qqwref
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Here is a notation that:
The notation works like this: the basic formula for a move is something like R3#7. There are four parts to each move:
Here are a couple of comparisons between moves written in SiGN and moves written in this new notation, in case I didn't explain well enough:
We can easily extend this to use x, y, z (with no numbers) and M, E, S (with one number for how many slices on each side to ignore) if we want. Note that, without any modifications, this notation extends to N-layer variations on megaminx and pyraminx (not to mention helicopter cubes, skewbs, and so on).
Anyway, I don't expect anyone to change over to this notation (I know I won't), but I thought it had some interesting properties so I wanted to share the idea.
- can represent all block turns (turning layers P through Q on a puzzle) in one move, and
- is unambiguous, without spaces, for cubes of any size.
The notation works like this: the basic formula for a move is something like R3#7. There are four parts to each move:
- The letter means the axis we are working with, and this should always be some series of letters (for instance if we are using an edge turning puzzle for some reason we could use the UR axis). In this case it's the R face.
- The first number is the starting layer, or the lowest layer. We can omit this number if it is 1 (that is, our turn includes the outermost layer of the cube).
- The second number is the ending layer, or the highest layer. So this move turns layers 3-7 (counting from the R face). We can omit this number if it would be equal to the starting layer (that is, our turn only affects one layer).
- The # symbol is the amount of turn. The possible symbols are # for +2 (since it looks like two +s), + for +1, O for 0, - for -1, and = for -2 (since it looks like two -s). Of course, these turn directions are all relative to the axis previously mentioned. It's important not to omit this because it provides a separation between the two numbers, but also between two adjacent axes if we are omitting lots of numbers.
Here are a couple of comparisons between moves written in SiGN and moves written in this new notation, in case I didn't explain well enough:
Code:
SiGN | R2 R2' 2R' r' (r 2U2) (r2 U2) 2-3r
this | R# R= R2- R-2 R+2U2# R#2U# R2+3
We can easily extend this to use x, y, z (with no numbers) and M, E, S (with one number for how many slices on each side to ignore) if we want. Note that, without any modifications, this notation extends to N-layer variations on megaminx and pyraminx (not to mention helicopter cubes, skewbs, and so on).
Anyway, I don't expect anyone to change over to this notation (I know I won't), but I thought it had some interesting properties so I wanted to share the idea.