The Point Class

The Point Class

The Point class allows you to create two-dimensional points along the horizontal (x) and vertical (y) axes.

It is important when using this class to import it first at the beginning of your script, like this:

 import flash.geom.Point; 

To instantiate a new instance of the Point class, use this code as a template:

 var myPoint:Point = new Point(x, y); 

• x The two-dimensional point on the horizontal axis.

• y The two-dimensional point on the vertical axis.

Example:

This example will create an instance of the Point class at coordinate (5,5) and send it to the Output panel:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); trace(myPoint); //output: (x=5, y=5) 

One other property is not a parameter.

Properties

length

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.length;

Description:

This property will return the length of the line from coordinate (0,0) to the given point.

Example:

This example will create an instance of the Point class at coordinate (5,5) and send the length from (0,0) to the Output panel:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); trace(myPoint.length); //output: 7.07106781186548 

Methods

add

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.add(point);

Parameters:

• point Another Point object to be added to given point.

Returns: Point

The new point will be a combination of the Point object calling the method and point.

Description:

This method will add another point to the given point to create a new point.

Example:

This example will create an instance of the Point class at coordinate (5,5), add the point (4,4), and TRace the result:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = new Point(4,4); trace(myPoint.add(myPoint2)); //output: (x=9, y=9) 

clone

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.clone();

Returns: Point

This method will return an exact duplicate of the Point object it is being called on.

Description:

This method will create an exact copy of the Point object it is being called upon.

Example:

This example will create a Point object, create a copy, and output that copy:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = myPoint.clone(); trace(myPoint2); //output: (x=5, y=5) 

distance

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: Point.distance(point1, point2);

Parameters:

• point1 The first point.

• point2 The second point.

Returns: Number

The distance between the two points in pixels.

Description:

This method will calculate the distance between two points in two-dimensional space and return it in pixels.

Example:

This example will create two points and trace the distance between them:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = new Point(15,20); trace(Point.distance(myPoint, myPoint2)); //output: 18.0277563773199 

equals

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.equals(point);

Parameters:

• point The second Point that myPoint is being compared to.

Returns: Boolean

If the two points are equal, TRue; otherwise, false.

Description:

This method will determine if the two points are equal to one another (that is, have the same coordinates) and return a Boolean value.

Example:

This example will create three points and TRace whether or not they are equal:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = new Point(15,20); var myPoint3:Point = myPoint.clone(); trace(myPoint.equals(myPoint2)); trace(myPoint.equals(myPoint3)); //output: false //         true 

interpolate

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: Point.interpolate(point1, point2, lvl);

Parameters:

• point1 The first Point.

• point2 The second.

• lvl A floating point number between 01 where if 1 is used, point2 will be returned, and if 0 is used, point1 will be returned.

Returns: Point

A point between the two points.

Description:

This method will determine a Point object that resides between the two points. You can use the lvl parameter to control how near to either point the new point should be.

Example:

This example will create a point directly between two points:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = new Point(15,20); trace(Point.interpolate(myPoint, myPoint2, .5)); //output: (x=10, y=12.5) 

normalize

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.normalize(length);

Parameters:

• length The amount to scale the point by.

Description:

This method will normalize a point based on the given length.

Example:

This example will create a normalized point based on the length of 2:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(4,10); myPoint.normalize(2); trace(myPoint); //output: (x=0.742781352708207, y=1.85695338177052) 

offset

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.offset(x, y);

Parameters:

• x The horizontal amount to offset the point by.

• y The vertical amount to offset the point by.

Description:

This method will offset a point by the given (x,y) amounts.

Example:

This example will create a Point and then offset it by (4,4):

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,10); myPoint.offset(4,4); trace(myPoint); //output: (x=9, y=14) 

polar

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: Point.polar(length, angle);

Parameters:

• length The length coordinate from the polar pair.

• angle The angle of the polar pair, in radians.

Returns: Point

The Cartesian point from the polar coordinates.

Description:

This method will convert polar coordinates to a Cartesian point.

Example:

This example will create a Cartesian point based on the polar coordinates.

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = Point.polar(10, 45); trace(myPoint); //output: (x=5.2532198881773, y=8.50903524534118) 

subtract

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.subtract(point);

Parameters:

• point The second point to subtract from myPoint.

Returns: Point

The newly created point based on the difference between the two given points.

Description:

This method will subtract the second point from the Point calling the method and return a new point.

Example:

This example will create a Point and subtract a second point (4,4) from it:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); var myPoint2:Point = new Point(4,4); trace(myPoint.subtract(myPoint2)); //output: (x=1, y=1) 

toString

Availability: FP:8, AS:1.0

Generic Template: myPoint.toString();

Returns: String

The coordinates in the form of a string.

Description:

This method will convert the coordinates into a defined string for output.

Example:

This example will create a Point and send the coordinates to the Output panel:

 import flash.geom.Point; var myPoint:Point = new Point(5,5); trace(myPoint.toString()); //output: (x=5, y=5)