Wiki / Data Types / Geometric
line
infinite line on a plane
Reading PostgreSQL 18.6.
PG10–20 core source inventory. Casts and operator classes show explicitly declared relationships; absent rows do not rule out coercions or indexing through other mechanisms.
Definition
infinite line on a plane
line
- Catalog name
- pg_catalog.line
- Type OID
- 628
- Type kind
- Base type
- Declared length
- 24 bytes
- Storage strategy
- plain
- Input function
- line_in
- Output function
- line_out
- Documented declaration
- line
- Storage Size
- 24 bytes
- Manual description
- Infinite line
- Representation
- {A,B,C}
English manual
Read the complete manual section
Read the source definition
8.8. Geometric Types
Geometric data types represent two-dimensional spatial objects. Table 8.20 shows the geometric types available in PostgreSQL.
Table 8.20. Geometric Types
| Name | Storage Size | Description | Representation |
|---|---|---|---|
point |
16 bytes | Point on a plane | (x,y) |
line |
24 bytes | Infinite line | {A,B,C} |
lseg |
32 bytes | Finite line segment | [(x1,y1),(x2,y2)] |
box |
32 bytes | Rectangular box | (x1,y1),(x2,y2) |
path |
16+16n bytes | Closed path (similar to polygon) | ((x1,y1),...) |
path |
16+16n bytes | Open path | [(x1,y1),...] |
polygon |
40+16n bytes | Polygon (similar to closed path) | ((x1,y1),...) |
circle |
24 bytes | Circle | <(x,y),r> (center point and radius) |
In all these types, the individual coordinates are stored as double precision (float8) numbers.
A rich set of functions and operators is available to perform various geometric operations such as scaling, translation, rotation, and determining intersections. They are explained in Section 9.11.
8.8.1. Points
Points are the fundamental two-dimensional building block for geometric types. Values of type point are specified using either of the following syntaxes:
(x,y)x,y
where x and y are the respective coordinates, as floating-point numbers.
Points are output using the first syntax.
8.8.2. Lines
Lines are represented by the linear equation Ax + By + C = 0, where A and B are not both zero. Values of type line are input and output in the following form:
{ A, B, C }
Alternatively, any of the following forms can be used for input:
[ (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) ] ( (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) ) (x1,y1) , (x2,y2)x1,y1,x2,y2
where ( and x1,y1)( are two different points on the line.x2,y2)
8.8.3. Line Segments
Line segments are represented by pairs of points that are the endpoints of the segment. Values of type lseg are specified using any of the following syntaxes:
[ (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) ] ( (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) ) (x1,y1) , (x2,y2)x1,y1,x2,y2
where ( and x1,y1)( are the end points of the line segment.x2,y2)
Line segments are output using the first syntax.
8.8.4. Boxes
Boxes are represented by pairs of points that are opposite corners of the box. Values of type box are specified using any of the following syntaxes:
( (x1,y1) , (x2,y2) ) (x1,y1) , (x2,y2)x1,y1,x2,y2
where ( and x1,y1)( are any two opposite corners of the box.x2,y2)
Boxes are output using the second syntax.
Any two opposite corners can be supplied on input, but the values will be reordered as needed to store the upper right and lower left corners, in that order.
8.8.5. Paths
Paths are represented by lists of connected points. Paths can be open, where the first and last points in the list are considered not connected, or closed, where the first and last points are considered connected.
Values of type path are specified using any of the following syntaxes:
[ (x1,y1) , ... , (xn,yn) ] ( (x1,y1) , ... , (xn,yn) ) (x1,y1) , ... , (xn,yn) (x1,y1, ... ,xn,yn)x1,y1, ... ,xn,yn
where the points are the end points of the line segments comprising the path. Square brackets ([]) indicate an open path, while parentheses (()) indicate a closed path. When the outermost parentheses are omitted, as in the third through fifth syntaxes, a closed path is assumed.
Paths are output using the first or second syntax, as appropriate.
8.8.6. Polygons
Polygons are represented by lists of points (the vertices of the polygon). Polygons are very similar to closed paths; the essential semantic difference is that a polygon is considered to include the area within it, while a path is not.
An important implementation difference between polygons and paths is that the stored representation of a polygon includes its smallest bounding box. This speeds up certain search operations, although computing the bounding box adds overhead while constructing new polygons.
Values of type polygon are specified using any of the following syntaxes:
( (x1,y1) , ... , (xn,yn) ) (x1,y1) , ... , (xn,yn) (x1,y1, ... ,xn,yn)x1,y1, ... ,xn,yn
where the points are the end points of the line segments comprising the boundary of the polygon.
Polygons are output using the first syntax.
8.8.7. Circles
Circles are represented by a center point and radius. Values of type circle are specified using any of the following syntaxes:
< (x,y) ,r> ( (x,y) ,r) (x,y) ,rx,y,r
where ( is the center point and x,y)r is the radius of the circle.
Circles are output using the first syntax.
Catalog attributes
Source bootstrap values for this build. See pg_type for field meanings. Header defaults are included; build-dependent constants remain symbolic. This is not a live-server measurement.
oid628descrgeometric line, formats '{A,B,C}'/'[point1,point2]'typacl_null_typlen24typelemfloat8typnamelinetypsendline_sendtyptypebtypaligndtyparray0typbyvalftypdelim','typinputline_intypmodin-typndims0typownerPOSTGREStyprelid0typmodout-typoutputline_outtyptypmod-1typanalyze-typdefault_null_typnotnullftypreceiveline_recvtypstorageptypbasetype0typcategoryGtypcollation0typisdefinedttypnamespacepg_catalogtypsubscriptraw_array_subscript_handlertypdefaultbin_null_array_type_oid629typispreferredfarray_type_name_line
Operator overloads 18
Each operand signature is a separate overload. Catalog implementation functions and result types belong to the same source build.
| Operator | Left operand | Right operand | Result | Meaning | Implementation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<-> | point | line | float8 | distance between | dist_pl |
<-> | line | point | float8 | distance between | dist_lp |
<-> | lseg | line | float8 | distance between | dist_sl |
<-> | line | lseg | float8 | distance between | dist_ls |
<-> | line | line | float8 | distance between | line_distance |
?# | lseg | line | bool | intersect | inter_sl |
?# | line | box | bool | intersect | inter_lb |
<@ | point | line | bool | point on line | on_pl |
<@ | lseg | line | bool | lseg on line | on_sl |
## | point | line | point | closest point to A on B | close_pl |
## | line | lseg | point | closest point to A on B | close_ls |
?# | line | line | bool | intersect | line_intersect |
?|| | line | line | bool | parallel | line_parallel |
?-| | line | line | bool | perpendicular | line_perp |
?- | None (unary) | line | bool | horizontal | line_horizontal |
?| | None (unary) | line | bool | vertical | line_vertical |
= | line | line | bool | equal | line_eq |
# | line | line | point | intersection point | line_interpt |
Version comparison
PostgreSQL 17.11 → 18.6. Source build identifiers and prose are excluded from attribute changes.
No catalog or structured attribute changes between these samples.
The documentation also differs between these builds; inspect the versioned manual definitions.
Documentation and source
- Build
- 18.6 · https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2
- Fingerprint
555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f
Related entries
All Data Types · Download this version as JSON · The first recorded sample does not establish when a type was introduced.