Three storage schema for polygon meshes are presented:
| Method | Characterized by | Efficient Storage | Ease of Calculation | Shared Edges or Vertices? | Closure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explicit | Each of the polygons is stored as a n-tuple of XYZ coordinate pairs in an array. | NO | YES | NO | YES |
| Pointer to Vertex List | Vertices stored as XYZ tuples, Polygons are created from vertices. | YES | YES | NO | YES |
| Pointer to Edge List |
Vertices stored as XYZ tuples. Edges stored as pair of vertices and 1 or 2 polygons. Polygons are created from edges. |
YES | YES | Edges - YES | YES |
Detailed notes in pdf format (49 KB)
G. Hill Price