# split¶

In [1]:
import math
from pyx import *

circle = path.circle(0, 0, 5/math.pi)
opencircle, = circle.split(circle.begin())

c = canvas.canvas()

def showsplit(x, y, path, splitpoints, description):
c.text(x, y, description, [text.halign.center, text.vshift.mathaxis])
segments = path.transformed(trafo.translate(x, y)).split(splitpoints)
print("path sement lengths for %s'':" % description)
for segment, segment_color in zip(segments, [color.rgb.red, color.rgb.green, color.rgb.blue]):
print("  %s" % segment.arclen())
c.stroke(segment, [deco.earrow.normal, style.linestyle.dashed, segment_color])
print()

showsplit(0, 0, opencircle, [opencircle.begin()+1, opencircle.end()-1], "open, $p_1 < p_2$")
showsplit(0, -5, opencircle, [opencircle.end()-1, opencircle.begin()+1], "open, $p_1 > p_2$")

showsplit(5, 0, circle, [circle.begin()+1, circle.end()-1], "closed, $p_1 < p_2$")
showsplit(5, -5, circle, [circle.end()-1, circle.begin()+1], "closed, $p_1 > p_2$")

c

path sement lengths for open, $p_1 < p_2$'':
(0.010000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.080000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.010000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m

path sement lengths for open, $p_1 > p_2$'':
(0.090000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.080000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.090000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m

path sement lengths for closed, $p_1 < p_2$'':
(0.020000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.080000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m

path sement lengths for closed, $p_1 > p_2$'':
(0.180000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m
(0.080000 t + 0.000000 u + 0.000000 v + 0.000000 w + 0.000000 x) m


Out[1]:

Splitting of paths at several points, which are not ordered along the path, might look a little stange at first. This gallery example will show you the basic procedure PyX applies for that case.

First of all, the order of the points is always preserved. The first segment returned by the split method ends at the first splitting point, the second segment goes from the first splitting point to the second splitting point (and maybe this path element will thus have a different orientation than the original path). Finally, for an open path the last item in the list of returned segments will go from the last splitting point to the end of the path. However, for a closed path this last path item is prepended to the first segment returned by the split method. Thus for a closed path the first segment will always go from the last to the first splitting point.

In the given example four circles are shown, which have a circumference of 10 cm each and a counter clockwise orientation. We always use two split points, one is located 1 cm after the beginning of the path, the other is located 1 cm before the end of the path. On the left side the circle is open on the right point of the horizontal line going through the center of the circle. The three segments are stroked in red, green, and blue. Note that on the bottom, where the point close to the end of the path is used as the first splitting point, the second segment (shown in green, best visible by the arrow) has a reverse orientation. Still, the sum of all segments is the full path, when taking into account the reverse orientation of the second segment. Please also note the lengths of the segment shown in the output of the script.

Now the result on the right side should not be surprising anymore. The red segment is given by joining the blue and the red segment from the version shown on the left. However, this means that the red arrow in the lower right is longer than one loop of the path, in fact it is 18 cm long, almost two times the circumference.