RMatrix

A Rust port of cmatrix with enhanced neural network weight visualization capabilities.

Overview

RMatrix creates a Matrix-like terminal effect with falling green characters, inspired by "The Matrix" movie. This Rust implementation adds support for visualizing neural network weights as the falling characters, making it both a screensaver and a data visualization tool.

Features

• Matrix Rain Effect: Classic falling character animation
• Neural Network Weights: Display actual neural network weights instead of random characters
• Multiple Color Modes: Green, red, blue, white, yellow, cyan, magenta, rainbow
• Interactive Controls: Change colors, speed, and effects in real-time
• Cross-platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
• Screensaver Mode: Exits on first keystroke
• Lock Mode: Can be used as a screen lock

Installation

From Source

git clone <repository-url>
cd rmatrix
cargo build --release

With Neural Network Support

To enable neural network model loading (optional):

cargo build --release --features neural

Usage

Basic Usage

# Default matrix effect
rmatrix

# With bold characters
rmatrix -b

# Screensaver mode
rmatrix -s

# Rainbow colors
rmatrix -r

# With custom message
rmatrix -M "Hello World"

Neural Network Weights

# Use weights from a file
rmatrix -w example_weights.txt

# With neural features enabled, load from Hugging Face model (future)
rmatrix -w gpt2  # (requires --features neural)

Command Line Options

Usage: rmatrix [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -a, --asynch              Asynchronous scroll
  -b, --bold                Bold characters on
  -B, --all-bold           All bold characters (overrides -b)
  -c, --classic            Use Japanese characters as seen in the original matrix
  -f, --force              Force the linux $TERM type to be on
  -l, --linux              Linux mode (uses matrix console font)
  -L, --lock               Lock mode (can be closed from another terminal)
  -o, --oldstyle           Use old-style scrolling
  -n, --no-bold            No bold characters (overrides -b and -B, default)
  -s, --screensaver        "Screensaver" mode, exits on first keystroke
  -x, --xwindow            X window mode
  -k, --changes            Characters change while scrolling
  -r, --rainbow            Rainbow mode
  -m, --lambda             Lambda mode
  -u, --update <UPDATE>    Screen update delay (0-10, default 4) [default: 4]
  -C, --color <COLOR>      Use this color for matrix (default green) [default: green]
  -M, --message <MESSAGE>  Message to display in center of screen
  -w, --weights <WEIGHTS>  Use neural network weights from file or model name
  -h, --help               Print help
  -V, --version            Print version

Interactive Controls

While running, you can use these keys to control the display:

• q: Quit (unless in lock mode)
• a: Toggle asynchronous scrolling
• b: Enable some bold characters
• B: Enable all bold characters
• n: Disable bold characters
• L: Enable lock mode
• r: Toggle rainbow mode
• m: Toggle lambda mode
• p/P: Pause/unpause
• 0-9: Change update speed
• !: Red color
• @: Green color
• #: Yellow color
• $: Blue color
• %: Magenta color
• ^: Cyan color
• &: White color

Neural Network Weight Files

Weight files should contain one floating-point number per line:

# Comments start with #
-2.341
1.892
-0.567
2.103
-1.234

The weights are converted to strings (e.g., "-2.34") and displayed character by character as the matrix rain.

Examples

Classic Matrix Look

rmatrix -lba

Screensaver with Weights

rmatrix -s -w neural_weights.txt

Rainbow Lambda Mode

rmatrix -rm

Building

Dependencies

• Rust 1.70 or later
• For neural features: Additional ML dependencies

Compile

# Basic version
cargo build --release

# With neural network support
cargo build --release --features neural

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Original cmatrix by Chris Allegretta
• Enhanced cmatrix (nnmatrix) with neural network features
• The Matrix movie for inspiration
• Rust community for excellent terminal libraries

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.