Spatial.lua - A minimal spatial database.

[veethree]

Spatial.lua is a minimal spatial database library.

Proper documentation on Github as usual.

Basic usage:
Load it

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spatial = require("spatial")

Make a database

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data = spatial.new()

The new function can optionally take a cell size argument. It defaults to 64

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data = spatial.new(64)

Add items to it

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item = {x = 100, y = 100, foo = "foo", bar = {"b", "a", "r"}}
data:insert(item.x, item.y, item)

The insert function also returns the item back to you.

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item = data:insert(item.x, item.y, item)

Remove items

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data:remove(item)

Query the database

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--Get all items
items = data:query()

-- Get filtered items, This will return all items with an x value greater than 100.
items = data:query(function(item) return item.x > 100 end)

-- Get items inside a rectangle
items = data:queryRect(10, 10, 100, 100)

-- Get items from a point
items = data:queryPoint(64, 64)

Note that the queryRect & queryPoint return all items that are inside the cells that the rectangle or point intersect with. This is because Spatial doesn't require that the items you put in it actually have a position. Also all query functions also return the number if items the query found.

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items, len = data:query()

Also also, All query functions have an optional filter argument.

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items, len = data:queryPoint(100, 100, function(item) return item.x > 100 end)

About filters
A filter is just a function, That gets called for every item in the query with the following arguments:

• item: A reference to the item

• cell_x & cell_y: The cell the item lives in

• index: The index the item occupies inside the cell

If the filter function returns true (Or any truthy value), The item is included, Otherwise it's omitted.

The demo creates 1.000.000 objects and scatters them across a large area, Then uses spatial to render only the ones visible on the screen. It can take a little while to load if you're on a older machine. Or just crash because it runs out of memory. in which case sorry.
Although it runs just fine on my mid 2012 macbook pro running manjaro.

Hope someone finds this useful. If you're looking for something more comprehensive, Have a look at bump.lua, It does all the same stuff, Plus collisions!

[dusoft]

This is way too cool You can also use it as a parallax scroll with a few changes, I guess.

[veethree]

This is way too cool You can also use it as a parallax scroll with a few changes, I guess.

Thank You!
The camera module in the demo actually offers that functionality. Although enabling it would take a few extra steps because the actual position of the object, And the position it ends up being rendered at are different.