task:go-shuffled for randomized order of executing tasks at a given time tick

[MHX792]

Let's assume I have two agentsets A and B. A should execute a task at ticks = 0 and B at ticks = 3. As I found out by trying the order of adding the agentsets to the schedule list is critical and there is no option to shuffle the list after adding both agentsets.

to setup-schedule
  time:schedule-event-shuffled agentsetA (task go) 0
  time:schedule-event-shuffled agentsetB (task go) 3
end

When the simulation starts I want to add individual turtles to the schedule list for a certain tick. Since adding them and shuffling the schedule list is not possible they get executed in the order they've been added to the schedule list.

task:go-shuffled or alternativeley making task:schedule-event-shuffled work for individual turtles would solve this problem (see https://github.com/colinsheppard/time/issues/45).

[colinsheppard]

I'm marking this issue as an enhancement. Unfortunately, the way I store events in the schedule is by using a java.util.TreeSet, which allows me to maintain a sorted list optimized to quickly dispatch a schedule of events without randomization. Implementing the requested feature would require non-trivial reorganization of how I manage events and would likely sacrifice performance under default (non-randomizing) conditions.

In other words, I will spend some time thinking on this, but at this point I don't see a clear path toward implementation that would allow me to maintain the current level of performance which I consider a higher priority.

In the meantime, you could achieve your intended effect using NetLogo by doing the following:

• Instead of scheduling turtles to perform "go", schedule them to perform a wrapper procedure like "add-to-list" at the desired tick
• inside of "add-to-list", put each turtle in a list that begins the tick empty and stores the turtles that want to execute "go" within that tick
• schedule a new event "go-turtles" to execute after all turtles have been added to the list for the current tick. make this event happen last by scheduling to happen at a decimal tick number (e.g. 3.01) or by adding it to the schedule after all turtles have scheduled their "add-to-list" procedure, whichever is easier.
• within "go-turtles", use the NetLogo "shuffle" primitive to ensure the turtles moving within that tick do so in random order.

I realize this may be less than ideal, but I would recommend pursuing such a path in the near term as my time is limited in the present and I won't likely be able to build the requested enhancement until this summer at the earliest.

Best.