| PostgreSQL 8.3.23 Documentation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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The geometric types point, box, lseg, line, path, polygon, and circle have a large set of native support functions and operators, shown in Table 9-29, Table 9-30, and Table 9-31.
| Caution |
|
Note that the "same as" operator, ~=, represents the usual notion of equality for the point, box, polygon, and circle types. Some of these types also have an = operator, but = compares for equal areas only. The other scalar comparison operators (<= and so on) likewise compare areas for these types. |
Table 9-29. 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))' |
| << | Is strictly left of? | circle '((0,0),1)' << circle '((5,0),1)' |
| >> | Is strictly right of? | circle '((5,0),1)' >> circle '((0,0),1)' |
| &< | 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 strictly below? | box '((0,0),(3,3))' <<| box '((3,4),(5,5))' |
| |>> | Is strictly above? | box '((3,4),(5,5))' |>> box '((0,0),(3,3))' |
| &<| | Does not extend above? | box '((0,0),(1,1))' &<| box '((0,0),(2,2))' |
| |&> | Does not extend below? | box '((0,0),(3,3))' |&> box '((0,0),(2,2))' |
| <^ | Is below (allows touching)? | circle '((0,0),1)' <^ circle '((0,5),1)' |
| >^ | Is above (allows touching)? | 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))' |
Note: Before PostgreSQL 8.2, the containment operators @> and <@ were respectively called ~ and @. These names are still available, but are deprecated and will eventually be retired.
Table 9-30. Geometric Functions
| Function | Return Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
area(object) |
double precision | area | area(box '((0,0),(1,1))') |
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) |
int | number of points | npoints(path '[(0,0),(1,1),(2,0)]') |
npoints(polygon) |
int | 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 9-31. 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) |
circle(polygon) |
circle | polygon to circle | circle(polygon '((0,0),(1,1),(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) |
path | 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 line segment | point(lseg '((-1,0),(1,0))') |
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 can 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.