MeshRegion

MeshRegion[{p1,p2,},{mcell1[{i1,}],mcell2[{j1,}],}]

yields a mesh with cells mcellj, where coordinates given as integer i are taken to be pi.

MeshRegion[,{,wi[mcelli[]],}]

yields a mesh with cell properties defined by the symbolic wrapper wi.

MeshRegion[mreg,opts]

yields a mesh from a mesh region mreg with options opts.

Details and Options

  • MeshRegion is also known as a simplicial complex or cell complex.
  • MeshRegion can represent a piecewise linear region of any geometric dimension embedded in dimension 1, 2, or 3.
  • MeshRegion[] displays in a notebook as a plot of a mesh region.
  • MeshRegion is typically created using functions such as DelaunayMesh, DiscretizeGraphics, and DiscretizeRegion.
  • The region represented by MeshRegion consists of the disjoint union of mesh cells.
  • MeshRegion has an embedding dimension that is equal to the length of each point pi and can be found using RegionEmbeddingDimension.
  • Each cell has a geometric dimension and can be found using RegionDimension.
  • Possible mesh cells mcelli and their geometric dimensions:
  • Point[i]0point
    Line[{i1,i2,}]1line segments {i1,i2}, {i2,i3},
    Triangle[{i1,i2,i3}]2filled triangle
    Polygon[{i1,i2,}]2filled polygon
    Polyhedron[{{ii,i2,},}]3filled polyhedron
    Tetrahedron[{i1,,i4}]3filled tetrahedron
    Hexahedron[{i1,,i8}]3filled hexahedron
    Pyramid[{i1,,i5}]3filled pyramid
    Prism[{i1,,i6}]3filled prism
    Simplex[{i1,,ik}]0, 1, 2, 3filled simplex
  • Tetrahedron, Hexahedron, Pyramid, and Prism can only be used with 3D coordinates.
  • Point, Line, Triangle, Polygon, Polyhedron, Tetrahedron, Hexahedron, Pyramid, Prism, and Simplex all have multi-cell specifications as well.
  • The following special wrappers wi can be used for cells:
  • Labeled[cell,]display the cell with labeling
    Style[cell,]show the cell with the specified style
    Annotation[cell,namevalue]associate the annotation name->value with cell
  • Each cell in a MeshRegion is given a unique MeshCellIndex of the form {d,i}, where d is the geometric dimension and i is the index.
  • For purposes of selecting cells of a MeshRegion, the following cell specifications may be used:
  • {d,i}cell with index i of dimension d
    {d,ispec}cells with index specification ispec of dimension d
    {dspec,}cells of dimensions given by dspec
    h[{i1,}]explicit cell with head h and vertex indices i1,
    {c1,c2,}list of explicit cells ci
  • The index specification ispec can have the following form:
  • icell index i
    {i1,i2,}cells with indices ik
    Allall cells
    pattcells with indices matching the pattern patt
  • The dimension specification dspec can have the following form:
  • dexplicit dimension d
    Allall dimensions from 0 to geometric dimension of region
    pattdimensions matching the pattern patt
  • MeshRegion is always converted to an optimized representation and treated as raw by functions like AtomQ and for purposes of pattern matching.
  • MeshRegion has the same options as Graphics for embedding dimension 2 and the same options as Graphics3D for embedding dimension 3 with the following additions and changes:
  • MeshCellLabel Automaticlabels and placement for cells
    MeshCellShapeFunction Automaticshape functions for cells
    MeshCellStyle Automaticstyles for cells
    MeshCellHighlight {}list of highlighted cells
    MeshCellMarker 0integer markers for cells
    PlotTheme $PlotThemeoverall theme for the mesh
  • Possible settings for PlotTheme include common base themes, font features themes, and size features themes.
  • Mesh feature themes affect the plots of mesh cells. Themes include:
  • "Points"0D cells
    "Lines"1D cells, wireframe
    "Polygons"2D cells
  • Rendering feature themes affect the rendering of meshes. Themes include:
  • "SampledPoints"sampled points from mesh cells
    "SphereAndTube"points as spheres and lines as tubes
    "SmoothShading"smooth shading
    "FaceNormals"normal for each 2D cell
    "LargeMesh"optimized for large number of cells
  • Style and other specifications for cells are effectively applied in the order MeshCellStyle, Style, and other wrappers, with later specifications overriding earlier ones.
  • Label style and other specifications for cell labels are effectively applied in the order MeshCellLabel and Labeled, with later specifications overriding earlier ones.
  • MeshRegion can be used with functions such as RegionMember, RegionDistance, RegionMeasure, and NIntegrate.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (6)

A 1D (curve) mesh region in 1D:

Label each point with its index:

A 1D (curve) mesh region in 2D:

Label each point with its index:

A 2D (surface) mesh region in 3D with each point labeled by its index:

A 3D (volume) mesh region in 3D with points labeled by its index:

A mesh region containing cells of mixed dimensions:

A volume mesh region in 3D from DelaunayMesh:

Find its volume:

Scope  (41)

Regions in 1D  (3)

A strictly 0D MeshRegion is a point set:

Label the points with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 1D MeshRegion is a collection of line segments:

Label the segments with HighlightMesh:

A MeshRegion can combine elements of different dimensions:

Separate them with DimensionalMeshComponents:

Regions in 2D  (4)

A strictly 0D MeshRegion is a point set:

Label the points with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 1D MeshRegion is a collection of line segments:

Label the segments with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 2D MeshRegion is a collection of polygonal faces:

Label the faces with HighlightMesh:

A MeshRegion can combine elements of different dimensions:

Separate them with DimensionalMeshComponents:

Regions in 3D  (5)

A strictly 0D MeshRegion is a point set:

Label the points with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 1D MeshRegion is a collection of line segments:

Label the segments with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 2D MeshRegion is a collection of polygonal faces:

Label the faces with HighlightMesh:

A strictly 3D MeshRegion is a collection of polyhedral volumes:

Polyhedral volume cells include Tetrahedron, Prism, Pyramid, and Hexahedron:

A MeshRegion can combine elements of different dimensions:

Presentation  (11)

MeshCellLabel can be used to label the parts of a MeshRegion:

The labels do not have to be strings:

Labeled can be used as a wrapper to label cells when constructing a MeshRegion:

The labels do not need to be strings:

MeshCellMarker can be used to mark parts of a MeshRegion:

MeshCellStyle can be used to set the Style of components of a MeshRegion:

Style can be used as a wrapper to style cells when constructing a MeshRegion:

Use a theme to draw 0D cells:

Use a theme to draw 1D cells or a wireframe:

Use a theme to draw 2D cells:

Use a theme to draw sampled points from mesh cells:

Use a theme to smooth shading:

Use a theme to draw normals for each 2D cell:

Region Properties  (8)

Embedding dimension:

Geometric dimension:

Point membership test:

Visualize it:

Measure is ArcLength for a 1D mesh, Area for a 2D mesh, and Volume for a 3D mesh:

Compute and visualize the centroids of each:

Distance from a point:

Visualize it:

Signed distance from a point:

Visualize it:

Nearest point in the region:

Visualize it:

A MeshRegion is always bounded:

Get its bounds:

Visualize the bounding box:

Integrate over a MeshRegion:

Mesh Properties  (10)

MeshCellCount returns the number of cells matching a given dimension or cell specification:

Get the number of 1D cells:

When no cell specification is given, the value for each dimension is returned:

MeshCells returns the cells in the mesh matching a given dimension or cell specification:

Get the 1D cells:

Individual cell indices or sets of cell indices can be used:

MeshCellIndex gets the index of a cell or set of cells in a mesh:

MeshCoordinates gets the coordinates of the mesh:

This list of coordinates is what the MeshCells refer to:

MeshPrimitives returns the primitives that make up the mesh:

Individual cell indices or sets of cell indices can be used:

DimensionalMeshComponents separates out components of a mesh with different dimensions:

ConnectedMeshComponents separates out components of a mesh based on connectivity:

MeshCellMeasure can be used to get the measures of a set of cells in a mesh:

The appropriate measure is used for each dimension:

MeshCellCentroid can be used to get the centroids of a set of cells in a mesh:

Visualize it:

MeshCellQuality can be used to get the quality of a set of cells in a mesh:

Options  (114)

AlignmentPoint  (1)

Specify the position to be aligned in 3D Inset, using coordinates:

AspectRatio  (1)

Use numerical values for AspectRatio:

Axes  (2)

Draw all the axes:

Draw the axis but not the axis:

AxesEdge  (2)

Choose the bounding box edges automatically to draw the axes:

Choose the bounding box edges automatically to draw the axes:

AxesLabel  (2)

Place a label for the axis:

Specify a label for each axis:

AxesOrigin  (2)

Determine where the axes cross automatically:

Specify the axes' origin explicitly:

AxesStyle  (2)

Specify the overall axes style, including the ticks and the tick labels:

Specify the style of each axis:

Background  (1)

Specify a background color:

BaselinePosition  (3)

Align the center of a graphic with the baseline of the text:

Specify the baseline of a graphic as a fraction of the height by using Scaled:

Use the axis of a graphic as the baseline:

BaseStyle  (2)

Set the starting style:

Set multiple starting styles:

Boxed  (2)

Draw the edges of the bounding box:

Do not draw the edges of the bounding box:

BoxRatios  (2)

Specify the ratios between the bounding box edges:

Use the actual coordinate values for the ratios:

BoxStyle  (1)

Use dashed lines for the bounding box:

Epilog  (1)

Draw a disk above the graphic, including the axes:

FaceGrids  (4)

Put grids on every face of a 3D graphic:

Put grids on both faces:

Put face grids on the plane:

On the plane, put grid lines on , , and :

FaceGridsStyle  (1)

Specify the overall style of face grids:

Frame  (2)

Draw a frame around the whole graphic:

Draw a frame on the left and the right edges:

FrameLabel  (2)

Specify frame labels for the bottom and the left edges:

Specify labels for each edge:

FrameStyle  (2)

Specify the overall frame style:

Specify the style of each frame edge:

FrameTicks  (3)

Put a frame, but no ticks:

Tick mark labels on the bottom and the left frame edges:

Frame ticks on the bottom and the right edges:

FrameTicksStyle  (2)

Specify frame tick and frame tick label style:

Specify frame tick style for each edge:

GridLines  (3)

Put grids across a 2D graphic:

Draw grid lines at specific positions:

Specify the style of each grid:

GridLinesStyle  (1)

Specify the overall grid style:

ImageMargins  (3)

Allow no margins outside of ImageSize:

Have 20-point margins on all sides:

Draw grid lines at specific positions:

ImagePadding  (4)

Leave no padding outside the plot range:

Leave enough padding for all objects and labels that are present:

Specify the same padding for all sides in printer's points:

Specify the same padding for all sides in printer's points:

ImageSize  (3)

Use predefined symbolic sizes:

Use an explicit image width:

Use an explicit image width and height:

LabelStyle  (1)

Specify the overall style of all the label-like elements:

Lighting  (4)

Ambient light is uniformly applied to all the surfaces in the scene:

Directional lights with different colors:

Point lights with different colors:

Spotlights with different colors:

MeshCellHighlight  (3)

MeshCellHighlight allows you to specify highlighting for parts of a MeshRegion:

By making faces transparent, the internal structure of a 3D MeshRegion can be seen:

Individual cells can be highlighted using their cell index:

Or by the cell itself:

MeshCellLabel  (3)

MeshCellLabel can be used to label parts of a MeshRegion:

Label the vertices and edges of a polygon:

Individual cells can be labeled using their cell index:

Or by the cell itself:

MeshCellMarker  (1)

MeshCellMarker can be used to assign values to parts of a MeshRegion:

Use MeshCellLabel to show the markers:

MeshCellShapeFunction  (2)

MeshCellShapeFunction allows you to specify functions for parts of a MeshRegion:

Individual cells can be drawn using their cell index:

Or by the cell itself:

MeshCellStyle  (3)

MeshCellStyle allows you to specify styling for parts of a MeshRegion:

By making faces transparent, the internal structure of a 3D MeshRegion can be seen:

Individual cells can be styled using their cell index:

Or by the cell itself:

PlotLabel  (2)

Display a label on the top of the graphic in TraditionalForm:

Use Style and other typesetting functions to modify how the label appears:

PlotRange  (3)

Display all objects:

Explicitly choose and ranges:

Force clipping at the PlotRange:

PlotRange -> s is equivalent to PlotRange -> {{-s, s}, {-s, s}}:

PlotRangeClipping  (2)

Allow graphics objects to spread beyond PlotRange:

Clip all graphics objects at PlotRange:

PlotRangePadding  (3)

Include 1 coordinate unit of padding on all sides:

Include padding using Scaled coordinates:

Specify different padding on each side:

PlotRegion  (3)

The contents of a graphic use the whole region:

Limit the contents of the graphic to the middle half of the region in each direction:

ImagePadding can also be used to add padding around a graphic:

PlotTheme  (9)

Base Themes  (2)

Use a common base theme:

Use a monochrome theme:

Feature Themes  (7)

Use a theme to draw 0D cells:

Use a theme to draw 1D cells or a wireframe:

Use a theme to draw 2D cells:

Use a theme to draw sampled points from mesh cells:

Use a theme to draw points as spheres and lines as tubes:

Use a theme to smooth shading:

Use a theme to draw normals for each 2D cell:

Prolog  (1)

Define a simple graphic to use as a background:

Use it in multiple mesh regions:

RotateLabel  (2)

Specify that vertical frame labels should be rotated:

Specify that vertical frame labels should not be rotated:

SphericalRegion  (2)

Make a sequence of images be consistently sized, independent of orientation:

Without SphericalRegion, each image is made as big as possible:

Ticks  (3)

Draw the axes but no tick marks:

Place tick marks automatically:

Draw tick marks at specific positions:

TicksStyle  (2)

Specify the styles of the ticks and tick labels:

Specify the styles of and axis ticks separately:

ViewAngle  (1)

Use a specific angle for a simulated camera:

ViewCenter  (1)

Place the top-right corner of the object at the center of the final image:

ViewMatrix  (1)

Orthographic view of a mesh region from the negative direction:

ViewPoint  (3)

Specify the view point using the special scaled coordinates:

Use symbolic view points:

Specify orthographic views:

ViewRange  (2)

By default, the range is sufficient to include all the objects:

Specify the minimum and maximum distances from the camera to be included:

ViewVector  (1)

Specify the view vectors using ordinary coordinates:

ViewVertical  (2)

Use the axis direction as the vertical direction in the final image:

Various views of vertical directions:

Applications  (9)

Curves  (4)

Extract the lines from a MeshRegion to make a wireframe mesh:

The indices given in MeshCells correspond to MeshCoordinates:

Compare properties:

Compute the perimeter of a regular polygon:

Compute perimeter lengths:

The perimeter approaches as the number of sides goes to infinity:

Create a mesh region of a Koch curve using a Lindenmayer system:

Define a function for interpreting characters in the production string to coordinates using turtle graphics:

Initial parameters for interpreting the production string:

Compute coordinates of the Koch curve from the production string:

Generate mesh regions from the coordinates:

Find a formula for the length of the Koch curve at iteration :

Convert a graph to a MeshRegion:

Some 2D embedded graphs:

You can compute with these as geometric regions:

Some 3D embedded graphs:

You can still compute with them:

You can, for instance, compute the curve integral across these curves:

Surfaces  (3)

Create a surface mesh by extruding a 2D curve mesh:

Some examples with planar layouts:

You can compute with the resulting regions, in this case computing surface integrals:

Directly generate a rectangular grid mesh. Here IndexFlatten flattens out the position index in the same way that Flatten would flatten it:

Alternatively, generate the same mesh region as the product of 1D meshes:

Generalize the direct method above to generate a mesh region corresponding to a pattern matrix:

Some simple patterns:

More involved patterns:

Volumes  (2)

Directly generate a rectangular grid mesh. Here IndexFlatten flattens out the position index in the same way that Flatten would flatten it:

Alternatively, generate the same mesh region as the product of 1D meshes:

Generalize the direct method above to generate a mesh region corresponding to a pattern matrix:

A simple pattern:

More involved patterns:

Use the idea above to construct a Seidel mesh, i.e. a mesh region with tunnels going in every direction without crossing:

By converting to a boundary mesh and styling it, it becomes easier to comprehend:

Properties & Relations  (9)

MeshRegion can have any geometric dimension:

MeshRegion is always bounded:

Use BoundedRegionQ to test and RegionBounds for actual bounds:

MeshRegionQ can be used to test whether a region is a MeshRegion:

Use DelaunayMesh to create a MeshRegion from a set of points:

Use TriangulateMesh to convert a BoundaryMeshRegion to a MeshRegion:

Use DiscretizeRegion to convert any region to MeshRegion:

Use DiscretizeGraphics to convert Graphics to MeshRegion:

Use Show to convert any MeshRegion to Graphics:

MeshRegion is usually more memory intensive than BoundaryMeshRegion:

Wolfram Research (2014), MeshRegion, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html (updated 2022).

Text

Wolfram Research (2014), MeshRegion, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html (updated 2022).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2014. "MeshRegion." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2022. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2014). MeshRegion. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2023_meshregion, author="Wolfram Research", title="{MeshRegion}", year="2022", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html}", note=[Accessed: 19-March-2024 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2023_meshregion, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={MeshRegion}, year={2022}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MeshRegion.html}, note=[Accessed: 19-March-2024 ]}