Newbie Needs Help

[MSUanthro]

Hi all, I've been away from NetLogo for a while and I am trying to wrap my mind around the coding for LS. When I downloaded the latest zip file and try to run the LevelSpace Ecology demo I get an error that says ls:_ask-hi isn't defined. I can run many of the the other models by themselves, and it appears the jars are working, so can anyone help with what I am sure is an obvious error on my part? Thanks in advance. Jon

[arthurhjorth]

Hi Jon,

First, sorry about that. We're in the final stage of releasing a stable and permanent version of LevelSpace. But our documentation here hasn't been communicating that at all.

This post ended up longer than I hoped, so first a tl;dr:

1. Download NetLogo 6.x beta - final version will release within a month, possibly just a few weeks.
2. Download and build the new ls.jar from source on the update-netlogo branch or email me and I will send you the latest .jar
3. Read new documentation on the update-netlogo branch
4. Download new documentation + demo models

Longer version:

The version you are using now is probably the old one, built for NetLogo 5.x. The full version of LevelSpace really should be run using the NetLogo 6.x builds. You can find the source code for the LevelSpace extension and the current documentation in the update-netlogo branch.

They are different .jar files, so you will need a new version of both NetLogo, and of the .jar. You can download a beta version of NetLogo 6.x here If you know how to, you can build the .jar from the source code on the update-netlogo branch. Alternatively, if you post your email here (or email it to me at arthur.hjorth@u.northwestern.edu) I'll be more than happy to send you the latest .jar, and to keep sending you the updated versions until we bundle the ls.jar with NetLogo (which should be within a month or so - @mrerrormessage will know the timeline better than I do.)

The new version and the shift to 6.x brings some pretty excellent changes to the syntax. You no longer need to use strings for everything, and in general the code for LevelSpace looks like normal NetLogo code. Consequently, the old LevelSpace Ecology demo will not work with the new version. We presented the newest version of LevelSpace at a conference back in February, and Bryan Head ( @qiemem ) and I wrote a few new models for that which I have attached up in the zip file in pt. 4.

Given your user name I am just curious: were you planning on using LevelSpace for a course? Is this urgent? Either way, let me/us know, and we'll be very happy to do what we can to help you get started on LevelSpace.

[mrerrormessage]

Just wanted to weigh in and say that we haven't yet set a release date for NetLogo 6.x, but the release definitely will not happen before mid-May. Please plan accordingly. Also, to the best of my knowledge, levelspace does not yet work against the latest 6.x beta. There are some breaking changes in 6.x that levelspace isn't yet up-to-date with, although we're working on it.

[qiemem]

Also, to the best of my knowledge, levelspace does not yet work against the latest 6.x beta. There are some breaking changes in 6.x that levelspace isn't yet up-to-date with, although we're working on it.

Just pushed an update which should fix that!

[MSUanthro]

Thanks for your quick replies Arthur, Robert and Bryan. I am looking forward to getting back into the ABM world, and I am especially excited about the multi-level possibilities. I am an archaeologist who studies cultural transmission and sociopolitical organization, and I used NetLogo in my dissertation research a few years ago. Now I am looking into continuing where I left off and multi-level modeling is exactly where I wanted to go for the next step in research.

I am not in a particular rush, so for now I guess I can just hang out, brush up on coding, and wait for the cool stuff coming down the pipe. Thanks again, Jon jwcarroll@oakland.edu