visualize¶
Creates visualizations of Soar's memory systems or processing.
Synopsis¶
======= Visualization Commands and Settings =======
visualize ? Print this help listing
visualize [wm | smem | epmem] [id] [depth] Visualize from memory system
visualize [ identity_graph | ebc_analysis] Visualize EBC explainer analysis
------------------ Presentation -------------------
rule-format [ name | FULL] Print all conditions and
actions or just the rule name
memory-format [ node | RECORD] Print memories as records
or just simple nodes
line-style polyline GraphViz line style that will
be used
separate-states [ ON | off ] Whether to create links
between goal states
architectural-wmes [ on | OFF ] Whether to include WMEs
created by the Soar architecture
color-identities [ on | OFF ] Color identities in visualization
use-joined-identities [ ON | off ] Color using final joined identities
------------------ File Handling ------------------
file-name soar_viz
use-same-file [ on | OFF ] Whether to create new files each time
generate-image [ ON | off ] Whether an image should be created
image-type svg Image type that will be generated
------------------ Post Actions -------------------
viewer-launch [ ON | off ] Launch image in viewer
editor-launch [ on | OFF ] Open data file in editor
print-debug [ on | OFF ] Print data file to screen
for debugging
Description¶
The visualize command will generate graphical representations of either Soar
memory structure or the analysis that explanation-based chunking performed to
learn a rule.
This command can be instructed to automatically launch a viewer to see the visual representation. If you have an editor that can open graphviz files, you can have Soar launch that automatically as well. (Such editors allow you to move things around and lay out the components of the visualization exactly as you want them.)
Visualizing Memory¶
The first argument is the memory system that you want to visualize.
The optional id argument allows you to specify either a root identifier from which to start working memory or semantic memory visualizations, or an episode ID for episodic memory visualization.
The depth argument specifies how many levels of augmentation that will be printed.
Visualizing How a Rule was Learned¶
visualize [ identity_graph | ebc_analysis]
visualize identity_graph will create a visualization of how the final
identities used in a learned rule were determined. This shows all identities
involved and how the identity analysis joined them based on the problem-solving
that occurred.
visualize ebc_analysis will create a visualization of the chunk that was
learned and all rules that fired in a substate that contributed to a rule being
learned. In addition to all of the dependencies between rules that fired, this
visualization also shows which conditions in the instantiations tested knowledge
in the superstate and hence contributed to a conditions in the final learned
rule.
Presentation Settings¶
rule-format: This setting only applies to visualizing EBC processing. The
full format will print all conditions and actions of the rule. The name
format will only print a simple object with the rule name.
memory-format: This setting only applies to visualizing memory systems. The
node format will print a single graphical object for every symbol, using a
circle for identifiers and a square for constants. The record format will
print a database-style record for each identifier with all of its augmentations
as fields. Links to other identifiers appear as arrows.
line-style is a parameter that is passed to Graphviz and affects how lines are
drawn between objects. See the Graphviz documentation for legal values.
separate-states is a parameter that determines whether a link to a state
symbol is drawn. When this setting is on, Soar will not connect states and
instead will represent it as a constant. This setting only applies to
visualizing memory systems.
architectural-wmes is a parameter that determines whether working memory
elements created by the architecture, for example I/O and the various memory
sub-system links, will be included in the visualization. This setting only
applies to visualizing memory systems.
File Handling Settings¶
file-name specifies the base file name that Soar will use when creating both
graphviz data files and images. You can specify a path as well, for example
"visualization/soar_viz", but make sure the directory exists first!
use-same-file tells the visualizer to always overwrite the same files for each
visualization. When off, Soar will create a new visualization each time by using
the base file name and adding a new number to it each time. Note that this
command does not yet handle file creation as robustly as it could. If the file
already exists, it will simply overwrite it rather than looking for a new file
name.
generate-image specifies whether the visualizer should render the graphviz
file into an image. This setting is overridden if the viewer-launch setting is
enabled.
image-type specifies what kind of image that visualizer should create.
Graphviz is capable of rendering to a staggering number of different image
types. The default that the visualizer uses is SVG, which is a vector-based
format that can be scaled without loss of clarity. For other legal formats, see
the Graphviz or DOT documentation.
Post Action Settings¶
After the data and image files are generated, the visualizer can automatically launch an external program to view or edit the output.
viewer-launch specifies whether to launch an image viewer. Most web browser
can view SVG files.
editor-launch specifies whether to launch whatever program is associated with
.gv files. For example, on OSX, the program OmniGraffle can be used to great
effect.
print-debug specifies whether to print the raw Graphviz output to the screen.
If you are having problems, you may want to use this setting to see what it is
generating for your agent.
Note that your operating system chooses which program to launch based on the file type. This feature has not been tested extensively on other platforms. Certain systems may not allow Soar to launch an external program.