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Algorithm - locating enough space to draw a rectangle given the x and y axis of all other rectangles

Every rectangle has x and y coordinates, width and height.
The total width of the screen is maxWidth and total height is maxHeight.
I have an array containing all the already drawn rectangles.
I am working on an web App where users will be drawing rectangles on the screen using their mouse. For that I am using Javascript to draw on the canvas element.
The challenge is that the rectangles must not intersect at any given point.
I am trying to avoid this kind of case:
or this:
This is how the output I am aiming for should look like:
What I basically need is an Algorithm (preferably in JavaScript) that can help locating enough space to draw a rectangle knowing its axis, height and width.

BM67 Box packing.
This is a method I use to pack rectangles. I made it up myself to create sprite sheets.
How it works.
You maintain two arrays, one holds rectangles of available spaces (space array), and the other rectangles you have placed.
You start by adding to the space array a rectangle that covers the whole area to be filled. This rectangle represents available space.
When you add a rectangle to fit you search the available space rectangles for a rectangle that will fit the new rectangle. If you can not find a rectangle that is bigger or sane size as the one you want to add there is no room.
Once you have found a place to put the rectangle, check all the available space rectangles to see if any of them overlap the new added rectangle. If any overlap you slice it up along the top, bottom, left and right, resulting in up to 4 new space rectangles. There are some optimisation when you do this to keep the number of rectangles down but it will work without the optimisations.
It's not that complicated and reasonably efficient compared to some other methods. It is particularly good when the space starts to run low.
Example
Below is a demo of it filling the canvas with random rectangles. It's on a animation loop to show the process, so is very much slowed down.
Gray boxes are the ones to fit. Red show the current spacer boxes. Each box has a 2 pixel margin. See top of code for demo constants.
Click the canvas to restart.
const boxes = []; // added boxes
const spaceBoxes = []; // free space boxes
const space = 2; // space between boxes
const minW = 4; // min width and height of boxes
const minH = 4;
const maxS = 50; // max width and height
// Demo only
const addCount = 2; // number to add per render cycle
const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
canvas.width = canvas.height = 1024;
// create a random integer
const randI = (min, max = min + (min = 0)) => (Math.random() * (max - min) + min) | 0;
// itterates an array
const eachOf = (array, cb) => { var i = 0; const len = array.length; while (i < len && cb(array[i], i++, len) !== true ); };
// resets boxes
function start(){
boxes.length = 0;
spaceBoxes.length = 0;
spaceBoxes.push({
x : space, y : space,
w : canvas.width - space * 2,
h : canvas.height - space * 2,
});
}
// creates a random box without a position
function createBox(){
return { w : randI(minW,maxS), h : randI(minH,maxS) }
}
// cuts box to make space for cutter (cutter is a box)
function cutBox(box,cutter){
var b = [];
// cut left
if(cutter.x - box.x - space > minW){
b.push({
x : box.x, y : box.y,
w : cutter.x - box.x - space,
h : box.h,
})
}
// cut top
if(cutter.y - box.y - space > minH){
b.push({
x : box.x, y : box.y,
w : box.w,
h : cutter.y - box.y - space,
})
}
// cut right
if((box.x + box.w) - (cutter.x + cutter.w + space) > space + minW){
b.push({
x : cutter.x + cutter.w + space,
y : box.y,
w : (box.x + box.w) - (cutter.x + cutter.w + space),
h : box.h,
})
}
// cut bottom
if((box.y + box.h) - (cutter.y + cutter.h + space) > space + minH){
b.push({
x : box.x,
y : cutter.y + cutter.h + space,
w : box.w,
h : (box.y + box.h) - (cutter.y + cutter.h + space),
})
}
return b;
}
// get the index of the spacer box that is closest in size to box
function findBestFitBox(box){
var smallest = Infinity;
var boxFound;
eachOf(spaceBoxes,(sbox,index)=>{
if(sbox.w >= box.w && sbox.h >= box.h){
var area = sbox.w * sbox.h;
if(area < smallest){
smallest = area;
boxFound = index;
}
}
})
return boxFound;
}
// returns an array of boxes that are touching box
// removes the boxes from the spacer array
function getTouching(box){
var b = [];
for(var i = 0; i < spaceBoxes.length; i++){
var sbox = spaceBoxes[i];
if(!(sbox.x > box.x + box.w + space || sbox.x + sbox.w < box.x - space ||
sbox.y > box.y + box.h + space || sbox.y + sbox.h < box.y - space )){
b.push(spaceBoxes.splice(i--,1)[0])
}
}
return b;
}
// Adds a space box to the spacer array.
// Check if it is insid, too small, or can be joined to another befor adding.
// will not add if not needed.
function addSpacerBox(box){
var dontAdd = false;
// is to small?
if(box.w < minW || box.h < minH){ return }
// is same or inside another
eachOf(spaceBoxes,sbox=>{
if(box.x >= sbox.x && box.x + box.w <= sbox.x + sbox.w &&
box.y >= sbox.y && box.y + box.h <= sbox.y + sbox.h ){
dontAdd = true;
return true;
}
})
if(!dontAdd){
var join = false;
// check if it can be joinded with another
eachOf(spaceBoxes,sbox=>{
if(box.x === sbox.x && box.w === sbox.w &&
!(box.y > sbox.y + sbox.h || box.y + box.h < sbox.y)){
join = true;
var y = Math.min(sbox.y,box.y);
var h = Math.max(sbox.y + sbox.h,box.y + box.h);
sbox.y = y;
sbox.h = h-y;
return true;
}
if(box.y === sbox.y && box.h === sbox.h &&
!(box.x > sbox.x + sbox.w || box.x + box.w < sbox.x)){
join = true;
var x = Math.min(sbox.x,box.x);
var w = Math.max(sbox.x + sbox.w,box.x + box.w);
sbox.x = x;
sbox.w = w-x;
return true;
}
})
if(!join){ spaceBoxes.push(box) }// add to spacer array
}
}
// Adds a box by finding a space to fit.
function locateSpace(box){
if(boxes.length === 0){ // first box can go in top left
box.x = space;
box.y = space;
boxes.push(box);
var sb = spaceBoxes.pop();
spaceBoxes.push(...cutBox(sb,box));
}else{
var bf = findBestFitBox(box); // get the best fit space
if(bf !== undefined){
var sb = spaceBoxes.splice(bf,1)[0]; // remove the best fit spacer
box.x = sb.x; // use it to position the box
box.y = sb.y;
spaceBoxes.push(...cutBox(sb,box)); // slice the spacer box and add slices back to spacer array
boxes.push(box); // add the box
var tb = getTouching(box); // find all touching spacer boxes
while(tb.length > 0){ // and slice them if needed
eachOf(cutBox(tb.pop(),box),b => addSpacerBox(b));
}
}
}
}
// draws a box array
function drawBoxes(list,col,col1){
eachOf(list,box=>{
if(col1){
ctx.fillStyle = col1;
ctx.fillRect(box.x+ 1,box.y+1,box.w-2,box.h - 2);
}
ctx.fillStyle = col;
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y,box.w,1);
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y,1,box.h);
ctx.fillRect(box.x+box.w-1,box.y,1,box.h);
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y+ box.h-1,box.w,1);
})
}
// Show the process in action
ctx.clearRect(0,0,canvas.width,canvas.height);
var count = 0;
var handle = setTimeout(doIt,10);
start()
function doIt(){
ctx.clearRect(0,0,canvas.width,canvas.height);
for(var i = 0; i < addCount; i++){
var box = createBox();
locateSpace(box);
}
drawBoxes(boxes,"black","#CCC");
drawBoxes(spaceBoxes,"red");
if(count < 1214 && spaceBoxes.length > 0){
count += 1;
handle = setTimeout(doIt,10);
}
}
canvas.onclick = function(){
clearTimeout(handle);
start();
handle = setTimeout(doIt,10);
count = 0;
}
canvas { border : 2px solid black; }
<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>
Update
Improving on the above algorithm.
Turned algorithm into an object
Improved speed by finding better fitting spacer via weighting the fit on the aspect ratio
Added placeBox(box) function that adds a box without checking if it fits. It will be placed at its box.x, box.y coordinates
See code example below on usage.
Example
The example is the same as the above example but have added randomly place boxes before fitting boxes.
Demo displays the boxes and spacer boxes as it goes to show how it works. Click the canvas to restart. Hold [shift] key and click canvas to restart without displaying intermediate results.
Pre placed boxes are blue.
Fitted boxes are gray.
Spacing boxes are red and will overlap.
When holding shift the fitting process is stopped at the first box tat does not fit. The red boxes will show area that are available but unused.
When showing progress the function will keep adding boxes ignoring non fitting boxes until out of room.
const minW = 4; // min width and height of boxes
const minH = 4;
const maxS = 50; // max width and height
const space = 2;
const numberBoxesToPlace = 20; // number of boxes to place befor fitting
const fixedBoxColor = "blue";
// Demo only
const addCount = 2; // number to add per render cycle
const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
canvas.width = canvas.height = 1024;
// create a random integer randI(n) return random val 0-n randI(n,m) returns random int n-m, and iterator that can break
const randI = (min, max = min + (min = 0)) => (Math.random() * (max - min) + min) | 0;
const eachOf = (array, cb) => { var i = 0; const len = array.length; while (i < len && cb(array[i], i++, len) !== true ); };
// creates a random box. If place is true the box also gets a x,y position and is flaged as fixed
function createBox(place){
if(place){
const box = {
w : randI(minW*4,maxS*4),
h : randI(minH*4,maxS*4),
fixed : true,
}
box.x = randI(space, canvas.width - box.w - space * 2);
box.y = randI(space, canvas.height - box.h - space * 2);
return box;
}
return {
w : randI(minW,maxS),
h : randI(minH,maxS),
}
}
//======================================================================
// BoxArea object using BM67 box packing algorithum
// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45681299/algorithm-locating-enough-space-to-draw-a-rectangle-given-the-x-and-y-axis-of
// Please leave this and the above two lines with any copies of this code.
//======================================================================
//
// usage
// var area = new BoxArea({
// x: ?, // x,y,width height of area
// y: ?,
// width: ?,
// height : ?.
// space : ?, // optional default = 1 sets the spacing between boxes
// minW : ?, // optional default = 0 sets the in width of expected box. Note this is for optimisation you can add smaller but it may fail
// minH : ?, // optional default = 0 sets the in height of expected box. Note this is for optimisation you can add smaller but it may fail
// });
//
// Add a box at a location. Not checked for fit or overlap
// area.placeBox({x : 100, y : 100, w ; 100, h :100});
//
// Tries to fit a box. If the box does not fit returns false
// if(area.fitBox({x : 100, y : 100, w ; 100, h :100})){ // box added
//
// Resets the BoxArea removing all boxes
// area.reset()
//
// To check if the area is full
// area.isFull(); // returns true if there is no room of any more boxes.
//
// You can check if a box can fit at a specific location with
// area.isBoxTouching({x : 100, y : 100, w ; 100, h :100}, area.boxes)){ // box is touching another box
//
// To get a list of spacer boxes. Note this is a copy of the array, changing it will not effect the functionality of BoxArea
// const spacerArray = area.getSpacers();
//
// Use it to get the max min box size that will fit
//
// const maxWidthThatFits = spacerArray.sort((a,b) => b.w - a.w)[0];
// const minHeightThatFits = spacerArray.sort((a,b) => a.h - b.h)[0];
// const minAreaThatFits = spacerArray.sort((a,b) => (a.w * a.h) - (b.w * b.h))[0];
//
// The following properties are available
// area.boxes // an array of boxes that have been added
// x,y,width,height // the area that boxes are fitted to
const BoxArea = (()=>{
const defaultSettings = {
minW : 0, // min expected size of a box
minH : 0,
space : 1, // spacing between boxes
};
const eachOf = (array, cb) => { var i = 0; const len = array.length; while (i < len && cb(array[i], i++, len) !== true ); };
function BoxArea(settings){
settings = Object.assign({},defaultSettings,settings);
this.width = settings.width;
this.height = settings.height;
this.x = settings.x;
this.y = settings.y;
const space = settings.space;
const minW = settings.minW;
const minH = settings.minH;
const boxes = []; // added boxes
const spaceBoxes = [];
this.boxes = boxes;
// cuts box to make space for cutter (cutter is a box)
function cutBox(box,cutter){
var b = [];
// cut left
if(cutter.x - box.x - space >= minW){
b.push({
x : box.x, y : box.y, h : box.h,
w : cutter.x - box.x - space,
});
}
// cut top
if(cutter.y - box.y - space >= minH){
b.push({
x : box.x, y : box.y, w : box.w,
h : cutter.y - box.y - space,
});
}
// cut right
if((box.x + box.w) - (cutter.x + cutter.w + space) >= space + minW){
b.push({
y : box.y, h : box.h,
x : cutter.x + cutter.w + space,
w : (box.x + box.w) - (cutter.x + cutter.w + space),
});
}
// cut bottom
if((box.y + box.h) - (cutter.y + cutter.h + space) >= space + minH){
b.push({
w : box.w, x : box.x,
y : cutter.y + cutter.h + space,
h : (box.y + box.h) - (cutter.y + cutter.h + space),
});
}
return b;
}
// get the index of the spacer box that is closest in size and aspect to box
function findBestFitBox(box, array = spaceBoxes){
var smallest = Infinity;
var boxFound;
var aspect = box.w / box.h;
eachOf(array, (sbox, index) => {
if(sbox.w >= box.w && sbox.h >= box.h){
var area = ( sbox.w * sbox.h) * (1 + Math.abs(aspect - (sbox.w / sbox.h)));
if(area < smallest){
smallest = area;
boxFound = index;
}
}
})
return boxFound;
}
// Exposed helper function
// returns true if box is touching any boxes in array
// else return false
this.isBoxTouching = function(box, array = []){
for(var i = 0; i < array.length; i++){
var sbox = array[i];
if(!(sbox.x > box.x + box.w + space || sbox.x + sbox.w < box.x - space ||
sbox.y > box.y + box.h + space || sbox.y + sbox.h < box.y - space )){
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
// returns an array of boxes that are touching box
// removes the boxes from the array
function getTouching(box, array = spaceBoxes){
var boxes = [];
for(var i = 0; i < array.length; i++){
var sbox = array[i];
if(!(sbox.x > box.x + box.w + space || sbox.x + sbox.w < box.x - space ||
sbox.y > box.y + box.h + space || sbox.y + sbox.h < box.y - space )){
boxes.push(array.splice(i--,1)[0])
}
}
return boxes;
}
// Adds a space box to the spacer array.
// Check if it is inside, too small, or can be joined to another befor adding.
// will not add if not needed.
function addSpacerBox(box, array = spaceBoxes){
var dontAdd = false;
// is box to0 small?
if(box.w < minW || box.h < minH){ return }
// is box same or inside another box
eachOf(array, sbox => {
if(box.x >= sbox.x && box.x + box.w <= sbox.x + sbox.w &&
box.y >= sbox.y && box.y + box.h <= sbox.y + sbox.h ){
dontAdd = true;
return true; // exits eachOf (like a break statement);
}
})
if(!dontAdd){
var join = false;
// check if it can be joined with another
eachOf(array, sbox => {
if(box.x === sbox.x && box.w === sbox.w &&
!(box.y > sbox.y + sbox.h || box.y + box.h < sbox.y)){
join = true;
var y = Math.min(sbox.y,box.y);
var h = Math.max(sbox.y + sbox.h,box.y + box.h);
sbox.y = y;
sbox.h = h-y;
return true; // exits eachOf (like a break statement);
}
if(box.y === sbox.y && box.h === sbox.h &&
!(box.x > sbox.x + sbox.w || box.x + box.w < sbox.x)){
join = true;
var x = Math.min(sbox.x,box.x);
var w = Math.max(sbox.x + sbox.w,box.x + box.w);
sbox.x = x;
sbox.w = w-x;
return true; // exits eachOf (like a break statement);
}
})
if(!join){ array.push(box) }// add to spacer array
}
}
// Adds a box by finding a space to fit.
// returns true if the box has been added
// returns false if there was no room.
this.fitBox = function(box){
if(boxes.length === 0){ // first box can go in top left
box.x = space;
box.y = space;
boxes.push(box);
var sb = spaceBoxes.pop();
spaceBoxes.push(...cutBox(sb,box));
}else{
var bf = findBestFitBox(box); // get the best fit space
if(bf !== undefined){
var sb = spaceBoxes.splice(bf,1)[0]; // remove the best fit spacer
box.x = sb.x; // use it to position the box
box.y = sb.y;
spaceBoxes.push(...cutBox(sb,box)); // slice the spacer box and add slices back to spacer array
boxes.push(box); // add the box
var tb = getTouching(box); // find all touching spacer boxes
while(tb.length > 0){ // and slice them if needed
eachOf(cutBox(tb.pop(),box),b => addSpacerBox(b));
}
} else {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
// Adds a box at location box.x, box.y
// does not check if it can fit or for overlap.
this.placeBox = function(box){
boxes.push(box); // add the box
var tb = getTouching(box); // find all touching spacer boxes
while(tb.length > 0){ // and slice them if needed
eachOf(cutBox(tb.pop(),box),b => addSpacerBox(b));
}
}
// returns a copy of the spacer array
this.getSpacers = function(){
return [...spaceBoxes];
}
this.isFull = function(){
return spaceBoxes.length === 0;
}
// resets boxes
this.reset = function(){
boxes.length = 0;
spaceBoxes.length = 0;
spaceBoxes.push({
x : this.x + space, y : this.y + space,
w : this.width - space * 2,
h : this.height - space * 2,
});
}
this.reset();
}
return BoxArea;
})();
// draws a box array
function drawBoxes(list,col,col1){
eachOf(list,box=>{
if(col1){
ctx.fillStyle = box.fixed ? fixedBoxColor : col1;
ctx.fillRect(box.x+ 1,box.y+1,box.w-2,box.h - 2);
}
ctx.fillStyle = col;
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y,box.w,1);
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y,1,box.h);
ctx.fillRect(box.x+box.w-1,box.y,1,box.h);
ctx.fillRect(box.x,box.y+ box.h-1,box.w,1);
})
}
// Show the process in action
ctx.clearRect(0,0,canvas.width,canvas.height);
var count = 0;
var failedCount = 0;
var timeoutHandle;
var addQuick = false;
// create a new box area
const area = new BoxArea({x : 0, y : 0, width : canvas.width, height : canvas.height, space : space, minW : minW, minH : minH});
// fit boxes until a box cant fit or count over count limit
function doIt(){
ctx.clearRect(0,0,canvas.width,canvas.height);
if(addQuick){
while(area.fitBox(createBox()));
count = 2000;
}else{
for(var i = 0; i < addCount; i++){
if(!area.fitBox(createBox())){
failedCount += 1;
break;
}
}
}
drawBoxes(area.boxes,"black","#CCC");
drawBoxes(area.getSpacers(),"red");
if(count < 5214 && !area.isFull()){
count += 1;
timeoutHandle = setTimeout(doIt,10);
}
}
// resets the area places some fixed boxes and starts the fitting cycle.
function start(event){
clearTimeout(timeoutHandle);
area.reset();
failedCount = 0;
for(var i = 0; i < numberBoxesToPlace; i++){
var box = createBox(true); // create a fixed box
if(!area.isBoxTouching(box,area.boxes)){
area.placeBox(box);
}
}
if(event && event.shiftKey){
addQuick = true;
}else{
addQuick = false;
}
timeoutHandle = setTimeout(doIt,10);
count = 0;
}
canvas.onclick = start;
start();
body {font-family : arial;}
canvas { border : 2px solid black; }
.info {position: absolute; z-index : 200; top : 16px; left : 16px; background : rgba(255,255,255,0.75);}
<div class="info">Click canvas to reset. Shift click to add without showing progress.</div>
<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>

Try the following:
iterate through the existing rectangles from top to bottom, based on the top boundary of each existing rectangle
while proceeding in top-to-bottom order, maintain a list of "active rectangles":
adding each succeeding rectangle based on its top boundary as an active rectangle, and
removing active rectangles based on their bottom boundary
(you can do this efficiently by using a priority queue)
also keep track of the gaps between active rectangles:
adding an active rectangle will end all gaps that overlap it, and (assuming it doesn't overlap any existing rectangles) start a new gap on each side
removing an active rectangle will add a new gap (without ending any)
note that multiple active gaps may overlap each other -- you can't count on having exactly one gap between active rectangles!
Check your new rectangle (the one you want to place) against all gaps. Each gap is itself a rectangle; you can place your new rectangle if it fits entirely inside some gap.
This kind of method is called a sweep-line algorithm.

You may have to check whether your current point is inside the area of any of the current rectangles. You can use the following code to test that (stolen from here)
In the array you are having, store the rectangle details in the following way
var point = {x: 1, y: 2};
var rectangle = {x1: 0, x2: 10, y1: 1, y2: 7};
Following will be your function to test whether any given point is inside any given rectangle.
function isPointInsideRectangle(p, r) {
return
p.x > r.x1 &&
p.x < r.x2 &&
p.y > r.y1 &&
p.y < r.y2;
}
I am not sure how you are going to implement this -
On mouse down
Always during drawing (This may be too much of a work).
On mouse up (this will be my preference. You can cancel the drawing if the test did not pass, with possible explanation for the user somewhere in the canvas)
Hope this will get you starting.

how to parse html markup in fillText method of canvas

I have a canvas element which has labels. And each label is created using the fillText method.
I want to be able to send text like this: "CH2", but I don't get this as the final result. The <sub> element doesn't get parsed properly. How can I solve this issue?
Here is some example code:
var ctx = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
ctx.font = "48px serif";
ctx.fillText("Hello <sub>world</sub>", 10, 50);
<canvas id="canvas" width=500 height=500 ><canvas>

You can get around this using as #lipp mentions in comments Simon's solution and insert already sub-scripted characters into the string.
You can also make a simple parser that detects some code and renders next segment differently (see below).
There is also the possibility to use SVG to use HTML for drawing on canvas, but it has its backdraws such as async behavior, limited content (before security mechanisms prevent it from being drawn to a canvas) and lacking cross-browser support in some cases.
An example parser
This is just a start example. You can chose any code as well as adding new codes etc. This is just one way, there are many others...
If you have a HTML source string simply replace those tags with a code, or extend the parser to handle those as well.
var ctx = c.getContext("2d"),
fontSize = 28,
str = "This string has codes to enable |subscripted| text.";
setFontSize(fontSize);
// parse string
for(var i = 0, x = 10, tx = 0, isSub = false; i < str.length; i++) { // iterate over chars
if (str[i] === "|") { // special code?
ctx.fillText(str.substring(tx, i), x, 50 + (isSub ? 7 : 0)); // draw current text seg
x += ctx.measureText(str.substring(tx, i)).width; // add width to x
tx = ++i; // update start pointer
isSub = !isSub; // toggle subscript mode
setFontSize(isSub ? fontSize * 0.5 : fontSize); // set font size
}
}
ctx.fillText(str.substring(tx, i), x, 50); // draw last text part
function setFontSize(sz) {ctx.font = sz + "px sans-serif"}
<canvas id=c width=600></canvas>

Here is a function that converts an html string to a series of fillText statements. It handles multiline strings and lets you specify alignment (left, right, center).
<canvas id="textCanvas" width="700" height="150" style="border:1px solid #d3d3d3;">
<script>
function parse_html(ctx, s, x0, y0, align, font, fontsize, col) {
// 2d canvas context, string, pos.x, pos.y, left/right/center, font, font height, color
// Convert html code to a series of individual strings, each displayable by fillText().
font = 'px '+font
var lines = []
var line = [0]
var part = '' // the text element preceding a '<'
var cmd = ''
var bold = false
var italic = false
var sup = false
var sub = false
var x = 0, y = 0
var dx, start
var legal = ['b', 'strong', 'i', 'em', 'sup', 'sub']
function add_part() {
var style = ''
var fs = fontsize
if (bold) style += 'bold '
if (italic) style += 'italic '
if (sup || sub) {
fs = 0.8*fontsize
if (sup) y -= 0.3*fontsize // y increases downward in 2D canvas
else y += 0.3*fontsize
}
ctx.font = style+fs+font
dx = ctx.measureText(part).width
line.push([x, y, ctx.font, part])
part = ''
x += dx
}
function end_line() {
if (part !== '') add_part()
line[0] = x
lines.push(line)
line = [0]
x = y = 0
}
for (var i=0; i<s.length; i++) {
var c = s[i]
if (c == '\n') {
end_line()
} else if (c != '<') {
part += c // a part of the text
} else { // encountered '<'
//if (part !== '') add_part()
start = i+1
i++
cmd = s[i]
var end = false
if (cmd == '/') {
cmd = ''
end = true
}
var ok = true
for (i=i+1; i<s.length; i++) {
if (s[i] == '<') { // This means that the intial '<' did not start a command
i = i-1 // back up
part += '<'+cmd
add_part()
ok = false // signal that we encountered '<'
break
}
if (s[i] == '>') break
cmd += s[i]
}
if (!ok) continue
if (cmd == 'br' || cmd == 'br/') {
end_line()
} else {
if (legal.indexOf(cmd) >= 0 && part !== '') add_part()
switch (cmd) {
case 'b':
case 'strong':
bold = !end
break
case 'i':
case 'em':
italic = !end
break
case 'sup':
sup = !end
if (end) y = 0
break
case 'sub':
sub = !end
if (end) y = 0
break
default:
part += '<'+cmd+'>'
}
}
}
}
if (part.length > 0) line.push([x, y, fontsize+font, part])
ctx.font = fontsize+font
line[0] = x + ctx.measureText(part).width
lines.push(line)
function rgb_to_html(rgb) { // convert RGB 0-1 to html 0-255
var r = Math.floor(255 * rgb[0])
var g = Math.floor(255 * rgb[1])
var b = Math.floor(255 * rgb[2])
return 'rgb(' + r + ',' + g + ',' + b + ')'
}
var width, L
var nline = 0
// Each line in lines starts with the total width of the line, followed by
// elements of the form {x, y, font, text}, where x and y start at zero.
var maxwidth = -1
for (L in lines) {
if (lines[L][0] > maxwidth) maxwidth = lines[L][0]
}
for (L in lines) {
y0 += nline*1.2*fontsize
nline++
for (var p in lines[L]) {
var k = lines[L][p]
if (k[1] === undefined) {
width = k
continue
}
ctx.font = k[2]
ctx.fillStyle = rgb_to_html(col)
switch (align) {
case 'left':
x = x0 + k[0]
y = y0 + k[1]
break
case 'center':
x = x0 + k[0] - width/2
y = y0 + k[1]
break
case 'right':
x = x0 + k[0] - maxwidth
y = y0 + k[1]
break
default:
throw new Error(align+' is not a possible alignment option.')
}
ctx.fillText(k[3], x, y)
}
}
}
var c = document.getElementById("textCanvas")
var ctx = c.getContext("2d")
var s = 'The <b><i>quick</i> fox</b> <i>jumps.</i><br><i>M</i><sub>sys</sub> >= 10<sup>-3</sup> kg'
parse_html(ctx, s, 350, 50, 'center', 'Verdana', 30, [0,0,1])
</script>

identify an object on canvas by a click event

Into this simple code I use an eventListener which doesn't look to work at all. The canvas display an image and the given hitpaint() function is supposed determines whether a click occurs. I cant understand why the eventListener behaves like that. Any insight would be helpful.
mycanv.addEventListener("click", function(e) {
var output = document.getElementByID("output");
ctx.fillStyle = 'blue';
//ctx.clearRect(0,0,100,20);
if (hitpaint) {
//ctx.fillText("hit",100,20);
output.innerHTML = "hit";
} else {
//ctx.fillText("miss",100,20);
output.innerHTML = "miss";
}
}, false);
The hitpaint() function is defined as:
function hitpaint(mouse_event) {
var bounding_box = mycanv.getBoundingClientRect();
var mousex = (mouse_event.clientX - bounding_box.left) *
(mycanv.width / bounding_box.width);
var mousey = (mouse_event.clientY - bounding_box.top) *
(mycanv.height / bounding_box.height);
var pixels = ctx.getImageData(mousex, mousey, 1, 1);
for (var i = 3; i < pixels.data.length; i += 4) {
// If we find a non-zero alpha we can just stop and return
// "true" - the click was on a part of the canvas that's
// got colour on it.
if (pixels.data[i] !== 0) return true;
}
// The function will only get here if none of the pixels matched in
return false;
}
Finally, the main loop which display the picture in random location into the canvas:
function start() {
// main game function, called on page load
setInterval(function() {
ctx.clearRect(cat_x, cat_y, 100, 100);
cat_x = Math.random() * mycanv.width - 20;
cat_y = Math.random() * mycanv.height - 20;
draw_katy(cat_x, cat_y);
}, 1000);
}

There are a some issues here:
As Grundy points out in the comment, the hitpaint is never called; right now it checks for it's existence and will always return true
The mouse coordinates risk ending up as fractional values which is no-go with getImageData
Scaling the mouse coordinates is usually not necessary. Canvas should preferably have a fixed size without an additional CSS size
Add boundary check for x/y to make sure they are inside canvas bitmap
I would suggest this rewrite:
mycanv.addEventListener("click", function(e) {
var output = document.getElementByID("output");
ctx.fillStyle = 'blue';
//ctx.clearRect(0,0,100,20);
if (hitpaint(e)) { // here, call hitpaint()
//ctx.fillText("hit",100,20);
output.innerHTML = "hit";
} else {
//ctx.fillText("miss",100,20);
output.innerHTML = "miss";
}
}, false);
Then in hitpaint:
function hitpaint(mouse_event) {
var bounding_box = mycanv.getBoundingClientRect();
var x = ((mouse_event.clientX - bounding_box.left) *
(mycanv.width / bounding_box.width))|0; // |0 cuts off any fraction
var y = ((mouse_event.clientY - bounding_box.top) *
(mycanv.height / bounding_box.height))|0;
if (x >= 0 && x < mycanv.width && y >= 0 && y < mycanv.height) {
// as we only have one pixel, we can address alpha channel directly
return ctx.getImageData(x, y, 1, 1).data[3] !== 0;
}
else return false; // x/y out of range
}

Why is Firefox 30 times slower than Chrome, when calculating Perlin noise?

I have written a map generator in javascript, using classical perlin noise scripts I have found in various places, to get the functionality I want. I have been working in chrome, and have not experienced any problems with the map. However, when I tested it in firefox, it was incredibly slow - almost hanging my system. It fared better in the nightly build, but still 30 times slower than Chrome.
You can find a test page of it here:
http://jsfiddle.net/7Gq3s/
Here is the html code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>PerlinMapTest</title>
</head>
<body>
<canvas id="map" width="100" height="100" style="border: 1px solid red">My Canvas</canvas>
<script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-2.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).ready(function(){
//Log time in two ways
var startTime = new Date().getTime();
console.time("Map generated in: ");
var canvas = $("#map")[0];
var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
var id = ctx.createImageData(canvas.width, canvas.height);
var noiseMap = new PerlinNoise(500);
var startx = 0;
var starty = 0;
var value = 0;
for(var i = startx; i < canvas.width; i++){
for(var j = starty; j < canvas.height; j++){
value = noiseMap.noise(i,j, 0, 42);
value = linear(value,-1,1,0,255);
setPixel(id, i, j, 0,0,0,value);
}
}
ctx.putImageData(id,0,0);
var endTime = new Date().getTime();
console.timeEnd("Map generated in: ");
alert("Map generated in: " + (endTime - startTime) + "milliseconds");
});
function setPixel(imageData, x, y, r, g, b, a) {
index = (x + y * imageData.width) * 4;
imageData.data[index+0] = r;
imageData.data[index+1] = g;
imageData.data[index+2] = b;
imageData.data[index+3] = a;
}
//This is a port of Ken Perlin's "Improved Noise"
//http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/noise/
//Originally from http://therandomuniverse.blogspot.com/2007/01/perlin-noise-your-new-best-friend.html
//but the site appears to be down, so here is a mirror of it
//Converted from php to javascript by Christian Moe
//Patched the errors with code from here: http://asserttrue.blogspot.fi/2011/12/perlin-noise-in-javascript_31.html
var PerlinNoise = function(seed) {
this._default_size = 64;
this.seed = seed;
//Initialize the permutation array.
this.p = new Array(512);
this.permutation = [ 151,160,137,91,90,15,
131,13,201,95,96,53,194,233,7,225,140,36,103,30,69,142,8,99,37,240,21,10,23,
190, 6,148,247,120,234,75,0,26,197,62,94,252,219,203,117,35,11,32,57,177,33,
88,237,149,56,87,174,20,125,136,171,168, 68,175,74,165,71,134,139,48,27,166,
77,146,158,231,83,111,229,122,60,211,133,230,220,105,92,41,55,46,245,40,244,
102,143,54, 65,25,63,161, 1,216,80,73,209,76,132,187,208, 89,18,169,200,196,
135,130,116,188,159,86,164,100,109,198,173,186, 3,64,52,217,226,250,124,123,
5,202,38,147,118,126,255,82,85,212,207,206,59,227,47,16,58,17,182,189,28,42,
223,183,170,213,119,248,152, 2,44,154,163, 70,221,153,101,155,167, 43,172,9,
129,22,39,253, 19,98,108,110,79,113,224,232,178,185, 112,104,218,246,97,228,
251,34,242,193,238,210,144,12,191,179,162,241, 81,51,145,235,249,14,239,107,
49,192,214, 31,181,199,106,157,184, 84,204,176,115,121,50,45,127, 4,150,254,
138,236,205,93,222,114,67,29,24,72,243,141,128,195,78,66,215,61,156,180
];
for (var i=0; i < 256 ; i++) {
this.p[256+i] = this.p[i] = this.permutation[i];
}
};
PerlinNoise.prototype.noise = function(x,y,z,size) {
if (size == undefined)
{
size = this._default_size;
}
//Set the initial value and initial size
var value = 0.0;
var initialSize = size;
//Add finer and finer hues of smoothed noise together
while(size >= 1)
{
value += this.smoothNoise(x / size, y / size, z / size) * size;
size /= 2.0;
}
//Return the result over the initial size
return value / initialSize;
};
//This function determines what cube the point passed resides in
//and determines its value.
PerlinNoise.prototype.smoothNoise = function(x, y, z){
//Offset each coordinate by the seed value
x += this.seed;
y += this.seed;
z += this.seed;
var orig_x = x;
var orig_y = y;
var orig_z = z;
var X = Math.floor(x) & 255, // FIND UNIT CUBE THAT
Y = Math.floor(y) & 255, // CONTAINS POINT.
Z = Math.floor(z) & 255;
x -= Math.floor(x); // FIND RELATIVE X,Y,Z
y -= Math.floor(y); // OF POINT IN CUBE.
z -= Math.floor(z);
var u = this.fade(x), // COMPUTE FADE CURVES
v = this.fade(y), // FOR EACH OF X,Y,Z.
w = this.fade(z);
var A = this.p[X ]+Y, AA = this.p[A]+Z, AB = this.p[A+1]+Z, // HASH COORDINATES OF
B = this.p[X+1]+Y, BA = this.p[B]+Z, BB = this.p[B+1]+Z; // THE 8 CUBE CORNERS,
return this.lerp(w, this.lerp(v, this.lerp(u, this.grad(this.p[AA ], x , y , z ), // AND ADD
this.grad(this.p[BA ], x-1, y , z )), // BLENDED
this.lerp(u, this.grad(this.p[AB ], x , y-1, z ), // RESULTS
this.grad(this.p[BB ], x-1, y-1, z ))),// FROM 8
this.lerp(v, this.lerp(u, this.grad(this.p[AA+1], x , y , z-1 ), // CORNERS
this.grad(this.p[BA+1], x-1, y , z-1 )), // OF CUBE
this.lerp(u, this.grad(this.p[AB+1], x , y-1, z-1 ),
this.grad(this.p[BB+1], x-1, y-1, z-1 ))));
};
PerlinNoise.prototype.fade = function(t) {
return t * t * t * ( ( t * ( (t * 6) - 15) ) + 10);
};
PerlinNoise.prototype.lerp = function(t, a, b) {
//Make a weighted interpolaton between points
return a + t * (b - a);
};
PerlinNoise.prototype.grad = function(hash, x, y, z) {
h = hash & 15; // CONVERT LO 4 BITS OF HASH CODE
u = h<8 ? x : y; // INTO 12 GRADIENT DIRECTIONS.
v = h<4 ? y : (h==12||h==14 ? x : z);
return ((h&1) == 0 ? u : -u) + ((h&2) == 0 ? v : -v);
};
PerlinNoise.prototype.scale = function(n) {
return (1 + n)/2;
};
function linear(int, s1, s2, t1, t2)
{
t = [t1, t2];
s = [s1, s2];
rangeS = s1 - s2;
rangeT = t1 - t2;
if((s1 < s2 && t1 > t2) || (s1>s2 && t1<t2))
{
interpolated = ((int - s1) / rangeS*rangeT) + t1;
}
else
{
interpolated = ((int - s1) / rangeS)*rangeT + t1;
}
if(interpolated > Math.max.apply(Math, t))
{
interpolated = Math.max.apply(Math, t);
}
if(interpolated < Math.min.apply(Math, t))
{
interpolated = Math.min.apply(Math, t);
}
return interpolated;
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
I get 33 ms on Chrome, and 1051ms on Firefox 24 Nightly
The results are inconsistent though. Sometimes the Nightly results is as fast as chrome...
Do you know why there is so much variation in this particular instance?
I don't know enough about the theory of perlin noise to try optimizing the code, so don't know what to do.

I have found the culprit. The slowdown occurs when I have Firebug enabled. That extension must weigh it down.

jQuery animations with a MxN matrix

I'm splitting a element into multiple blocks (defined by a number of rows and columns), and then fade these blocks to create animation effects. The type of animation is decided by the delay() value:
$('.block').each(function (i) {
$(this).stop().delay(30 * i).animate({
'opacity': 1
}, {
duration: 420
});
});
In this case each block's fade effect is delayed by (30 * current block index). The first block gets 0 delay, the second block 30 delay, ..... the last block 30 * (number of blocks) delay. So this will fade all blocks horizontally.
I've posted a list of effects I've come up so far here: http://jsfiddle.net/MRPDw/.
What I need help with is to find the delay expression for a spiral type effect, and maybe others that you think are possible :D

Here is an example of code for a spiral pattern:
case 'spiral':
$('.block', grid).css({
'opacity': 0
});
var order = new Array();
var rows2 = rows/2, x, y, z, n=0;
for (z = 0; z < rows2; z++){
y = z;
for (x = z; x < cols - z - 1; x++) {
order[n++] = y * cols + x;
}
x = cols - z - 1;
for (y = z; y < rows - z - 1; y++) {
order[n++] = y * cols + x;
}
y = rows - z - 1;
for (x = cols - z - 1; x > z; x--) {
order[n++] = y * cols + x;
}
x = z;
for (y = rows - z - 1; y > z; y--) {
order[n++] = y * cols + x;
}
}
for (var m = 0; m < n; m++) {
$('.block-' + order[m], grid).stop().delay(100*m).animate({
opacity: 1
}, {
duration: 420,
complete: (m != n - 1) ||
function () {
alert('done');
}
});
}
break;
See it working in this fiddle.
I also improved on your "RANDOM" animation, to show all the squares, not just a subset. The code for that is:
case 'random':
var order = new Array();
var numbers = new Array();
var x, y, n=0, m=0, ncells = rows*cols;
for (y = 0; y < rows; y++){
for (x = 0; x < cols; x++){
numbers[n] = n++;
}
}
while(m < ncells){
n = Math.floor(Math.random()*ncells);
if (numbers[n] != -1){
order[m++] = n;
numbers[n] = -1;
}
}
$('.block', grid).css({
'opacity': 0
});
for (var m = 0; m < ncells; m++) {
$('.block-' + order[m], grid).stop().delay(100*m).animate({
opacity: 1
}, {
duration: 420,
complete: (m != ncells - 1) ||
function () {
alert('done');
}
});
}
break;
See it working in this fiddle.

Maybe the easiest way to think about making a spiral animation, is to think about your matrix as a piece of paper.
If you fold 2 times that paper in the x and y center axes, you end up getting a smaller square (or rectangle) quadrant.
Now, if you animate this quadrant only from bottom right to top left corner (in the same way you did for your 'diagonal-reverse'), you can propagate this movement to the other 3 quadrants in order to get the final effect of having an animation running from the center of your matrix up to the four corners.
case 'spiral':
$('.block', grid).css({
'opacity': 0
});
n = 0;
var center = {
x: cols / 2,
y: rows / 2
};
// iterate on the second quadrant only
for (var y = 0; y < center.y; y++)
for (var x = 0; x < center.x; x++) {
// and apply the animation to all quadrants, by using the multiple jQuery selector
$('.block-' + (y * rows + x) + ', ' + // 2nd quadrant
'.block-' + (y * rows + cols - x - 1) + ', ' + // 1st quadrant
'.block-' + ((rows - y - 1) * rows + x) + ', ' + // 3rd quadrant
'.block-' + ((rows - y - 1) * rows + cols - x - 1) // 4th quadrant
, grid).stop().delay(100 * (center.y - y + center.x - x)).animate({
opacity: 1
}, {
duration: 420,
complete: function () {
if (++n == rows * cols) {
alert('done'); // fire next animation...
}
}
});
}
Here is the demo (click the spiral link)