Visual Basic 2010 Fractal Galaxy Programs: "VB2010 FGalaxy" and "VB2010 FGalaxy PP"

The programs VB2010 FGalaxy and VB2010 FGalaxy PP are in Visual Basic 2010 which both use the concept of a Mandelbrot Set to simulate the Universe consisting of Fractal Galaxies.
Using the mouse you can select different parts of this Universe, enlarge the dipslay and new galaxies will appear ad infinitum.
For an explanation of the Mandelbrot Set See: Mandelbrot Set

The two programs "VB2010 FGalaxy" and "VB2010 FGalaxy PP" are identical. The only difference is that the second uses Parallel Programming and the first not.
For all specific information about Parallel Programming select Program: VB2010 FGalaxy PP. This document also discusses performance issues.

This same program is also implemented using Visual Basic 5.0. To get more information go to: Visual Basic 5.0 Fractal Galaxy Program: "VB FGalaxy.bas"

To travel through this Fractal Universe select the following picture.

In total there are 13 pictures. Each picture is an enlargement with a factor of 10. The part that is enlarged is in the center.

VB Program: "VB2010 FGalaxy" Operation

The program contains two forms: A Control Form and a Display Form.
The Control Form is used to control the program. The Display Form shows the result of the simulation.

The Control Form contains 3 commands: Start, End and Stop The Start Command is used to start the simulation. After the Start Command is selected the End Command changes into Stop Command At the end of the simulation the Stop Command changes back into End Command The End Command is used to terminate the program. The Stop Command is used to terminate a specific simulation.

There are the are three ways to operate the program

• The first and initial way is to use the Control Form.
  • In order to start the program select "START"
  • When the program is finished you can make the Display Form larger. Use "START" to execute the program again.
  • In order to enlarge a particular part of the picture you use the mouse.
    • Select with the mouse a particular point at the top left side and do a Single Click
    • Select with the mouse a particular point at the bottom right side and do a Single Click
    • Select "START". During this operation the information on the Control Display will change. The picture # will increase with 1.
  • You can also use for the Display Form the full screen.
• The second way is to use the Display Form. This is done when the Full Screen is selected.
  • In order to start the program use the mouse and do a Double Click
  • In order to enlarge a particular part of the picture you use the mouse.
    • Select with the mouse a particular point at the top left side and do a Single Click
    • Select with the mouse a particular point at the bottom right side and do a Single Click
    • In order to start the program use the mouse and do a Double Click
  • When you want to end the program make the Display Form smaller and press "END"

VB Program: "VB2010 FGalaxy" source

• "VB2010 FGalaxy" Application listings
  • FGalaxyForm1.vb and FGalaxyForm1.Designer.vb
  • FGalaxyForm2.vb and FGalaxyForm2.Designer.vb

Visual Basic Program: "VB2010 FGalaxy"

• Form1_Load. This subroutine is called when FGaxalyForm1 is loaded. The subroutine calls INITIALISE
• ButtonStart_Click. This subroutine is called when the StartButton is selected in FGalaxyForm1. This subroutine calls Main
• ButtonEnd_Click. This subroutine is called when the EndButton is selected in FGalaxyForm1. This subroutine ends the program.
• Main. This subroutine calculates the colours of the Bitmap. The calculation is done in two loops:
  • An outer loop with the parameter Y%
  • An innerloop with the parameter X%
  Also as part of the program a file of the type .BMP (Bitmap) is build. To do that the subroutines BinaryFile_Init and BinaryFile are used.subroutine BinaryFile
• Initialisation
• BinaryFile_Init This subroutine is used to define the header of the .BMP file
• BinaryFile This subroutine is used to insert one pixel in the .BMP file.Each pixel consists 3 bytes: Red, Green and blue. A .BMP file does not use the alpha parameter.
  To calculate the size of .BMP file it is important to know that the size of each record is calculated in multiples of 4 bytes. Each record contains the pixels of one line (width) of the bitmap. The number of records define the height of the bitmap.
  
  • The length of one record with 8 pixels is 8*3 = 24 bytes
  • The length of one record with 9 pixels is 9*3 + 1 = 28 bytes. The "1" means that at the end of the record one blank byte is inserted.
  • The length of one record with 10 pixels is 10*3 + 2 = 32 bytes. The "2" means that at the end of the record two blank bytes are inserted.
  • The length of one record with 11 pixels is 11*3 + 3 = 36 bytes. The "3" means that at the end of the record three blank bytes are inserted.
  Each write command writes 2 bytes.
• Argbcolor This subroutine is used to calculate the color as a function of count.
  

  GetArgbcolor ip 20 ip1 17.75 i 3 j 0.5506 GetArgbcolor ip 100 ip1 69.51 i 13 j 0.903 GetArgbcolor ip 200 ip1 97.76 i 19 j 0.5534 GetArgbcolor ip 300 ip1 102.77 i 20 j 0.5559 GetArgbcolor ip 400 ip1 95.96 i 19 j 0.1925 GetArgbcolor ip 500 ip1 83.97 i 16 j 0.794 GetArgbcolor ip 1000 ip1 28.18 i 5 j 0.6376 GetArgbcolor ip 1500 ip1 7.09 i 1 j 0.4184 GetArgbcolor ip 2000 ip1 1.58 i 0 j 0.3171 GetArgbcolor ip 3000 ip1 0.06 i 0 j 0.0133 GetArgbcolor ip 3500 ip1 0.01 i 0 j 0.0026

Reflection

The program shows a Universe consisting of Fractal Galaxies. However this Universe does not represent the reality.
The truth is that no physical phenomena can be accurately described using the "Mandelbrot Set" or Fractal concept, including the Universe.

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First Release: 4 July 2012
Updated 8 Augustus 2013
Updated 15 April 2016

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