spring 2010.

Mac
• Experimental "Multi-dish" version of Avida-ED released that allows multiple dishes with different environmental settings to be stitched together.

• 1.0.1 (Mac) released 2 November 2007.

Mac
• Updated OS X version to run natively on new Intel Macs.

• 1.0 (Mac & PC) released 19 June 2007.

Avida-ED was officially released for public distribution at the Society for the Study of Evolution meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mac
• OS X v. 10.4 (Tiger)

PC
• Windows XP

 

Page updated 2020/03/03