QVM: Quaternions, Vectors, Matrices

Out of the box Boost QVM defines generic yet simple quat, vec and mat types. For example, the following snippet creates a quaternion object that rotates around the X axis:

#include <boost/qvm/quat.hpp>
#include <boost/qvm/quat_operations.hpp>

....
quat<float> rx=rotx_quat(3.14159f);

Similarly, a matrix that translates by a given vector can be created as follows:

#include <boost/qvm/mat.hpp>
#include <boost/qvm/vec.hpp>
#include <boost/qvm/map_vec_mat.hpp>

....
vec<float,3> v={0,0,7};
mat<float,4,4> tr=translation_mat(v);

The usual quaternion, vector and matrix operations work on these Boost QVM types, however the operations are decoupled from any specific types: they work on any suitable type that has been registered by specializing the quat_traits, vec_traits and mat_traits templates.

For example, a user-defined 3D vector type float3 can be introduced to Boost QVM as follows:

#include <boost/qvm/vec_traits.hpp>

struct float3 { float a[3]; };

namespace boost
{
    namespace qvm
    {
        template <>
        struct vec_traits<float3>
        {
            static int const dim=3;
            typedef float scalar_type;

            template <int I> static inline scalar_type & write_element( float3 & v ) { return v.a[I]; }
            template <int I> static inline scalar_type read_element( float3 const & v ) { return v.a[I]; }

            static inline scalar_type & write_element_idx( int i, float3 & v ) { return v.a[i]; } //optional
            static inline scalar_type read_element_idx( int i, float3 const & v ) { return v.a[i]; } //optional
        };
    }
}

After a similar specialization of the mat_traits template for a user-defined 3x3 matrix type float33, the full range of vector and matrix operations defined by Boost QVM headers becomes available automatically:

float3 v;
X(v) = 0;
Y(v) = 0;
Z(v) = 7;
float vmag = mag(v);
float33 m = rotx_mat<3>(3.14159f);
float3 vrot = m * v;

User-defined quaternion types are similarly introduced to Boost QVM by specializing the quat_traits template.

Tutorial navigation: Quaternions, Vectors, Matrices | C Arrays | Views | Swizzling | Interoperability 
 
See also: Boost QVM