<lineSegment>

<lineSegment> is a Graphical component that renders a line segment when nested within a <graph> component.

Attributes and Properties

Example: Default <lineSegment>

<graph size="small" xmin="-2" xmax="2" ymin="-2" ymax="2">
  <lineSegment/>
</graph>

Without any attributes, the default <lineSegment> has endpoints $(0,0)$ and $(1,0)$.

Example: <lineSegment> with rendered endpoints

<graph size="small">
  <lineSegment name="segment1" endpoints="(0,0) (6,6)"/>
  <pointList styleNumber="2">
    $segment1.endpoints
  </pointList>
</graph>

The endpoints property of a named <lineSegment> can be rendered on a <graph> with the macro $name.property.

Example: <lineSegment> constrained to a grid

The endpoints of a <lineSegment> are predefined as constrained points, thereby constraining the segment to a grid as well.

Attribute Example: endpoints

The endpoints attribute takes as an input a list of two points.

Attribute Example: draggable

<p>Try dragging each of the line segments.</p>
<graph size="small">
  <lineSegment name="segment1" endpoints="(0,0) (6,6)"/>
  <lineSegment name="segment2" draggable="false" endpoints="(-2,4) (5,-2)" styleNumber="2"/>
</graph>
 
<p>Blue lineSegment, <c>draggable</c> = $segment1.draggable</p>
<p>Red lineSegment, <c>draggable</c> = $segment2.draggable</p>

The draggable attribute determines whether the <lineSegment> can be dragged around the <graph>. All graphical objects are draggable by default.

Attribute Example: endpointsDraggable

<p>Try dragging the endpoints of each of the line segments.</p>
<graph size="small">
  <lineSegment name="segment1" endpoints="(0,0) (6,6)"/>
  <lineSegment name="segment2" endpointsDraggable="false" endpoints="(-2,4) (5,-2)" styleNumber="2"/>
</graph>
 
<p>Blue lineSegment, <c>endpointsDraggable</c> = $segment1.endpointsDraggable</p>
<p>Red lineSegment, <c>endpointsDraggable</c> = $segment2.endpointsDraggable</p>

Endpoints are draggable by default. Use the endpointsDraggable attribute set to false to disable users from changing the shape and length of the <lineSegment>. The segment as a whole can still be repositioned on the <graph>.

Attribute Example: showCoordsWhenDragging

<p>Drag the endpoints of each of the line segments.</p>
<graph size="small">
  <lineSegment name="segment1" endpoints="(0,0) (6,6)"/>
  <lineSegment name="segment2"  endpoints="(-2,4) (5,-2)" styleNumber="2" showCoordsWhenDragging="false"/>
</graph>
 
<p>Blue lineSegment, <c>showCoordsWhenDragging</c> = $segment1.showCoordsWhenDragging</p>
<p>Red lineSegment, <c>showCoordsWhenDragging</c> = $segment2.showCoordsWhenDragging</p>

By default, a light-grey set of coordinates is shown while the user drags the endpoints of the line segment. To turn off this default behavior, set the showCoordsWhenDragging attribute to false.

Attribute Example: Standard graphical attributes

The uses of the following standard graphical attributes are illustrated: hide, fixLocation, layer, styleNumber, applyStyleToLabel and labelIsName.

Property Example: numDimensions

The numDimensions property returns the number of dimesions of the <lineSegment>.

Property Example: length

The length property returns the length of the <lineSegment>.

Property Example: slope

The slope property returns the slope of the <lineSegment>.