| PostgreSQL 7.4.27 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 9-28, 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))' | 
| &< | Overlaps or is left of? | box '((0,0),(1,1))' &< box '((0,0),(2,2))' | 
| &> | Overlaps or is right 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 | popen(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 | point 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(circle) | point | center of circle | point(circle '((0,0),2.0)') | 
| 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.