Using integers instead of reals for coordinates



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Using integers instead of reals for coordinates

This saves space and execution time. However, attention must be paid to scaling since that is no longer automatic. Also, some current workstations process reals as fast as integers in some cases. Scaling with either reals or integers may cause intersections to vanish or appear, although this will happen more with the coarser-grained integers. See Franklin[ ] for some problems with integers in graphics. Here, the errors in the areas will be on the order of the square of the resolution. One advantage of OVERPROP is that it is less sensitive to these errors since it uses less topology.



Wm Randolph Franklin
Wed Dec 14 14:03:28 EST 1994