Data Structure
DCEL is more than just a doubly linked list of edges. In the general case, a DCEL contains a record for each edge, vertex and face of the subdivision. Each record may contain additional information, for example, a face may contain the name of the area. Each edge usually bounds two faces and it is therefore convenient to regard each edge as half-edge. Each half-edge bounds a single face and thus has a pointer to that face. A half-edge has a pointer to the next half-edge and previous half-edge of the same face. To reach the other face, we can go to the twin of the half-edge and then traverse the other face. Each half-edge also has a pointer to its origin vertex (the destination vertex can be obtained by querying the origin of its twin).
Each vertex v contains the coordinates of the vertex and also stores a pointer to an arbitrary edge that has v as its origin. Each face stores a pointer to some half-edge of its outer boundary (if the face is unbounded then pointer is null). It also has a list of half-edges, one for each hole that may be incident within the face. If the vertices or faces do not hold any interesting information, there is no need to store them, thus saving space and reducing the data structure complexity.
Read more about this topic: Doubly Connected Edge List
Famous quotes containing the words data and/or structure:
“Mental health data from the 1950’s on middle-aged women showed them to be a particularly distressed group, vulnerable to depression and feelings of uselessness. This isn’t surprising. If society tells you that your main role is to be attractive to men and you are getting crow’s feet, and to be a mother to children and yours are leaving home, no wonder you are distressed.”
—Grace Baruch (20th century)
“When a house is tottering to its fall,
The strain lies heaviest on the weakest part,
One tiny crack throughout the structure spreads,
And its own weight soon brings it toppling down.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)