Develop Reference

Saving serial data in Processing

Hello all for the second time,
Initially I was looking for a broad answer, but this thread got blocked for being "too broad"... so I've got no choice, but to go into detail. My apologies if asking the question again is against the forum guidelines, I'm new to stackoverflow so please be kind.
I’ve got data coming into a serial port at 250Hz and I’d like to save it all to a .csv file. Of course draw() is not going to be able to keep up with that rate of data...
At the moment I am using the serialEvent(port) to collect and parse the data. Once parsed out, I'm calling a function in draw to add the data to a new line in a table and then saving that table every 5 seconds...
Yes, I see the obvious flaw that if I'm saving the current data in draw then of course it's not going to be able to save all the data coming in, but rather just the data that happens to be present when the data saving function is called... but I'm not sure of the best way to solve that. A buffer scheme? Or can I have a separate thread that just adds ALL data coming in to a table?
which lead to my initial (broad) question...
Is there a way to save all incoming data to a file without polling?
Thanks to all in advance.. code below:
Twain
import processing.serial.*;
import static javax.swing.JOptionPane.*;
Table table;
String Path = "PathProvidedHere.csv";
String message;
//Some time keeping variables
int hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds;
float SaveTime;
//Serial port selection
Serial myPort;
String COMx, COMlist = "";
final boolean debug = true;
String portName;
// Data variables
float yaw = 0.0; float pitch = 0.0; float roll = 0.0;
float A1, A2, A3, A4;
float E1, E2, E3, E4;
void setup()
{
//Set up GIU box
size(1024, 768, P3D);
frameRate(250);
smooth();
//Some other setups like fonts, graphs, etc.
//Set up the logging table
table = new Table();
table.addColumn("A1"); table.addColumn("A2"); table.addColumn("A3"); table.addColumn("A4");
table.addColumn(""); table.addColumn("E1"); table.addColumn("E3"); table.addColumn("E4");
table.addColumn(" "); table.addColumn("min"); table.addColumn("sec"); table.addColumn("milli");
portName = chooseCOM();
delay(1000);
}
void draw()
{
SavetoCSV();
//serialEvent(myPort); // read and parse incoming serial message
ACouple();
Unrelated();
FunctionsHere();
if(millis() - SaveTime > 5000)
{
saveTable(table, Path);
SaveTime=millis();
}
}
String chooseCOM()
{
setupP2 = true;
try
{
if (debug) printArray(Serial.list());
int i = Serial.list().length;
if (i != 0)
{
if (i >= 2)
{
// need to check which port the inst uses -
// for now we'll just let the user decide
for (int j = 0; j < i; )
{
COMlist += char(j+'a') + " = " + Serial.list()[j];
if (++j < i) COMlist += ", ";
}
COMx = showInputDialog("Which COM port is correct? (a,b,..):\n"+COMlist);
if (COMx == null) exit();
if (COMx.isEmpty()) exit();
i = int(COMx.toLowerCase().charAt(0) - 'a') + 1;
}
String portName = Serial.list()[i-1];
if (debug) //println(portName + " Selected");
myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 115200); // change baud rate to your liking
myPort.bufferUntil(13); // buffer until CR/LF appears, but not required..
return portName;
}
else
{
showMessageDialog(frame, "Device is not connected to the PC");
exit();
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{ //Print the type of error
showMessageDialog(frame, "COM port is not available (may\nbe in use by another program)");
//println("Error:", e);
exit();
}
return "noPort";
}
void serialEvent(Serial myPort)
{
int newLine = 13; // new line character in ASCII
do
{
message = myPort.readStringUntil(newLine); // read from port until new line
if (message != null)
{
String[] list = split(trim(message), " ");
if (list.length == 4 && list[0].equals("i"))
{
yaw = float(list[1]); // convert to float yaw
pitch = float(list[2]); // convert to float pitch
roll = float(list[3]); // convert to float roll
}
else if (list.length == 5 && list[0].equals("s"))
{
A1 = float(list[1]);
A2 = float(list[2]);
A3 = float(list[3]);
A4 = float(list[4]);
}
else if (list.length >=2 && list[0].equals("b"))
{
Battery = int(list[1]);
}
else if (list.length >= 2 && list[0].equals("m"))
{
MACid = int(list[1]);
}
else
{
//print anything extra to console
//println(message);
}
}
} while (message != null);
}
void SavetoCSV()
{
if (A1 != 0)
{
TableRow newRow = table.addRow();
newRow.setFloat("A1", (A1));
newRow.setFloat("A2", (A2));
newRow.setFloat("A3", (A3));
newRow.setFloat("A4", (A4));
//saveTable(table, Path);
}
}
Additional info:
- Processing P3
- For the record, with the rest of my script I can get draw up to 80hz or so
- I'd be okay with saving all the data and parsing it later

Went the buffer route.... I think I'm getting close now. Unsure if I'm saving the data in the right order or if the saving process will halt the rest of the processes...
Code:
import processing.serial.*;
import static javax.swing.JOptionPane.*;
//Arrays to save the data
LinkedList<Integer> A1c = new LinkedList<Integer>();
LinkedList<Integer> A2c = new LinkedList<Integer>();
LinkedList<Integer> A3c = new LinkedList<Integer>();
LinkedList<Integer> A4c = new LinkedList<Integer>();
int bufferLength = 500;
int bufflen = 0;
//Serial port selection
Serial myPort;
String COMx, COMlist = "";
final boolean debug = true;
String portName;
// Data variables
float yaw = 0.0; float pitch = 0.0; float roll = 0.0;
float A1, A2, A3, A4;
//Data log variables
Table table;
String Path = "PathtoFile.csv";
void setup() {
//Set up GIU box
size(1024, 768, P3D);
frameRate(250);
strokeWeight(50);
smooth();
//Set up the logging table
table = new Table();
table.addColumn("A1"); table.addColumn("A2"); table.addColumn("A3"); table.addColumn("A4");
portName = chooseCOM();
}
void draw() {
//SavetoCSV now called within SerialEvent()
//SavetoCSV();
//serialEvent(myPort); // read and parse incoming serial message
Some();
Unrelated();
FunctionsHere();
}
void serialEvent(Serial myPort) {
int newLine = 13; // new line character in ASCII
do {
message = myPort.readStringUntil(newLine); // read from port until new line
if (message != null) {
String[] list = split(trim(message), " ");
if (list.length == 4 && list[0].equals("i")) {
yaw = float(list[1]); // convert to float yaw
pitch = float(list[2]); // convert to float pitch
roll = float(list[3]); // convert to float roll
} else if (list.length == 5 && list[0].equals("s")) {
A1 = float(list[1]);
A2 = float(list[2]);
A3 = float(list[3]);
A4 = float(list[4]);
if (bufflen < bufferLength) {
A1c.push(int(A1));
A2c.push(int(A2));
A3c.push(int(A3));
A4c.push(int(A4));
bufflen++;
}
else{
bufflen = 0;
SavetoCSV();
}
} else if (list.length >=2 && list[0].equals("b")) {
Battery = int(list[1]);
} else if (list.length >= 2 && list[0].equals("m")) {
MACid = int(list[1]);
} else {
//print anything extra to console
//println(message);
}
}
} while (message != null);
}
void SavetoCSV() {
if (A1 != 0) {
for (int i = bufferLength - 1; i >= 0; i--){
if (i < bufferLength){
TableRow newRow = table.addRow();
newRow.setFloat("A1", (A1c.get(i)));
newRow.setFloat("A2", (A2c.get(i)));
newRow.setFloat("A3", (A3c.get(i)));
newRow.setFloat("A4", (A4c.get(i)));
} else saveTable(table, Path);
}
}
}
String chooseCOM() {
setupP2 = true;
try {
if (debug) printArray(Serial.list());
int i = Serial.list().length;
if (i != 0) {
if (i >= 2) {
// need to check which port the inst uses -
// for now we'll just let the user decide
for (int j = 0; j < i; ) {
COMlist += char(j+'a') + " = " + Serial.list()[j];
if (++j < i) COMlist += ", ";
}
COMx = showInputDialog("Which COM port is correct? (a,b,..):\n"+COMlist);
if (COMx == null) exit();
if (COMx.isEmpty()) exit();
i = int(COMx.toLowerCase().charAt(0) - 'a') + 1;
}
String portName = Serial.list()[i-1];
if (debug) //println(portName + " Selected");
myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 115200); // change baud rate to your liking
myPort.bufferUntil(13); // buffer until CR/LF appears, but not required..
return portName;
} else {
showMessageDialog(frame, "Device is not connected to the PC");
exit();
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{ //Print the type of error
showMessageDialog(frame, "COM port is not available (may\nbe in use by another program)");
//println("Error:", e);
exit();
}
return "noPort";
}

Modifying ArrayList object values from another class

I have two classes: class Creature which contains ArrayList boids, and class Food.
Boids have a few parameters:
Creature(float posX, float posY, int t, int bth, int ah) {
location = new PVector(posX, posY);
vel = new PVector(random(-5,5), random(-5, 5));
acc = new PVector();
type = t;
if (t == 1) { btype = bth; }
else { health = bth; }
if (t == 1) { age = ah; }
else { hunger = ah; }
wdelta = 0.0;
action = 0;
if (btype == 1) { mass = 5.0; }
else { mass = 7.0; }
}
Food class has this method:
void foodtime(ArrayList boids) {
for (int i = 0; i < boids.size(); i++) {
Creature boid = (Creature) boids.get(i);
float distance = PVector.dist(location, boid.location);
if (distance < 0.5) {
bnumadj = i;
count++;
if (count == quantity) {
planet.food.remove(this);
count = 0;
bnumadj = -1;
}
}
}
}
What I'm trying to achieve is that if a boid "eats" the food, their boid type (btype) changes from 2 to 1.
I'm trying to use bnumadj variable to feed it back to the boid in this method:
void boid(ArrayList boids) {
for (int i = 0; i < boids.size(); i++) {
if (i == bnumadj) {
this.btype = 1;
bnumadj = -1;
}
}
}
Where am I going wrong?

This seems like a very convoluted way to do this, so I'm not surprised you're having issues. You're comparing values to indexes, which doesn't make a ton of sense to me.
Instead, try using a simple nested loop to do what you want. You can use an Iterator to make it easier to remove items while iterating.
ArrayList<Creature> boids = new ArrayList<Creature>();
ArrayList<Food> food = new ArrayList<Food>();
//populate ArrayLists
void draw(){
for(Creature boid : boids){
Iterator<Food> foodIter = food.iterator();
while(foodIter.hasNext()){
Food f = foodIter.next();
float distance = PVector.dist(boid.location, food.location);
if (distance < 0.5) {
boid.btype = 1;
foodIter.remove(); //removes the food
}
}
}
//draw the scene
}
I suppose you could move the second iteration using the Iterator inside the Creature type, but the basic idea is this: keep it simple by using an Iterator to remove the Food instead of trying to match indexes.

HashMap only printing out last value in JTable row

I really tried searching for the solution to this problem, but I cant seem to get it right. I have an application that Im working on, and I would like to print out all of a customers orders in a JTable with rows. So if a customer has three orders I want it to show each order on a separate row.
With this code (the next block) I got it to work, but it's only printing out the last value. So if I have Order 3 attached to a customer, and then add Order 4, it only shows Order 4.
JButton btnHämtaKund = new JButton("Hämta");
btnHämtaKund.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String searchTerm = sökrutaKund.getText();
Customer c = Controller.findCustomer(searchTerm);
String sum = "";
if (c != null) {
if (c.getOrders() != null) {
for (Order tmp : c.getOrders().values()) {
String date = tmp.getDate();
String price = Double.toString(tmp.getPrice());
String rfd = "";
if (tmp.getRdyForDelivery() == true) {
rfd = "Ready for delivery";
} else if (tmp.getRdyForDelivery() == false) {
rfd = "Processing";
}
model.addRow(new String[] {date, price, rfd});
}
txtfieldTestKund.setText(sum);
} else {
txtfieldTestKund.setText("c.getOrders() == null");
}
} else {
txtfieldTestKund.setText("c == null");
}
}
});
Model is my DefaultModelTable.
I also tried with a for-loop like this in case I was overwriting my last row all the time:
for (int i = 0; i < c.getOrders().size(); i++) {
String date = c.getOrders().get(i).getDate();
String price = Double.toString(c.getOrders().get(i).getPrice());
String rfd = "";
if (c.getOrders().get(i).getRdyForDelivery() == true) {
rfd = "Ready for delivery";
} else if (c.getOrders().get(i).getRdyForDelivery() == false) {
rfd = "Processing";
}
Object row[] = {date, price, rfd};
model.addRow(row);
}
but that just gave a Nullpointerexception.
Any ideas what to do? Really thankful for help!

I had to fix a method to increase the key for each Order i added to Customer, looks like I was overwriting the previous with the last one.
private int counter = 0;
public void add(Order o) {
counter += 1;
String newCounter = Integer.toString(counter);
this.orders.put(newCounter, o);
}

XYPlot doesn't draw all points correctly

I'm trying to display 550 data points with periodic peaks (the flat line is 61). The problem is, that androidplot isn't drawing all the points correctly! From my log:
ECG I values 61,61,62,63,62,61,61,61,61,67,71,68,61,53,61,61,61,61,61,61,61,61,62,63,64,64,64,63,62,61,61,61
I've got the rangeboundaries set to plot.setRangeBoundaries(0,100, BoundaryMode.AUTO);, but as you can see, the peaks never drop to the 53 data point. I can see this lower point sometimes, but it gets smoothed out a fraction of a second later (as you can see in the screenshot).
My line and point formatter is:
LineAndPointFormatter lapf = new LineAndPointFormatter(p.color, null, null, null);
lapf.getLinePaint().setStrokeJoin(Paint.Join.MITER);
lapf.getLinePaint().setStrokeWidth(1);
I've tried with the both Paint.Join.ROUND and Paint.Join.BEVEL and got the same effect. I've also used the debugger to check that 53 is being inserted into the series.
EDIT
After some debugging, it looks like my pulse loop thread is wrong:
while (keepRunning) {
for (PulseXYSeries j : series) {
for (int k = 0; k < j.plotStep; k++) {
int at = (j.position + k) % j.getSize();
if (j.pulsing) {
if (j.pulsePosition == j.pulseValues.size() - 1) {
j.pulsing = false;
j.pulsePosition = 0;
} else {
try {
int pulseVal = j.pulseValues.get(j.pulsePosition);
j.setY(pulseVal,at);
j.pulsePosition += 1;
} catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {
j.pulsePosition = 0;
}
}
} else {
j.setY(j.pulseValues.get(0), at);
long currTime = SystemClock.elapsedRealtime();
if (currTime - j.getLastPulse() >= j.getPulseDelay()) {
j.pulsing = true;
j.setLastPulse(currTime);
}
}
j.remove(((at + j.eraserSize) % j.getSize()));
}
j.position = (j.position + 1) % j.getSize(); // fixed it by changing +1 to + j.plotStep
}
Thread.sleep(delay);
}
My custom series looks like:
private class PulseXYSeries implements XYSeries {
private List<Integer> pulseValues = new ArrayList<Integer>();
private int pulsePerMinute;
public int pulsePosition;
public int position;
private ArrayList<Integer> values;
private String title;
private long lastPulse;
public boolean pulsing = false;
public int eraserSize = 20;
public int plotStep = 3;
}

How can I parse ASCII Art to HTML using Java or Javascript? [closed]

Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.
Questions asking for code must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved. Include attempted solutions, why they didn't work, and the expected results. See also: Stack Overflow question checklist
Closed 9 years ago.
Improve this question
I saw that the Neo4j API uses ASCII Art very cleverly with its API:
http://jaxenter.com/getting-started-with-neo4j-the-java-graph-database-47955.html
I want to try something similar, but with ASCI Art to HTML. How can ASCII art be parsed, so for example, given an ASCII Art input something like:
--------------------------------
I I
I ------- ------- I
I I I I I I
I I A I I B I I
I I I I I I
I ------- ------- I
I I
I I
--------------------------------
: could result in HTML output something like:
<div>
<div style='display:inline;'>
A
</div>
<div style='display:inline;'>
B
</div>
</div>
Update
The question was closed citing that I need to "demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved.". I do have an understanding of the problem to be solved. The problem is that I want to solve is to make templated HTML easier to understand in source code for the following web framework:
https://github.com/zubairq/coils
: although the solution could be applied to any web framework. I have since seen someone attempt to make an initial version in C++ here:
https://github.com/h3nr1x/asciidivs2html/blob/master/asciidivs2html.cpp
: very impressive! If you can get it to work in Java or Clojure then if we can get the question reopened I will nominate a bounty so you can get more points for the solution :)
I ran the Java solution provided by #meewok and here is the result:
$ java AsciiToDIVs.RunConverter
Created a box(ID=0,X=0,Y=0,width=33,height=10)
Created a box(ID=1,X=2,Y=4,width=8,height=5,parent=0)
Created a char(Char=A,X=4,Y=7,parent=1)
Created a box(ID=2,X=2,Y=21,width=8,height=5,parent=0)
Created a char(Char=B,X=4,Y=24,parent=2)
<div><div><div>A</div></div><div><div>B</div></div></div>

Methodology
A solution to implement is the following:
create an in memory 2D array (array of arrays) which is similar to a chessboard.
Then i will create an algorith that when it detects "-" characters, i initialize acall to a method to detect the remaining corners ( top right, bottom left, bottom right) following the characters and where they end.
Example ( quick pseudocode ):
while(selectedCell==I)
selectedCell=selectedCell.goDown();
Using such a strategy you can map out your boxes and which boxes are contained within which.
Remaining would be to print this info as html..
Quick and Dirty Implementation
Since I was in the mood I spent an hour+ to quickly cook up a toy implementation.
The below is non-optimized in respect to that I do not make use of Iterators to go over Cells, and would need refactoring to become a serious framework.
Cell.java
package AsciiToDIVs;
public class Cell {
public char Character;
public CellGrid parentGrid;
private int rowIndex;
private int colIndex;
public Cell(char Character, CellGrid parent, int rowIndex, int colIndex)
{
this.Character = Character;
this.parentGrid = parent;
this.rowIndex = rowIndex;
this.colIndex = colIndex;
}
public int getRowIndex() {
return rowIndex;
}
public int getColIndex() {
return colIndex;
}
}
CellGrid.java
package AsciiToDIVs;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Iterator;
public class CellGrid {
private ArrayList<ArrayList<Cell>> CellGridData;
public CellGrid(String asciiFile) throws IOException {
readDataFile(asciiFile);
}
public ArrayList<FoundObject> findBoxes(FoundBoxObject parent)
{
int startRowIndex = 0, startColIndex = 0,
parentRowLimit = Integer.MAX_VALUE,
parentColLimit = Integer.MAX_VALUE,
startingColIndex = 0;
if(parent != null)
{
startRowIndex = parent.getRowIndex()+1;
startColIndex = startingColIndex = parent.getColIndex()+1;
parentRowLimit = parent.getRowIndex() + parent.getHeight();
parentColLimit = parent.getColIndex() + parent.getWidth();
}
ArrayList<FoundObject> results = new ArrayList<FoundObject>();
Cell currentCell;
if(startRowIndex>=CellGridData.size())
return null;
for(; startRowIndex<CellGridData.size() && startRowIndex<parentRowLimit; startRowIndex++ )
{
startColIndex = startingColIndex;
for(; startColIndex< CellGridData.get(startRowIndex).size() && startColIndex<parentColLimit; startColIndex++)
{
FoundBoxObject withinBox = checkWithinFoundBoxObject(results, startRowIndex, startColIndex);
if(withinBox !=null)
startColIndex+=withinBox.getWidth();
currentCell = getCell(startRowIndex, startColIndex);
if(currentCell!=null)
{
if(currentCell.Character == '-') // Found a TOP-CORNER
{
int boxHeight = getConsecutiveIs(startRowIndex+1, startColIndex) + 1;
if(boxHeight>1)
{
int boxWidth = getConsecutiveDashes(startRowIndex, startColIndex);
FoundBoxObject box = new FoundBoxObject(startRowIndex, startColIndex, boxWidth, boxHeight, parent);
results.add(box);
findBoxes(box);
startColIndex+=boxWidth;
}
}
//This is a character
else if(currentCell.Character != '-' && currentCell.Character != 'I' && currentCell.Character != ' '
&& currentCell.Character != '\n' && currentCell.Character != '\n' && currentCell.Character != '\t')
{
FoundCharObject Char = new FoundCharObject(startRowIndex, startColIndex, parent, currentCell.Character);
results.add(Char);
}
}
}
}
if(parent!=null)
parent.containedObjects = results;
return results;
}
public static String printDIV(ArrayList<FoundObject> objects)
{
String result = "";
Iterator<FoundObject> it = objects.iterator();
FoundObject fo;
while(it.hasNext())
{
result+="<div>";
fo = it.next();
if(fo instanceof FoundCharObject)
{
FoundCharObject fc = (FoundCharObject)fo;
result+=fc.getChar();
}
if(fo instanceof FoundBoxObject)
{
FoundBoxObject fb = (FoundBoxObject)fo;
result+=printDIV(fb.containedObjects);
}
result+="</div>";
}
return result;
}
private FoundBoxObject checkWithinFoundBoxObject(ArrayList<FoundObject> results, int rowIndex, int colIndex)
{
Iterator<FoundObject> it = results.iterator();
FoundObject f;
FoundBoxObject fbox = null;
while(it.hasNext())
{
f = it.next();
if(f instanceof FoundBoxObject)
{
fbox = (FoundBoxObject) f;
if(rowIndex >= fbox.getRowIndex() && rowIndex <= fbox.getRowIndex() + fbox.getHeight())
{
if(colIndex >= fbox.getColIndex() && colIndex <= fbox.getColIndex() + fbox.getWidth())
{
return fbox;
}
}
}
}
return null;
}
private int getConsecutiveDashes(int startRowIndex, int startColIndex)
{
int counter = 0;
Cell cell = getCell(startRowIndex, startColIndex);
while( cell!=null && cell.Character =='-')
{
counter++;
cell = getCell(startRowIndex, startColIndex++);
}
return counter;
}
private int getConsecutiveIs(int startRowIndex, int startColIndex)
{
int counter = 0;
Cell cell = getCell(startRowIndex, startColIndex);
while( cell!=null && cell.Character =='I')
{
counter++;
cell = getCell(startRowIndex++, startColIndex);
}
return counter;
}
public Cell getCell(int rowIndex, int columnIndex)
{
ArrayList<Cell> row;
if(rowIndex<CellGridData.size())
row = CellGridData.get(rowIndex);
else return null;
Cell cell = null;
if(row!=null){
if(columnIndex<row.size())
cell = row.get(columnIndex);
}
return cell;
}
public Iterator<ArrayList<Cell>> getRowGridIterator(int StartRow) {
Iterator<ArrayList<Cell>> itRow = CellGridData.iterator();
int CurrentRow = 0;
while (itRow.hasNext()) {
// Itrate to Row
if (CurrentRow++ < StartRow)
itRow.next();
}
return itRow;
}
private void readDataFile(String asciiFile) throws IOException {
CellGridData = new ArrayList<ArrayList<Cell>>();
ArrayList<Cell> row;
FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream(asciiFile);
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fstream));
String strLine;
// Read File Line By Line
int rowIndex = 0;
while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null) {
CellGridData.add(row = new ArrayList<Cell>());
// System.out.println (strLine);
for (int colIndex = 0; colIndex < strLine.length(); colIndex++) {
row.add(new Cell(strLine.charAt(colIndex), this, rowIndex,colIndex));
// System.out.print(strLine.charAt(i));
}
rowIndex++;
// System.out.println();
}
// Close the input stream
br.close();
}
public String printGrid() {
String result = "";
Iterator<ArrayList<Cell>> itRow = CellGridData.iterator();
Iterator<Cell> itCol;
Cell cell;
while (itRow.hasNext()) {
itCol = itRow.next().iterator();
while (itCol.hasNext()) {
cell = itCol.next();
result += cell.Character;
}
result += "\n";
}
return result;
}
}
FoundBoxObject.java
package AsciiToDIVs;
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class FoundBoxObject extends FoundObject {
public ArrayList<FoundObject> containedObjects = new ArrayList<FoundObject>();
public static int boxCounter = 0;
public final int ID = boxCounter++;
public FoundBoxObject(int rowIndex, int colIndex, int width, int height, FoundBoxObject parent) {
super(rowIndex, colIndex, width, height);
if(parent!=null)
System.out.println("Created a box(" +
"ID="+ID+
",X="+rowIndex+
",Y="+colIndex+
",width="+width+
",height="+height+
",parent="+parent.ID+")");
else
System.out.println("Created a box(" +
"ID="+ID+
",X="+rowIndex+
",Y="+colIndex+
",width="+width+
",height="+height+
")");
}
}
FoundCharObject.java
package AsciiToDIVs;
public class FoundCharObject extends FoundObject {
private Character Char;
public FoundCharObject(int rowIndex, int colIndex,FoundBoxObject parent, char Char) {
super(rowIndex, colIndex, 1, 1);
if(parent!=null)
System.out.println("Created a char(" +
"Char="+Char+
",X="+rowIndex+
",Y="+colIndex+
",parent="+parent.ID+")");
else
System.out.println("Created a char(" +
",X="+rowIndex+
",Y="+colIndex+")");
this.Char = Char;
}
public Character getChar() {
return Char;
}
}
FoundObject.java
package AsciiToDIVs;
public class FoundObject {
private int rowIndex;
private int colIndex;
private int width = 0;
private int height = 0;
public FoundObject(int rowIndex, int colIndex, int width, int height )
{
this.rowIndex = rowIndex;
this.colIndex = colIndex;
this.width = width;
this.height = height;
}
public int getRowIndex() {
return rowIndex;
}
public int getColIndex() {
return colIndex;
}
public int getWidth() {
return width;
}
public int getHeight() {
return height;
}
}
Main Method
public static void main(String args[])
{
try {
CellGrid grid = new CellGrid("ascii.txt");
System.out.println(CellGrid.printDIV(grid.findBoxes(null)));
//System.out.println(grid.printGrid());
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
Update
The 'printDIV' should be like this (more '' were being printed than needed).
public static String printDIV(ArrayList<FoundObject> objects)
{
String result = "";
Iterator<FoundObject> it = objects.iterator();
FoundObject fo;
while(it.hasNext())
{
fo = it.next();
if(fo instanceof FoundCharObject)
{
FoundCharObject fc = (FoundCharObject)fo;
result+=fc.getChar();
}
if(fo instanceof FoundBoxObject)
{
result+="<div>";
FoundBoxObject fb = (FoundBoxObject)fo;
result+=printDIV(fb.containedObjects);
result+="</div>";
}
}
return result;
}

Here's a fairly simple solution in JavaScript, tested via Node. Of course, you'll need to adjust the input and output methods.
var s = "\n\
--------------------------------\n\
I I\n\
I ------- ------- I\n\
I I I I I I\n\
I I A I I B I I\n\
I I I I I I\n\
I ------- ------- I\n\
I I\n\
I I\n\
--------------------------------\n\
";
var lines = s.split('\n');
var outer_box_top_re = /--+/g;
var i;
for (i=0; i<lines.length; i++) {
while ((res = outer_box_top_re.exec(lines[i])) != null) {
L = res.index
R = outer_box_top_re.lastIndex
process_box(i, L, R)
}
}
function process_box(T, L, R) {
console.log('<div top="' + T + '" left="' + L + '" right="' + R + '">')
blank_out(T, L, R)
var i = T;
while (1) {
i += 1;
if (i >= lines.length) {
console.log('Fell off bottom of ascii-art without finding bottom of box');
process.exit(1);
}
var line = lines[i];
if (line[L] == 'I' && line[R-1] == 'I') {
// interior
// Look for (the tops of) sub-boxes.
// (between L+1 and R-2)
var inner_box_top_re = /--+/g;
// Inner and outer need to be separate so that
// inner doesn't stomp on outer's lastIndex.
inner_box_top_re.lastIndex = L+1;
while ((res = inner_box_top_re.exec(lines[i])) != null) {
sub_L = res.index;
sub_R = inner_box_top_re.lastIndex;
if (sub_L > R-1) { break; }
process_box(i, sub_L, sub_R);
}
// Look for any other content (i.e., a box label)
content = lines[i].substring(L+1, R-1);
if (content.search(/[^ ]/) != -1) {
console.log(content);
}
blank_out(i, L, R);
}
else if (line.substring(L,R).match(/^-+$/)) {
// bottom
blank_out(i, L, R);
break;
}
else {
console.log("line " + i + " doesn't contain a valid continuation of the box");
process.exit(1)
}
}
console.log('</div>')
}
function blank_out(i, L, R) {
lines[i] = (
lines[i].substring(0,L)
+ lines[i].substring(L,R).replace(/./g, ' ')
+ lines[i].substring(R)
);
}

What you want is the idea of 2-dimensional parsing, which detects 2D entities and verifies they have legitimate relationships.
See http://mmi.tudelft.nl/pub/siska/TSD%202DVisLangGrammar.pdf‎
What will be difficult is defining the sets of possible "ASCII Art" constraints.
Do only want to to recognize letters? Made only of the same-letter characters?
"cursive" letters? boxes? (Your example has boxes whose sides aren't made of the same
ASCII character). Boxes with arbitrary thick walls? Nested boxes? Diagrams with (thin/fat) arrows? Kilroy-was-here-nose-over-the-wall?
Pictures of Mona Lisa in which character pixels provide density relations?
What exactly do you mean by "ASCII art"?
The real problem is defining the range of things you intend to recognize. If
you limit that range, your odds of success go way up (see the referenced paper).
The problem here has little to to do specifically with Java or Javascript. This is far more related
to algorithms. Pick a limited class of art, choose the right algorithms, and then what you have is a coding problem which should be relatively easy to solve. No limits, no algorithms --> no amount of Javascript will save you.