README.md

dsplotty

distributed system visualizer

Plotty is a general purpose, language agnostic, grid visualizer. It was originally designed to visualize Gossip Protocol but it is simple enough to visualize any grid based algorithm.

How to use

Plotty reads in from stdin and dumps the information on browser using websockets. You can use any program to feed it information using Unix pipes. The program just needs to print the command to stdout.

Commands

1. <plotty: draw, {num_nodes}>: Tell Plotty about number of nodes
2. <plotty: infected, {node_id}>: Lit up a cell. Note that the node_id is used to identify a cell in grid and it ranges from 1 to num_nodes. So, if there are 100 cells, node_id will range from 1 to 100 (rather than 0 to 99).
3. <plotty: inactive, {node_id}>: Lit up a cell with different color.
4. <plotty: dim, {node_id}>: Reset a cell's look back to original. node_id is same as above.

Exmaple

Use sample script:

./sample.sh | node index.js

Using Gossip Protocol: