Math::Vec(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Math::Vec(3)NAMEMath::Vec - Object-Oriented Vector Math Methods in Perl
SYNOPSIS
use Math::Vec;
$v = Math::Vec->new(0,1,2);
or
use Math::Vecqw(NewVec);
$v = NewVec(0,1,2);
@res = $v->Cross([1,2.5,0]);
$p = NewVec(@res);
$q = $p->Dot([0,1,0]);
or
use Math::Vec qw(:terse);
$v = V(0,1,2);
$q = ($v x [1,2.5,0]) * [0,1,0];
NOTICE
This module is still somewhat incomplete. If a function does nothing,
there is likely a really good reason. Please have a look at the code
if you are trying to use this in a production environment.
AUTHOR
Eric L. Wilhelm <ewilhelm at cpan dot org>
http://scratchcomputing.com
DESCRIPTION
This module was adapted from Math::Vector, written by Wayne M.
Syvinski.
It uses most of the same algorithms, and currently preserves the same
names as the original functions, though some aliases have been added to
make the interface more natural (at least to the way I think.)
The "object" for the object oriented calling style is a blessed array
reference which contains a vector of the form [x,y,z]. Methods will
typically return a list.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright (C) 2003-2006 Eric Wilhelm
portions Copyright 2003 Wayne M. Syvinski
NO WARRANTY
Absolutely, positively NO WARRANTY, neither express or implied, is
offered with this software. You use this software at your own risk.
In case of loss, neither Wayne M. Syvinski, Eric Wilhelm, nor anyone
else, owes you anything whatseover. You have been warned.
Note that this includes NO GUARANTEE of MATHEMATICAL CORRECTNESS. If
you are going to use this code in a production environment, it is YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY to verify that the methods return the correct values.
LICENSE
You may use this software under one of the following licenses:
(1) GNU General Public License
(found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html)
(2) Artistic License
(found at http://www.perl.com/pub/language/misc/Artistic.html)
SEE ALSO
Math::Vector
Constructor
new
Returns a blessed array reference to cartesian point ($x, $y, $z),
where $z is optional. Note the feed-me-list, get-back-reference syntax
here. This is the opposite of the rest of the methods for a good
reason (it allows nesting of function calls.)
The z value is optional, (and so are x and y.) Undefined values are
silently translated into zeros upon construction.
$vec = Math::Vec->new($x, $y, $z);
NewVec
This is simply a shortcut to Math::Vec->new($x, $y, $z) for those of
you who don't want to type so much so often. This also makes it easier
to nest / chain your function calls. Note that methods will typically
output lists (e.g. the answer to your question.) While you can simply
[bracket] the answer to make an array reference, you need that to be
blessed in order to use the $object->method(@args) syntax. This
function does that blessing.
This function is exported as an option. To use it, simply use
Math::Vecqw(NewVec); at the start of your code.
use Math::Vecqw(NewVec);
$vec = NewVec($x, $y, $z);
$diff = NewVec($vec->Minus([$ovec->ScalarMult(0.5)]));
Terse Functions
These are all one-letter shortcuts which are imported to your namespace
with the :terse flag.
use Math::Vec qw(:terse);
V
This is the same as Math::Vec->new($x,$y,$z).
$vec = V($x, $y, $z);
U
Shortcut to V($x,$y,$z)->UnitVector()
$unit = U($x, $y, $z);
This will also work if called with a vector object:
$unit = U($vector);
X
Returns an x-axis unit vector.
$xvec = X();
Y
Returns a y-axis unit vector.
$yvec = Y();
Z
Returns a z-axis unit vector.
$zvec = Z();
Overloading
Best used with the :terse functions, the Overloading scheme introduces
an interface which is unique from the Methods interface. Where the
methods take references and return lists, the overloaded operators will
return references. This allows vector arithmetic to be chained
together more easily. Of course, you can easily dereference these with
@{$vec}.
The following sections contain equivelant expressions from the longhand
and terse interfaces, respectively.
Negation:
@a = NewVec->(0,1,1)->ScalarMult(-1);
@a = @{-V(0,1,1)};
Stringification:
This also performs concatenation and other string operations.
print join(", ", 0,1,1), "\n";
print V(0,1,1), "\n";
$v = V(0,1,1);
print "$v\n";
print "$v" . "\n";
print $v, "\n";
Addition:
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Plus([2,2]);
@a = @{V(0,1,1) + V(2,2)};
# only one argument needs to be blessed:
@a = @{V(0,1,1) + [2,2]};
# and which one is blessed doesn't matter:
@a = @{[0,1,1] + V(2,2)};
Subtraction:
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Minus([2,2]);
@a = @{[0,1,1] - V(2,2)};
Scalar Multiplication:
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->ScalarMult(2);
@a = @{V(0,1,1) * 2};
@a = @{2 * V(0,1,1)};
Scalar Division:
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->ScalarMult(1/2);
# order matters!
@a = @{V(0,1,1) / 2};
Cross Product:
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Cross([0,1]);
@a = @{V(0,1,1) x [0,1]};
@a = @{[0,1,1] x V(0,1)};
Dot Product:
Also known as the "Scalar Product".
$a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Dot([0,1]);
$a = V(0,1,1) * [0,1];
Note: Not using the '.' operator here makes everything more efficient.
I know, the * is not a dot, but at least it's a mathematical operator
(perl does some implied string concatenation somewhere which drove me
to avoid the dot.)
Comparison:
The == and != operators will compare vectors for equal direction and
magnitude. No attempt is made to apply tolerance to this equality.
Length:
$a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Length();
$a = abs(V(0,1,1));
Vector Projection:
This one is a little different. Where the method is written
$a->Proj($b) to give the projection of $b onto $a, this reads like you
would say it (b projected onto a): $b>>$a.
@a = NewVec(0,1,1)->Proj([0,0,1]);
@a = @{V(0,0,1)>>[0,1,1]};
Chaining Operations
The above examples simply show how to go from the method interface to
the overloaded interface, but where the overloading really shines is in
chaining multiple operations together. Because the return values from
the overloaded operators are all references, you dereference them only
when you are done.
Unit Vector left of a line
This comes from the CAD::Calc::line_to_rectangle() function.
use Math::Vec qw(:terse);
@line = ([0,1],[1,0]);
my ($a, $b) = map({V(@$_)} @line);
$unit = U($b - $a);
$left = $unit x -Z();
Length of a cross product
$length = abs($va x $vb);
Vectors as coordinate axes
This is useful in drawing eliptical arcs using dxf data.
$val = 3.14159; # the 'start parameter'
@c = (14.15973317961194, 6.29684276451746); # codes 10, 20, 30
@e = (6.146127847120538, 0); # codes 11, 21, 31
@ep = @{V(@c) + \@e}; # that's the axis endpoint
$ux = U(@e); # unit on our x' axis
$uy = U($ux x -Z()); # y' is left of x'
$center = V(@c);
# autodesk gives you this:
@pt = ($a * cos($val), $b * sin($val));
# but they don't tell you about the major/minor axis issue:
@pt = @{$center + $ux * $pt[0] + $uy * $pt[1]};;
Precedence
The operator precedence is going to be whatever perl wants it to be. I
have not yet investigated this to see if it matches standard vector
arithmetic notation. If in doubt, use parentheses.
One item of note here is that the 'x' and '*' operators have the same
precedence, so the leftmost wins. In the following example, you can
get away without parentheses if you have the cross-product first.
# dot product of a cross product:
$v1 x $v2 * $v3
($v1 x $v2) * $v3
# scalar crossed with a vector (illegal!)
$v3 * $v1 x $v2
Methods
The typical theme is that methods require array references and return
lists. This means that you can choose whether to create an anonymous
array ref for use in feeding back into another function call, or you
can simply use the list as-is. Methods which return a scalar or list
of scalars (in the mathematical sense, not the Perl SV sense) are
exempt from this theme, but methods which return what could become one
vector will return it as a list.
If you want to chain calls together, either use the NewVec constructor,
or enclose the call in square brackets to make an anonymous array out
of the result.
my $vec = NewVec(@pt);
my $doubled = NewVec($vec->ScalarMult(0.5));
my $other = NewVec($vec->Plus([0,2,1], [4,2,3]));
my @result = $other->Minus($doubled);
$unit = NewVec(NewVec(@result)->UnitVector());
The vector objects are simply blessed array references. This makes for
a fairly limited amount of manipulation, but vector math is not
complicated stuff. Hopefully, you can save at least two lines of code
per calculation using this module.
Dot
Returns the dot product of $vec 'dot' $othervec.
$vec->Dot($othervec);
DotProduct
Alias to Dot()
$number = $vec->DotProduct($othervec);
Cross
Returns $vec x $other_vec
@list = $vec->Cross($other_vec);
# or, to use the result as a vec:
$cvec = NewVec($vec->Cross($other_vec));
CrossProduct
Alias to Cross() (should really strip out all of this clunkiness and go
to operator overloading, but that gets into other hairiness.)
$vec->CrossProduct();
Length
Returns the length of $vec
$length = $vec->Length();
Magnitude
$vec->Magnitude();
UnitVector
$vec->UnitVector();
ScalarMult
Factors each element of $vec by $factor.
@new = $vec->ScalarMult($factor);
Minus
Subtracts an arbitrary number of vectors.
@result = $vec->Minus($other_vec, $another_vec?);
This would be equivelant to:
@result = $vec->Minus([$other_vec->Plus(@list_of_vectors)]);
VecSub
Alias to Minus()
$vec->VecSub();
InnerAngle
Returns the acute angle (in radians) in the plane defined by the two
vectors.
$vec->InnerAngle($other_vec);
DirAngles
$vec->DirAngles();
Plus
Adds an arbitrary number of vectors.
@result = $vec->Plus($other_vec, $another_vec);
PlanarAngles
If called in list context, returns the angle of the vector in each of
the primary planes. If called in scalar context, returns only the
angle in the xy plane. Angles are returned in radians counter-
clockwise from the primary axis (the one listed first in the pairs
below.)
($xy_ang, $xz_ang, $yz_ang) = $vec->PlanarAngles();
Ang
A simpler alias to PlanarAngles() which eliminates the concerns about
context and simply returns the angle in the xy plane.
$xy_ang = $vec->Ang();
VecAdd
$vec->VecAdd();
UnitVectorPoints
Returns a unit vector which points from $A to $B.
$A->UnitVectorPoints($B);
InnerAnglePoints
Returns the InnerAngle() between the three points. $Vert is the vertex
of the points.
$Vert->InnerAnglePoints($endA, $endB);
PlaneUnitNormal
Returns a unit vector normal to the plane described by the three
points. The sense of this vector is according to the right-hand rule
and the order of the given points. The $Vert vector is taken as the
vertex of the three points. e.g. if $Vert is the origin of a
coordinate system where the x-axis is $A and the y-axis is $B, then the
return value would be a unit vector along the positive z-axis.
$Vert->PlaneUnitNormal($A, $B);
TriAreaPoints
Returns the angle of the triangle formed by the three points.
$A->TriAreaPoints($B, $C);
Comp
Returns the scalar projection of $B onto $A (also called the component
of $B along $A.)
$A->Comp($B);
Proj
Returns the vector projection of $B onto $A.
$A->Proj($B);
PerpFoot
Returns a point on line $A,$B which is as close to $pt as possible (and
therefore perpendicular to the line.)
$pt->PerpFoot($A, $B);
Incomplete Methods
The following have yet to be translated into this interface. They are
shown here simply because I intended to fully preserve the function
names from the original Math::Vector module written by Wayne M.
Syvinski.
TripleProduct
$vec->TripleProduct();
IJK
$vec->IJK();
OrdTrip
$vec->OrdTrip();
STV
$vec->STV();
Equil
$vec->Equil();
perl v5.14.1 2011-06-20 Math::Vec(3)
