| PostgreSQL 8.0.1 Documentation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prev | Fast Backward | Chapter 9. Functions and Operators | Fast Forward | Next |
9.10. Geometric Functions and Operators
The geometric types point, box, lseg, line, path, polygon, and circle have a large set of native support functions and operators, shown in Table 9-28, Table 9-29, and Table 9-30.
Table 9-28. Geometric Operators
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| + | Translation | box '((0,0),(1,1))' + point '(2.0,0)' |
| - | Translation | box '((0,0),(1,1))' - point '(2.0,0)' |
| * | Scaling/rotation | box '((0,0),(1,1))' * point '(2.0,0)' |
| / | Scaling/rotation | box '((0,0),(2,2))' / point '(2.0,0)' |
| # | Point or box of intersection | '((1,-1),(-1,1))' # '((1,1),(-1,-1))' |
| # | Number of points in path or polygon | # '((1,0),(0,1),(-1,0))' |
| @-@ | Length or circumference | @-@ path '((0,0),(1,0))' |
| @@ | Center | @@ circle '((0,0),10)' |
| ## | Closest point to first operand on second operand | point '(0,0)' ## lseg '((2,0),(0,2))' |
| <-> | Distance between | circle '((0,0),1)' <-> circle '((5,0),1)' |
| && | Overlaps? | box '((0,0),(1,1))' && box '((0,0),(2,2))' |
| &< | Does not extend to the right of? | box '((0,0),(1,1))' &< box '((0,0),(2,2))' |
| &> | Does not extend to the left of? | box '((0,0),(3,3))' &> box '((0,0),(2,2))' |
| << | Is left of? | circle '((0,0),1)' << circle '((5,0),1)' |
| >> | Is right of? | circle '((5,0),1)' >> circle '((0,0),1)' |
| <^ | Is below? | circle '((0,0),1)' <^ circle '((0,5),1)' |
| >^ | Is above? | circle '((0,5),1)' >^ circle '((0,0),1)' |
| ?# | Intersects? | lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))' ?# box '((-2,-2),(2,2))' |
| ?- | Is horizontal? | ?- lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))' |
| ?- | Are horizontally aligned? | point '(1,0)' ?- point '(0,0)' |
| ?| | Is vertical? | ?| lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))' |
| ?| | Are vertically aligned? | point '(0,1)' ?| point '(0,0)' |
| ?-| | Is perpendicular? | lseg '((0,0),(0,1))' ?-| lseg '((0,0),(1,0))' |
| ?|| | Are parallel? | lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))' ?|| lseg '((-1,2),(1,2))' |
| ~ | Contains? | circle '((0,0),2)' ~ point '(1,1)' |
| @ | Contained in or on? | point '(1,1)' @ circle '((0,0),2)' |
| ~= | Same as? | polygon '((0,0),(1,1))' ~= polygon '((1,1),(0,0))' |
Table 9-29. Geometric Functions
| Function | Return Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
area(object) | double precision | area | area(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
box_intersect(box, box) | box | intersection box | box_intersect(box '((0,0),(1,1))',box '((0.5,0.5),(2,2))') |
center(object) | point | center | center(box '((0,0),(1,2))') |
diameter(circle) | double precision | diameter of circle | diameter(circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
height(box) | double precision | vertical size of box | height(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
isclosed(path) | boolean | a closed path? | isclosed(path '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
isopen(path) | boolean | an open path? | isopen(path '[(0,0),(1,1),(2,0)]') |
length(object) | double precision | length | length(path '((-1,0),(1,0))') |
npoints(path) | integer | number of points | npoints(path '[(0,0),(1,1),(2,0)]') |
npoints(polygon) | integer | number of points | npoints(polygon '((1,1),(0,0))') |
pclose(path) | path | convert path to closed | pclose(path '[(0,0),(1,1),(2,0)]') |
popen(path) | path | convert path to open | popen(path '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
radius(circle) | double precision | radius of circle | radius(circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
width(box) | double precision | horizontal size of box | width(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
Table 9-30. Geometric Type Conversion Functions
| Function | Return Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
box(circle) | box | circle to box | box(circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
box(point, point) | box | points to box | box(point '(0,0)', point '(1,1)') |
box(polygon) | box | polygon to box | box(polygon '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
circle(box) | circle | box to circle | circle(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
circle(point, double precision) | circle | center and radius to circle | circle(point '(0,0)', 2.0) |
lseg(box) | lseg | box diagonal to line segment | lseg(box '((-1,0),(1,0))') |
lseg(point, point) | lseg | points to line segment | lseg(point '(-1,0)', point '(1,0)') |
path(polygon) | point | polygon to path | path(polygon '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
point(double precision, double precision) | point | construct point | point(23.4, -44.5) |
point(box) | point | center of box | point(box '((-1,0),(1,0))') |
point(circle) | point | center of circle | point(circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
point(lseg) | point | center of lseg | point(lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))') |
point(lseg, lseg) | point | intersection | point(lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))', lseg '((-2,-2),(2,2))') |
point(polygon) | point | center of polygon | point(polygon '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
polygon(box) | polygon | box to 4-point polygon | polygon(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
polygon(circle) | polygon | circle to 12-point polygon | polygon(circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
polygon(npts, circle) | polygon | circle to npts-point polygon | polygon(12, circle '((0,0),2.0)') |
polygon(path) | polygon | path to polygon | polygon(path '((0,0),(1,1),(2,0))') |
It is possible to access the two component numbers of a point as though it were an array with indices 0 and 1. For example, if t.p is a point column then SELECT p[0] FROM t retrieves the X coordinate and UPDATE t SET p[1] = ... changes the Y coordinate. In the same way, a value of type box or lseg may be treated as an array of two point values.
The area function works for the types box, circle, and path. The area function only works on the path data type if the points in the path are non-intersecting. For example, the path '((0,0),(0,1),(2,1),(2,2),(1,2),(1,0),(0,0))'::PATH won't work, however, the following visually identical path '((0,0),(0,1),(1,1),(1,2),(2,2),(2,1),(1,1),(1,0),(0,0))'::PATH will work. If the concept of an intersecting versus non-intersecting path is confusing, draw both of the above paths side by side on a piece of graph paper.
