Is there a minimum possible size change in CSS? - javascript

I wrote some JavaScript code to animate CSS properties of elements. I pass the following arguments to the function: amount, interval, and duration; amount being the change in the property (for example 200 could mean add 200 pixels to the element's width), interval being the time between two consecutive changes, and duration being the total duration of the animation.
The code works fine unless I pass the arguments in a way that the change in each interval becomes very small (like a tiny fraction of a pixel).
I know the code is working fine theoretically, as I get the change in console.
Any ideas about the problem?
Cheers.
UPDATE: the code:
function handleTimer (amount, interval, duration, execute, element) {
let i = 0;
let current = 0;
let stepsCount = countSteps(interval, duration);
let stepLength = calcStepLength(stepsCount, amount);
let count = setTimeout(function addOneMore () {
if ( i < stepsCount -1 ){
i++;
current += stepLength;
execute(stepLength, element);
if (current < amount) {
count = setTimeout(addOneMore, interval)
}
} else {
current = amount;
execute(amount - (stepsCount -1) * stepLength, element);
}
}, interval)
}
function countSteps (interval, duration) {
let remainder = duration % interval;
let stepsCount;
if (remainder) {
stepsCount = Math.floor(duration / interval) + 1;
} else {
stepsCount = duration / interval;
}
return stepsCount;
}
function calcStepLength(stepsCount, amount) {
return amount / stepsCount;
}
function resizeWidth (amount, element) {
let widthSTR = $(element).css('width');
let width = parseInt( widthSTR.substr( 0 , widthSTR.length - 2 ) );
$(element).css('width', `${width + amount}px`);
}
So this:
handleTimer(218, 5, 200, resizeWidth, '.box');
works fine, but this:
handleTimer(218, 5, 2000, resizeWidth, '.box');
doesn't.
UPDATE 2:
I know browsers are super accurate with pixels, like when you use percentages. Of course the value will be rounded before rendering since displays cant display half pixels, but the value is still calculated accurately.
I don't know at what decimal the rounding occurs.

This happens because parseInt is rounding your number up.
Pay attention to this line:
let width = parseInt( widthSTR.substr( 0 , widthSTR.length - 2 ) );
if width is a decimal number, like 22.5px, it will be rounded up to 22.
If amount is less than 1, it won't reach 23 and when you round up the number again, you'll get 22 again and it becomes a loop.
You have two solutions:
Use another variable to save the width value, avoiding to writing and reading it from CSS:
let initialWidth = $(element).css('width');
let savedWidth = widthSTR.substr(0, initialWidth, initialWidth.length - 2 ) );
function resizeWidth (amount, element) {
savedWidth += amount;
$(element).css('width', `${savedWidth}px`);
}
Just use parseFloat in place of parseInt to don't round your number up:
let width = parseFloat( widthSTR.substr( 0 , widthSTR.length - 2 ) );

Related

countdown from n to 0 in given time, negative end value

I am working on simple script that should animate given value (for example 6345.23) to 0 by counting it down, it should also end up at 0 if specified amount of time have passed (for example 2 seconds.
I started by simple logic:
given config: initial value, time in sec, interval
time is given in seconds so convert it to milliseconds
calculate amount of ticks by dividing time in ms by interval
calculate amount of decreased value per tick by dividing initial value by amount of ticks
once above are known we can simply do: (simple model, not actual code)
intId = setInterval(function() {
if(ticks_made === amount_of_ticks) {
clearInterval(intId);
} else {
value -= amount_per_tick;
// update view
}
}, interval);
actual code:
var value = 212.45,
time = 2, // in seconds
interval = 20; // in milliseconds
var time_to_ms = time * 1000,
amount_of_ticks = time_to_ms / interval,
amount_per_tick = (value / amount_of_ticks).toFixed(5);
var start_time = new Date();
var ticks_made = 0;
var intId = setInterval(function() {
if(ticks_made === amount_of_ticks) {
console.log('start time', start_time);
console.log('end time', new Date());
console.log('total ticks: ', amount_of_ticks, 'decresed by tick: ', amount_per_tick);
clearInterval(intId);
} else {
value = (value - amount_per_tick).toFixed(5);
console.log('running', ticks_made, value);
}
ticks_made++;
}, interval);
Link do fiddle (in console you can observe how it works)
If you set time to 2 (2 seconds) its ok, but if you set time to for example 2.55 (2.55 seconds) it doesnt stop at all at 0, its passing by and going indefinitely in negative values.
How i can fix it so no matter what is set in seconds its always go precisly one by one until reaches perfectly 0?
var value = 212.45,
time = 2, // in seconds
interval = 20; // in milliseconds
var time_to_ms = time * 1000,
amount_of_ticks = time_to_ms / interval,
amount_per_tick = (value / amount_of_ticks).toFixed(5);
var start_time = new Date();
var ticks_made = 0;
var intId = setInterval(function() {
if(ticks_made === amount_of_ticks) {
console.log('start time', start_time);
console.log('end time', new Date());
console.log('total ticks: ', amount_of_ticks, 'decresed by tick: ', amount_per_tick);
clearInterval(intId);
} else {
value = (value - amount_per_tick).toFixed(5);
console.log('running', ticks_made, value);
}
ticks_made++;
}, interval);
You're relying on ticks_made === amount_of_ticks being an exact match. Chances are, due to rounding, you won't get an exact match, so you'd be better off doing:
if(ticks_made >= amount_of_ticks) {
kshetline's answer correctly addresses why you get into negative values. When dealing with fractional IEEE-754 double-precision binary numbers (in the normal range, or even whole numbers in very high ranges), == and === can be problematic (for instance, 0.1 + 0.2 == 0.3 is false). Dealing with values as small as the fractional values here are, accumulated imprecision is also a factor. It's inevitable to have to fudge the final step.
But there's a larger issue: You can't rely on timers firing on a precise schedule. Many, many things can prevent their doing so — other UI rendering work, other scripts, CPU load, the tab being inactive, etc.
Instead, the fundamental technique for animation on browsers is:
Update when you can
Update based on where you should be in the animation based on time, not based on how many times you've animated
Use requestAnimationFrame so your update synchronizes with the browser's refresh
Here's your code updated to do that, see comments:
// Tell in-snippet console to keep all lines (rather than limiting to 50)
console.config({maxEntries: Infinity});
var value = 212.45,
time = 2.55, // in seconds
time_in_ms = time * 1000,
amount_per_ms = value / time_in_ms,
interval = 100 / 6, // in milliseconds, ~16.66ms is a better fit for browser's natural refresh than 20ms
ticks_made = 0;
// A precise way to get relative milliseconds timings
var now = typeof performance !== "undefined" && performance.now
? performance.now.bind(performance)
: Date.now.bind(Date);
// Remember when we started
var started = now();
// Because of the delay between the interval timer and requestAnimationFrame,
// we need to flag when we're done
var done = false;
// Use the interval to request rendering on the next frame
var intId = setInterval(function() {
requestAnimationFrame(render);
}, interval);
// About half-way in, an artificial 200ms delay outside your control interrupts things
setTimeout(function() {
console.log("************DELAY************");
var stop = now() + 200;
while (now() < stop) {
// Busy-loop, preventing anything else from happening
}
}, time_in_ms / 2);
// Our "render" function (okay, so we just call console.log in this example, but
// in your real code you'd be doing a DOM update)
function render() {
if (done) {
return;
}
++ticks_made;
var elapsed = now() - started;
if (elapsed >= time_in_ms) {
console.log(ticks_made, "done");
done = true;
clearInterval(intId);
} else {
var current_value = value - (amount_per_ms * elapsed);
console.log(ticks_made, current_value);
}
}
/* Maximize in-snippet console */
.as-console-wrapper {
max-height: 100% !important;
}
If you run that, then scroll up to the "************DELAY************" line, you'll see that even though rendering was held up by "another process", we continue with the appropriate next value to render.
It would make sense to convert the result of .toFixed() to a number right away:
let amount_per_tick = +(value / amount_of_ticks).toFixed(5);
let value = +(value - amount_per_tick).toFixed(5);
(note the + signs)
Then you will never have to worry about type coercion or anything, and instead just focus on math.

Why is this easeOutCubic returning larger jumps in change at the beginning and smaller at the end?

I think i'm using this easing function wrong. Ease out functions should return larger changes to start, but I'm getting bigger jumps towards the end:
//Current value = Change
25 = 0
27.227575000000005 = 2.227575000000005
31.63817500000001 = 4.410600000000006
38.187700000000014 = 6.549525000000003
46.83250000000002 = 8.644800000000004
57.52937500000003 = 10.696875000000013
70.23557500000004 = 12.70620000000001
84.90880000000004 = 14.673225000000002
101.50720000000004 = 16.598399999999998
What am i doing wrong?
What I want:
It should start at 25 (25%, but I use the integer 25)
It should end at 100 (it's ok that it goes over as I'll limit it to 100 max)
It should start fast and end slow
https://jsfiddle.net/pqLddvzo/1/
function easeOutCubic(t, b, c, d) {
t /= d;
t--;
return c*(t*t*t + 1) + b;
}
var x = 25;
var i = 0;
while ( x < 100 && i < 500 )
{
let last = x;
//Calculate our new percentage
x = easeOutCubic( i, x, 75, 100 )
//The new value and the change in value
console.log( x + " = " + ( x - last ) );
//move to next step
i++;
}
//Also, why doesn't it take the full number of steps?
console.log( i );
You probably want something with Math.sqrt()
// Given a scale function that accepts whatever and return a number between 0 and 1
// Returns a function that accepts the same whatever and returns a number between min and max
function mapScale(scale, min, max) {
return (...args) => {
const original = scale(...args);
return min + (original * (max - min));
};
}
// Accepts a number between 0 and 1
// Returns a mapped number between 0 and 1
function sqrtScale(n) {
n = Math.min(1, Math.max(n, 0)); // stay within the borders of 0 and 1
return Math.sqrt(n);
}
const sqrtScaleBetween25And100 = mapScale(sqrtScale, 25, 100);
for (let i = 0; i < 1; i = i + .1) {
console.log(sqrtScaleBetween25And100(i));
}
Note how the first 5 make up 50 units, and the last 5 only 25. You can make a steeper curve by applying a stronger root, for instance, n ** (1/3) or event Math.sqrt(Math.sqrt(n))
The issue is that I was passing the value returned back into the next call as the "original" value:
x = easeOutCubic( i, x, 75, 100 );
Instead it should be:
x = easeOutCubic( i, 25, 75, 100 )
That field needs to remain unchanged. Only the first parameter should change on each call.

How to use the various rampToValueAtTime methods

When I use the following code to fade in a file it doesn't work as I expect. I expect a gradual fade in from 0 to 1 over the course of 5 seconds, instead I get an abrupt change five seconds into playing the file where the gain instantly goes from 0 to 1. What am I not understanding ?
soundObj.play = function() {
playSound.buffer = soundObj.soundToPlay;
playSound.connect(gainNode);
gainNode.gain.value = 0;
gainNode.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(1, audioContext.currentTime + 5);
gainNode.connect(audioContext.destination);
playSound.start(audioContext.currentTime);
}
Update/Edit
I changed the above code to the following and it seems to work, now I am researching why. I've added a few comments. Mainly inquiring as to if adding a setValueAtTime method is necessary and if a non zero value is necessary for the gain.value properties default value.
soundObj.play = function() {
playSound.buffer = soundObj.soundToPlay;
playSound.connect(gainNode);
gainNode.gain.value = 0.001; // If set to 0 it doesn't fade in
gainNode.gain.setValueAtTime(gainNode.gain.value, audioContext.currentTime); // Is this needed to have the other RampToValue methods work ?
gainNode.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(1, audioContext.currentTime + 7);
gainNode.connect(audioContext.destination);
playSound.start(audioContext.currentTime);
}
A non-zero positive value is necessary for exponentialRampToValueAtTime. This isn't a Web Audio thing as much as it's just a math thing.
There's really no way to exponentially grow a value of 0.
Here's a rough version of the algorithm Chrome uses (rewritten in JS):
// start value
var value1 = 0.1;
// target value
var value2 = 1;
// start time (in seconds)
var time1 = 0;
// end time (in seconds)
var time2 = 2;
// duration
var deltaTime = time2 - time1;
// AudioContext sample rate
var sampleRate = 44100;
// total number of samples
var numSampleFrames = deltaTime * sampleRate;
// time incrementer
var sampleFrameTimeIncr = 1 / sampleRate;
// current time (in seconds)
var currentTime = 0;
// per-sample multiplier
var multiplier = Math.pow( value2 / value1, 1 / numSampleFrames );
// output gain values
var values = new Array( numSampleFrames );
// set up first value
var value = value1 * Math.pow( value2 / value1, ( ( currentTime - time1 ) * sampleRate ) / numSampleFrames );
for ( var i = 0; i < numSampleFrames; ++i ) {
values[ i ] = value;
value *= multiplier;
currentTime += sampleFrameTimeIncr;
}
If you change value1 to zero, you'll see that the output array is basically full of NaN. But Chrome also adds a bit of extra code to save you from that by special-casing instances where your value is <= 0 so that you don't actually end up with gain values of NaN.
If none of that makes sense, let me put it this way. In order to exponentially grow a value, you basically need a loop that looks like this:
for ( var i = 0; i < length; ++i ) {
values[ i ] = value;
value *= multiplier;
}
But if your initial value is 0, well, 0 multiplied by any other number is always 0.
Oh, and if you're interested (and can read C++), here's a link to the code that Chrome uses: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/blink/+/master/Source/modules/webaudio/AudioParamTimeline.cpp
Relevant stuff is on line 316.
Edit
Apologies for a Chrome-centric explanation. But the underlying math concept of not being able to exponentially grow a value of zero will hold with any implementation.

How to grow number smoothly from 0 to 5,000,000

This is probably basic math that I don't seem to remember.
I'm trying to get from 0 to 5,000,000 in 10 seconds while having all the numbers ticking. I don't have to have the number reach exactly 5,000,000 because I can just do a conditional for it to stop when it's over.
Right now I have this:
count+= 123456
if (count > 5000000) {
count = 5000000;
}
It gives the sense of number moving you know? But It really starts off too high. I wanted to gradually climb up.
You could do something like this:
function timedCounter(finalValue, seconds, callback){
var startTime = (new Date).getTime();
var milliseconds = seconds*1000;
(function update(){
var currentTime = (new Date).getTime();
var value = finalValue*(currentTime - startTime)/milliseconds;
if(value >= finalValue)
value = finalValue;
else
setTimeout(update, 0);
callback && callback(value);
})();
}
timedCounter(5000000, 10, function(value){
// Do something with value
});
Demo
Note that with a number as big as 5000000 you won't see the last couple digits change. You would only see that with a small number like 5000. You could fix that; perhaps by adding in some randomness:
value += Math.floor(Math.random()*(finalValue/10000 + 1));
Demo with randomness
You can tween:
import fl.transitions.Tween;
import fl.transitions.easing.Regular;
var count = 0;
var tween:Tween = new Tween(this, "count", Regular.easeInOut,0,5000000,10, true);
This will tween you variable count from 0 to 5000000 in 10 seconds. Read about these classes if you want to expand on this code.
Tween
TweenEvent
Good luck!

Accurate floating point arithmetic in JavaScript

I am creating number spinner widget in JavaScript to essentially mimic the number field in webkit.
When you change the number, it needs to check to see if the value is not only within the accepted range, but also that it's in step:
<input type="number" min="0" max="100" step="1" />
If a user enters 5.5 the field will truncate this to the closest step lower than the value, which in this case is 5.
For a step of 2, if the user entered 5.5, the result would be 4.
The equation I was planning on using for this calculation looks like this:
...code...
_checkStep: function (val) {
val ret,
diff,
moddedDiff;
diff = val - this._min;
moddedDiff = diff % this._step;
ret = val - moddedDiff;
return ret;
},
//set elsewhere
_min,
_step,
...more code...
Although for testing purposes, you could simply use this:
function checkStep(val, min, step) {
var ret,
diff,
moddedDiff;
diff = val - min;
moddedDiff = diff % step;
ret = val - moddedDiff;
return ret;
}
This works great for integers and larger values, however I've run into issues with decimals due to how JavaScript handles floating point numbers.
For example:
checkStep(0.5, 0, 0.1) //returns 0.4, 0.5 is expected
In analyzing each line, it turns out that 0.5 % 0.1 in JavaScript returns 0.09999999999999998.
What can be done to make this function more accurate*?
*accurate being that it works for increments of 0.01 and up.
You could try making sure step is greater than 1 (by repeatedly multiplying by 10), then do your modulus, then scale back down to original. For example:
function checkStep(val, min, step) {
var ret,
diff,
moddedDiff;
var pows = 0;
while( step < 1 ) { // make sure step is > 1
step *= 10;
val *= 10;
min *= 10;
pows++;
}
diff = val - min;
moddedDiff = diff % step;
ret = val - moddedDiff;
return ret / Math.pow( 10, pows );
}
This works for the examples you provided, but I can't guarantee it will work for everything. See the jsfiddle here:
http://jsfiddle.net/bCTL6/2/
There's no absolutely guaranteed accurate floating point calculations. Use integer calculations instead. In your 0.1 example you can count amount of "0.1"'s in integers, visually adding point before last digit for user.

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