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Ultraviolet: A Constraint Satisfaction Algorithm for Interactive Graphics

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Abstract

Ultraviolet is a constraint satisfaction algorithm intended for use in interactive graphical applications. It is capable of solving constraints over arbitrary domains using local propagation, and inequality constraints and simultaneous linear equations over the reals. To support this, Ultraviolet is a hybrid algorithm that allows different subsolvers to be used for different parts of the constraint graph, depending on graph topology and kind of constraints. In addition, Ultraviolet and its subsolvers support plan compilation, producing efficient compiled code that can be evaluated repeatedly to resatisfy a given collection of constraints for different input values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Box 352350, Seattle, WA, 98195-2350.

    Alan Borning

  2. R. Buckminster Fuller Laboratory, Object Technology International Inc., 201 - 506 Fort St., Victoria, BC, CANADA V8W 1E6.

    Bjorn Freeman-Benson

Authors
  1. Alan Borning
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  2. Bjorn Freeman-Benson
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Borning, A., Freeman-Benson, B. Ultraviolet: A Constraint Satisfaction Algorithm for Interactive Graphics. Constraints 3, 9–32 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009704614502

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