ConvexShape class

[Dejan Geci]

I was looking around the https://github.com/SFML/SFML.Net/pull/41 and it got me thinking...

ConvexShape class is not named properly (http://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/convex.html). It should be named PolygonShape, since we can manually define points that create angles > 180°. Right?

[Chaore]

No Convexe is alright.

According to the tutorial:

Indeed, SFML is unable to draw concave shapes; if you need to draw a concave shape, you'll have to split it into multiple convex polygons (if possible).

For concave shape Thor library has a class to handle this:
http://www.bromeon.ch/libraries/thor/v2.0/doc/classthor_1_1_concave_shape.html

[Laurent]

It's great to start a public discussion about a class without reading its documentation or tutorials first...

It is important to keep in mind that a convex shape must always be... convex, otherwise it may not be drawn correctly.

[Dejan Geci]

Thanks Chaore, you are right. I guess I'm used to reading the source code as documentation, and I didn't see any constraints in the code.

[Nexus]

I guess I'm used to reading the source code as documentation

You must be working a lot with very badly documented software

[zsbzsb]

I didn't see any constraints in the code.

There isn't any constraints imposed by the SFML library, the constraint comes from how OpenGL is able to handle primitive types.

[motherbrain]

It's great to start a public discussion about a class without reading its documentation or tutorials first...

It is important to keep in mind that a convex shape must always be... convex, otherwise it may not be drawn correctly.

In the tutorial it says:

Officially, sf::ConvexShape can only create convex shapes. But in fact, its requirements are a little more relaxed. In fact, the only technical constraint that your shape must follow, is that if you draw a line from its center of gravity to any of its point, you mustn't cross an edge. With this relaxed definition, you can for example draw stars.

[Laurent]

It's more an implementation detail. If one day I change the way convex shapes are drawn, this may not be true anymore. I should probably remove this from the tutorial.