The SEDRIS Data Representation Model
APPENDIX A - Classes
Union Of Geometry

Abstract Class Name: Union Of Geometry

Superclass - <Aggregate Geometry>

Subclasses

Definition

An instance of one of the concrete subclasses of this abstract DRM class is an aggregation of <Geometry Representation> specifying a standardized mechanism by which to organize the members that compose the union.

Primary Page in DRM Diagram:

Secondary Pages in DRM Diagram:

Example

  1. An antenna assembly is contained in a weather protection enclosure. Visually, only the opaque enclosure can be seen. But at microwave frequencies, the enclosure is invisible and only the antenna can be "seen". The entire structure is contained in a <Union Of Geometry>. What the Radar "sees" is modeled with a Radar Cross-section (RCS) <Property Table>. The algorithm (or field measurements) that computed the RCS table used axes that do not match the SRF (world or model as the case may be). Therefore, RCS axes of azimuth and elevation angle are misused unless some REFERENCE DIRECTIONS can be attached to the entire <Union Of Geometry>.

FAQs

What if a <Model> of the outside of a house, developed for a non-Zbuffered system, has the polygons grouped to render properly in a fixed order? Say the house has four walls and four windows. Assuming the polygons are all grouped together, how would this example be represented in the SEDRIS DRM at the attribute level?

The fixed order of the polygons would be reflected in an <Union Of Primitive Geometry> with the ordering_reason set to SE_ORDRNG_REASON_FIXED_LISTED. The lowest priority <Polygon> instances (the walls) would be specified first and the higher priority polygons (the windows) would be specified last.

What if the house in the previous example were developed for a Zbuffered system?

The polygons would typically be grouped in layers. There are two approaches that could be employed by the modeler depending on how the polygons are grouped.

  1. If all the polygons are one-sided front-facing polygons, then the house could be represented with an <Union Of Geometry Hierarchy> with ordering_reason SE_LAYERED with two children. The first child would be the base layer (all the walls) and the second child (the first decal layer) would contain all the windows. In this case, the polygons under a SE_LAYERED <Union Of Geometry> are not coplanar, but the rendering priority can still be resolved.

  2. If the modeler grouped the layers into coplanar unions of <Polygon> instances, the SEDRIS structure might be represented as <Union Of Geometry> with four layered <Union Of Geometry> (wall and window) would list the wall first and the window next.



When would a <Reference Vector> be a component of a <Union Of Geometry>?

A <Reference Vector> would be used when a <Union Of Geometry> represented a "thing" in the environment. An example of this is a building represented by a <Union Of Geometry>, and which has a <Property Table> of radar cross-sections. The table would need a <Reference Vector> to establish the zero azimuth direction. (See Example 1).

Constraints

Associated to (one-way) (inherited)

Associated by (one-way) (inherited)

Composed of (two-way) (inherited)

Composed of (two-way)

Composed of (two-way metadata) (inherited)

Component of (two-way) (inherited)

Inherited Field Elements

SE_Boolean unique_descendants; (notes)
SE_Boolean strict_organizing_principle; (notes)

Field Elements

SE_Union_Reason union_reason; (notes)
SE_Ordering_Reason ordering_reason; (notes)

Notes

Associated to Notes


Feature_Representation

 An association between a <Feature Representation> instance
 and a <Geometry Hierarchy> instance indicates that the
 environmental object(s) that they represent have the
 semantic relationship indicated by the <Base Association Data>
 instance on the association relationship.

Geometry_Hierarchy

 An association between two <Geometry Hierarchy> instances
 indicates that the environmental object(s) that they
 represent have the semantic relationship indicated by
 the <Base Association Data> instance on the association
 relationship.

Associated from Notes


Feature_Representation

 An association between a <Feature Representation> instance
 and a <Geometry Hierarchy> instance indicates that the
 environmental object(s) that they represent have the
 semantic relationship indicated by the <Base Association Data>
 instance on the association relationship.

Geometry_Hierarchy

 An association between two <Geometry Hierarchy> instances
 indicates that the environmental object(s) that they
 represent have the semantic relationship indicated by
 the <Base Association Data> instance on the association
 relationship.

Hierarchy_Summary_Item

 An association from a <Hierarchy Summary Item> instance to a
 <Geometry Hierarchy> indicates that the <Hierarchy Summary Item>
 summarizes that <Geometry Hierarchy>.

Reference_Surface

 An association from a <Reference Surface> instance to a
 <Geometry Hierarchy> indicates that the <Geometry Hierarchy>
 organizes the geometric objects that specify the resolution
 surface of the <Reference Surface>.

Composed of Notes


Collision_Volume

 In the case where multiple <Collision Volume> components are
 specified for a given <Aggregate Geometry>, the union of the
 volumes thus specified is used in collision detection.

Fields Notes


unique_descendants

 If the value of the unique_descendants field is SE_TRUE, each
 descendant of this aggregation,
 that is, each <Geometry Representation> instance that exists
 in the component tree
 rooted at the given <Aggregate Geometry>, shall be unique, in the
 sense that it shall appear in only one branch of this aggregation.
 If unique_descendants is SE_FALSE, at least one
 <Geometry Representation> instance
 appears in more than one branch of the aggregation.

strict_organizing_principle

 If the value of the strict_organizing_principle field is SE_TRUE,
 each branch of this aggregation
 strictly complies with the organizing principle for its
 particular subclass. If this value is SE_FALSE, at least
 one branch does not strictly comply with the given
 organizing principle. See the organizing principle constraint
 for each specific subclass for details.

union_reason

 The union_reason field specifies the reason why the given instance of
 <Union Of Geometry> was created to organize its components.

ordering_reason

 The ordering_reason field specifies whether the ordering of the
 component <Geometry Representation>
 instances of the given <Union Of Geometry> instance is semantically
 significant, and if so, what that significance is.

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Last updated: July 16, 2004 Copyright © 2004 SEDRIS