Dan - part of the problem as you state it in relation to the Dragon Curve - figuring out what it is from its picture - is that this is not generally possible, particularly for a true fractal as this will always have details hidden by the resolution of a rendering.
You really need to be able to access the output of a generating function to have any chance at this but even then it might be impossible. I did some work in the 1980s calculating the fractal dimension of financial time-series - an idea you might explore - but this only gives you a number representing the fractal dimension. It doesn't tell you if the series is actually some kind of fractal. Have you looked at work by Barnsley et al. on iterated function systems? This sounds a bit like what you're talking about. Regards, Devon On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 1:40 PM, Dan Bron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ... > To get a feel for the obstacles I'm encountering, and what might make it > hard to give voice to a fractal, try writing the Dragon Curve in J: > > http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Dragon_curve > > However, do so only by looking at the plot: > > > > http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Fractal_dragon_curve.jpg/263px-Fractal_dragon_curve.jpg > > > That is: do not read the algorithmic description of the curve in Wikipedia, > and don't make reference to the programs listed on the Dragon Curve > rosettacode task. > > ... > -Dan > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA ^me^ at acm. org is my preferred e-mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
