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Geometry String Functions

The string function for points is one of the most useful, and its form is:
&POINT(ACTION, DATA,

-OPTION)

Here, ACTION must be either COORDINATES, D_NODE, PART, EULER_ANGLES,

N_2NODES, N_BOX, RATIO, DEFLECTION, HOOK_LOC, OFFSET, CLOSE, NEAREST,
or REL_MOTION. The details of DATA vary with ACTION, but normally DATA will be one or
more point names. If ACTION is COORDINATES, this function returns the location of the point
specified with DATA. Here, the location returned will be in the part system, unless one of the options
-BODY or -GLOBAL has been specified. If the point has not been defined, a null string will be
returned. One can use this function during an INMODEL, to define locations which may be required,
provided that the point referenced has been previously defined. If ACTION is D_NODE, the function
will return the distance between the two points specified via DATA. If ACTION is PART, the part
name of the point specified with DATA is returned.
When changing frames of reference, the ACTION EULER_ANGLES may be useful. This action
returns a set of Euler angles from three points specified via DATA. These angles will establish the
new x axis along the line from first point to second, a new Z axis perpendicular to the plane formed
by the three points, and a new Y axis given by the right-hand rule. The Z axis is defined by the cross
product of the X axis and the vector from the first to the third point.
The ACTION N_2NODES returns all points along the line segment between the first point specified
via DATA and the second one. These points will be in order with the first point specified being the
first point returned and the second one specified as the last one returned.
The remaining values ACTION are different than those above in that the DATA are not strictly point
names. The ACTION N_BOX is different from the others in that the data here is a set of global
coordinates: X1, X2, Y1, Y2, Z1, and Z2. The function will return all points which are in the "box"
defined by the six planes defined by these coordinates. The ACTION RATIO will return the last
value of joint unity ratio computed for the specified point, and an ACTION of DEFLECTION will
return the three components of the last computed deflection of the point.
The ACTION HOOK_LOC has a form for DATA of: *NN1, LEN1, *NN2, LEN2, ....., *NN4,
LEN4, and is used to find the global position of a hook which is connected to points *NN1, *NN2,
etc. It assumes that the harness lengths are LEN1, LEN2, ... respectively. This function is useful
primarily in setting up a lifting problem when one models the sling as a collection of flexible
connectors.
The values of ACTION OFFSET and CLOSE are used to find offsets. Normally, they are used in the
definition of connectors. The form of DATA for OFFSET is: *POINT, :SEL, X, Y, Z and for
CLOSE PART_NAME, :SEL, X, Y, Z. Here, X, Y, and Z are locations (feet or meters). For both
values of ACTION, MOSES finds the point closest to a specified location but they differ in detail. For
an ACTION of OFFSET, the specified point is the location of *POINT plus the X, Y, and Z
specified, and any point which matches :SEL in a part different than that of *POINT is a candidate.
The string returned is -GO1, the x, y and z values of the offset from specified point to the "close"
point, and the string *POINT itself. For CLOSE, the specified point is simply the location in the part
PART_NAME defined by X, Y, and Z, and all points which match :SEL are considered for being

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"close". In either case, the vector returned is represented in the part system of the "close" point. As an
example, consider:
CONNECTOR ~CC &POINT(OFFSET *1 @ 0 0 10)

This will define a connector of class ~CC. End 1 of the connector is at a physical location of *1 plus 0
0 10 in the part system of *1 and end two is at *1. This connection is actually defined via the closest
point and an offset and the command set to MOSES will look like
CONNECTOR ~CC -GO1

XX YY ZZ *B22 *1

where XX, YY, ZZ, and *B22 will be values computed so that the end of the connector is at the
correct location.
The ACTION of NEAREST takes a point name and a selector and returns the point which matches
the selector closest to the given point. In particular:
&POINT(NEAREST *R *R@)

will return the name of the point which begins with *R (and which is not *R itself) that is closest the
point *R.
Another useful ACTION is REL_MOTION. Here, data is two point names *P1, *P2, and six
numbers: X-, X+, Y-, Y+, Z-, and Z+. What the function returns is the minimum and maxima of the
relative location between the two points and the values input, i.e. the output is part of the input which
has been modified. This is best seen by example. Suppose that one issues:
&SET ENVEL =
&SET ENVEL = &POINT(REL_MOT *1 *2 %ENVEL )

You will find that at this point X- = X+, Y- = Y+, and Z- = Z+, and X-, Y-, Z- is the vector from *1 to
*2 in the *1 body system. If you issue the second of these commands several times, the result will be
that ENVEL will contain the extremes of the relative position between the two points. From the above
example, if this ACTION is used with null data, the accumulation is initialized. Also, the values
returned are in feet or meters.
Often, one wants to transform vectors from body to global coordinates and conversely. This is easily
accomplished with the string function:
&V_TRANSF(ACTION, BODY_NAME, DATA)

Here, ACTION must be either V_B2G, V_G2B, V_P2B, V_B2P, L_B2G, L_G2B, L_P2B, L_B2P,
F_B2G, F_G2B, F_P2B, or F_B2P and DATA is either three or six coordinates (feet or meters) or
six force components (bforce, bforce-feet or meters). The function takes the input and transforms it,
returning the same number of components as DATA input. If ACTION begins with: a V then a simple
vector rotation will be performed, with an L a rotation and a translation will be performed, and with
an F a force transformation will be performed. The remainder of ACTION defines the direction of the
transformation. The action B2G transforms a body representation into a global one, and G2B the
inverse. The action P2B transforms a part representation into a body one, and B2P the inverse.

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