Trace Feature

The trace feature is a graphical interface where you can see the algorithm searching and building the search tree, it is useful if you want a more descriptive visualization

How to install

The trace feature uses an application called Graphviz, which helps create graphs. To use it, it is needed to install its executable

To install it, run:

# On Windows
# Windows
winget install graphviz

# Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint
sudo apt update
sudo apt install graphviz

Check if the installation was successuful

# Windows
where.exe dot

# Linux
which dot

And finally, with the library installed, check if you have a proper display for Matplotlib

run:

python -c "import matplotlib; print(matplotlib.get_backend())"

If you get anything other than "Agg" you're fine, if not we recommend you to install QtAgg backend

To install it run inside the venv:

python -m pip install PyQt6

Then verify

python -c "from PyQt6 import QtWidgets; print('PyQt6 OK')"

You should get a "PyQt6 OK"

Then export it to the environment

# On Windows
$env:MPLBACKEND="QtAgg"

# On Linux
export MPLBACKEND=QtAgg

How to use it

When running the search function, add trace=True in its call.

# Example
algorithm = BuscaLargura()
result = algorithm.search(state, trace=True)

If you want full screen add trace_fullscreen=True as well