Enhance GitHub Actions workflow to compute and use a detailed tag for releases

Author: d4rkd0s

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -72,10 +72,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [ build ]
     steps:
-      - name: Compute short SHA
+      - name: Compute tag variables
         id: vars
         shell: bash
-        run: echo "short_sha=${GITHUB_SHA::7}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        run: |
+          short_sha=${GITHUB_SHA::7}
+          echo "short_sha=$short_sha" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "tag=build-${short_sha}-${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER}.${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Download all artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
@@ -85,8 +88,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create GitHub Release and upload assets
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
         with:
-          name: build-${{ steps.vars.outputs.short_sha }}
-          tag_name: build-${{ steps.vars.outputs.short_sha }}
+          name: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.tag }}
+          tag_name: ${{ steps.vars.outputs.tag }}
           draft: false
           prerelease: false
           files: dist/**/*

README.md

@@ -1,50 +1,46 @@
 rust_collatz_solution
 =====================
 
-A high‑performance Collatz explorer with big‑integer support and a lightweight visualizer.
+Collatz explorer with big‑integers and a tiny live visualizer. One command to try it.
 
-- Arbitrary precision via `num-bigint::BigUint` (explores up to 2^2000 and beyond)
-- O(1) memory cycle detection (Floyd’s algorithm)
-- Random‑shot mode by default across [2^68, 2^2000−1]
-- Minimal disk writes: only writes `solution.txt` when a finding occurs
-- Optional 500×500 GUI (minifb) animates trajectories and shows the current seed
+<img width="500" height="531" alt="Visualizer" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/05894ec5-fdf6-407f-ba98-85f0ee8044a4" />
 
 Quick Start
 -----------
 
-- Run with defaults (random scanning + viz):
+- Easiest: run with the defaults (random + viz)
   - `cargo run --release --`
-- More frequent visualization updates:
+- Want more motion? draw more often
   - `cargo run --release -- --viz-interval 100 --viz-max-steps 3000`
-- Sequential (no random), starting at a value:
+- Sequential (no random), start from a value
   - `cargo run --release -- --no-random --start 100000000000000000000`
 
-Note: When using `cargo run`, pass program flags after `--` so Cargo doesn’t parse them.
+Tip: when using `cargo run`, put program flags after `--`.
 
-CLI Flags
----------
+What it does
+------------
 
-- `--start <DECIMAL>`: starting value (decimal string); used when `--no-random`.
-- `--count <N>`: stop after testing N starts (for experiments/testing).
-- `--solution <PATH>`: path for the single‑line solution file (default `solution.txt`).
-- `--random` / `--no-random` (default `--random`): random shots vs sequential scan.
-- `--viz` / `--no-viz` (default `--viz`): enable/disable the visualizer.
-- `--viz-interval <N>`: send a new seed to the GUI every N starts (default 1000).
-- `--viz-max-steps <N>`: sliding window width for the animated line (default 10,000).
+- Scans huge numbers (BigUint, up to 2^2000+)
+- Detects loops/runaways with O(1) memory
+- Writes to disk only when a finding occurs (`solution.txt`)
+- Visualizer shows the current line and the number being tested
 
-Output
-------
+Handy flags
+-----------
 
-- `solution.txt`: written and fsynced on first finding, then the app exits.
-  - Formats: `NONTRIVIAL_CYCLE_START <n>` or `RUNAWAY_STEPS_OVERFLOW_START <n>`.
+- `--random` / `--no-random` (default: random on)
+- `--viz` / `--no-viz` (default: viz on)
+- `--viz-interval <N>`: send a new seed to the GUI every N starts (default 1000)
+- `--viz-max-steps <N>`: line window width (default 10_000)
+- `--start <DECIMAL>` and `--count <N>` for sequential runs
 
 Releases
 --------
 
-This repo includes a GitHub Actions workflow that builds and publishes archives per commit (tagged by short SHA) for:
+GitHub Actions builds downloadable archives per commit (named by short SHA) for:
 
 - Linux x86_64 (GNU)
 - Windows x86_64 (MSVC)
 - Windows i686 (MSVC)
 
-Each archive includes the compiled executable. See the Releases tab for downloads.
+Download from Releases and run the executable. That’s it.