Name
qhull, rbox 2019.1 2019/06/21
Convex hull, Delaunay triangulation, Voronoi diagrams, Halfspace intersection
Documentation:
html/index.htm
<http://www.qhull.org/html>
Available from:
<http://www.qhull.org>
<http://www.qhull.org/download>
<http://github.com/qhull/qhull/wiki> (git@github.com:qhull/qhull.git)
News and a paper:
<http://www.qhull.org/news>
<http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.117.405>
Version 1 (simplicial only):
<http://www.qhull.org/download/qhull-1.0.tar.gz>
Purpose
Qhull is a general dimension convex hull program that reads a set
of points from stdin, and outputs the smallest convex set that contains
the points to stdout. It also generates Delaunay triangulations, Voronoi
diagrams, furthest-site Voronoi diagrams, and halfspace intersections
about a point.
Rbox is a useful tool in generating input for Qhull; it generates
hypercubes, diamonds, cones, circles, simplices, spirals,
lattices, and random points.
Qhull produces graphical output for Geomview. This helps with
understanding the output. <http://www.geomview.org>
Environment requirements
Qhull and rbox should run on all 32-bit and 64-bit computers. Use
an ANSI C or C++ compiler to compile the program. The software is
self-contained. It comes with examples and test scripts.
Qhull's C++ interface uses the STL. The C++ test program uses QTestLib
from the Qt Framework.
Qhull is copyrighted software. Please read COPYING.txt and REGISTER.txt
before using or distributing Qhull.
To cite Qhull, please use
Barber, C.B., Dobkin, D.P., and Huhdanpaa, H.T., "The Quickhull
algorithm for convex hulls," ACM Trans. on Mathematical Software,
22(4):469-483, Dec 1996, http://www.qhull.org.
To modify Qhull, particularly the C++ interface
Qhull is on GitHub
(http://github.com/qhull/qhull/wiki, git@github.com:qhull/qhull.git)
For internal documentation, see html/qh-code.htm
To install Qhull
Qhull is precompiled for Windows 32-bit, otherwise it needs compilation.
Qhull includes Makefiles for gcc and other targets, CMakeLists.txt for CMake,
.sln/.vcproj/.vcxproj files for Microsoft Visual Studio, and .pro files
for Qt Creator. It compiles under Windows with mingw.
Install and build instructions follow.
See the end of this document for a list of distributed files.
-----------------
Index
Installing Qhull on Windows 10, 8, 7 (32- or 64-bit), Windows XP, and Windows NT
Installing Qhull on Unix with gcc
Installing Qhull with CMake 2.6 or later
Installing Qhull with Qt
Working with Qhull's C++ interface
Calling Qhull from C programs
Compiling Qhull with Microsoft Visual C++
Compiling Qhull with Qt Creator
Compiling Qhull with mingw on Windows
Compiling Qhull with cygwin on Windows
Compiling from Makfile without gcc
Compiling on other machines and compilers
Distributed files
Authors
-----------------
Installing Qhull on Windows 10, 8, 7 (32- or 64-bit), Windows XP, and Windows NT
The zip file contains rbox.exe, qhull.exe, qconvex.exe, qdelaunay.exe,
qhalf.exe, qvoronoi.exe, testqset.exe, user_eg*.exe, documentation files,
and source files. Qhull.exe and user-eg3.exe are compiled with the reentrant
library while the other executables use the non-reentrant library.
To install Qhull:
- Unzip the files into a directory (e.g., named 'qhull')
- Click on QHULL-GO or open a command window into Qhull's bin directory.
- Test with 'rbox D4 | qhull'
To uninstall Qhull
- Delete the qhull directory
To learn about Qhull:
- Execute 'qconvex' for a synopsis and examples.
Or 'qconvex --help' or 'qconvex -?'
- Execute 'rbox 10 | qconvex' to compute the convex hull of 10 random points.
- Execute 'rbox 10 | qconvex i TO file' to write results to 'file'.
- Browse the documentation: qhull\html\index.htm
- If an error occurs, Windows sends the error to stdout instead of stderr.
Use 'TO xxx' to send normal output to xxx
To improve the command window
- Double-click the window bar to increase the size of the window
- Right-click the window bar
- Select Properties
- Check QuickEdit Mode
Select text with right-click or Enter
Paste text with right-click
- Change Font to Lucinda Console
- Change Layout to Screen Buffer Height 999, Window Size Height 55
- Change Colors to Screen Background White, Screen Text Black
- Click OK
- Select 'Modify shortcut that started this window', then OK
If you regularly use qhull on a Windows host, install a bash shell such as
https://gitforwindows.org/ # based on MSYS2
https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki
http://www.msys2.org/
https://github.com/msys2/msys2/wiki
[mar'19] Git for Windows v2.21 requires 'qhull --help'
Install in C:\Git\... # Not 'Program Files\...' otherwise './configure && make' fails
www.cygwin.com
www.mingw.org/wiki/msys # for Windows XP
Road Bash (www.qhull.org/bash) # based on MSYS
-----------------
Installing Qhull on Unix with gcc
To build Qhull, static libraries, shared library, and C++ interface
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- make
- export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PWD/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
The Makefiles may be edited for other compilers.
If 'testqset' exits with an error, qhull is broken
A simple Makefile for Qhull is in src/libqhull and src/libqhull_r.
To build the Qhull executables and libqhullstatic
- Extract Qhull from qhull...tgz or qhull...zip
- cd src/libqhull_r # cd src/libqhull
- make
-----------------
Installing Qhull with CMake 2.6 or later
See CMakeLists.txt for examples and further build instructions
To build Qhull, static libraries, shared library, and C++ interface
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- cd build
- cmake --help # List build generators
- make -G "<generator>" .. && cmake ..
- cmake ..
- make
- make install
The ".." is important. It refers to the parent directory (i.e., qhull/)
On Windows, CMake installs to C:/Program Files/qhull. 64-bit generators
have a "Win64" tag. Qhull's data structures are substantial larger as
64-bit code than as 32-bit code. This may slow down Qhull.
If creating a qhull package, please include a pkg-config file based on build/qhull*.pc.in
If cmake fails with "No CMAKE_C_COMPILER could be found"
- cmake was not able to find the build environment specified by -G "..."
-----------------
Installing Qhull with Qt
To build Qhull, including its C++ test (qhulltest)
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Load src/qhull-all.pro into QtCreator
- Build
- qhulltest depends on shared libraries QtCore.a and QtTest.a. They may need to be copied
into the bin directory. On Windows, copy Qt5Core.dll and Qt5Test.dll, e.g., qt/5.11.2/msvc2017_64/bin
- If qhulltest fails without an error message, check for missing Q54Core.dll and Qt5Test.dll
-------------------
Working with Qhull's C++ interface
See html/qh-code.htm#cpp for calling Qhull from C++ programs
See html/qh-code.htm#reentrant for converting from Qhull-2012
Examples of using the C++ interface
user_eg3_r.cpp
qhulltest/*_test.cpp
Qhull's C++ interface is likely to change. Stay current with GitHub.
To clone Qhull's next branch from http://github.com/qhull/qhull/wiki
git init
git clone git@github.com:qhull/qhull.git
cd qhull
git checkout next
...
git pull origin next
Compile qhullcpp and libqhullstatic_r with the same compiler. Both libraries
use the C routines setjmp() and longjmp() for error handling. They must
be compiled with the same compiler.
-------------------
Calling Qhull from C programs
See html/qh-code.htm#library for calling Qhull from C programs
See html/qh-code.htm#reentrant for converting from Qhull-2012
Warning: You will need to understand Qhull's data structures and read the
code. Most users will find it easier to call Qhull as an external command.
The reentrant 'C' code (src/libqhull_r), passes a pointer to qhT
to most Qhull routines. This allows multiple instances of Qhull to run
at the same time. It simplifies the C++ interface.
The non-reentrant 'C' code (src/libqhull) looks unusual. It refers to
Qhull's global data structure, qhT, through a 'qh' macro (e.g., 'qh ferr').
This allows the same code to use static memory or heap memory.
If qh_QHpointer is defined, qh_qh is a pointer to an allocated qhT;
otherwise qh_qh is a global static data structure of type qhT.
------------------
Compiling Qhull with Microsoft Visual C++
To compile 32-bit Qhull with Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 and later
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Load solution build/qhull-32.sln
- Right-click 'Retarget solution' from toolset v110 to your Platform Toolset
- Build target 'Win32'
- Project qhulltest requires Qt for DevStudio (http://www.qt.io)
Set the QTDIR environment variable to your Qt directory (e.g., c:/qt/5.2.0/5.2.0/msvc2012)
If QTDIR is incorrect, precompile will fail with 'Can not locate the file specified'
- Copy Qt shared libraries, QtCore.dll and QtTest.dll, into the bin directory
To compile 64-bit Qhull with Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 and later
- 64-bit Qhull has larger data structures due to 64-bit pointers. This may slow down Qhull.
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Load solution build/qhull-64.sln
- Right-click 'Retarget solution' from toolset v110 to your Platform Toolset
- Build target 'x64'
- Project qhulltest requires Qt for DevStudio (http://www.qt.io)
Set the QTDIR environment variable to your Qt directory (e.g., c:/qt/5.2.0/5.2.0/msvc2012_64)
If QTDIR is incorrect, precompile will fail with 'Can not locate the file specified'
If error -- MSB8020: The build tools for Visual Studio 2012 (Platform Toolset = 'v110') cannot be found.
- 'Project > Retarget solution' for both qhull-32.sln and qhull-64.sln
- 'Save All' both projects
To compile Qhull with Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 (vcproj files)
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Load solution build/qhull.sln
- Build target 'win32' (not 'x64')
- Project qhulltest requires Qt for DevStudio (http://www.qt.io)
Set the QTDIR environment variable to your Qt directory (e.g., c:/qt/4.7.4)
If QTDIR is incorrect, precompile will fail with 'Can not locate the file specified'
-----------------
Compiling Qhull with Qt Creator
Qt (http://www.qt.io) is a C++ framework for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh
Qhull uses QTestLib to test qhull's C++ interface (see src/qhulltest/)
To compile Qhull with Qt Creator
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Download the Qt SDK
- Start Qt Creator
- Load src/qhull-all.pro
- Build
-----------------
Compiling Qhull with mingw/gcc on Windows
To compile Qhull with MINGW
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Install GitForWindows (https://gitforwindows.org/)
or MSYS2 (http://www.msys2.org/)
Install in C:\Git\... # Not 'Program Files\...' otherwise './configure && make' will not work
- Install MINGW-w64 with gcc (https://mingw-w64.org/)
Download installer (https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/files/)
Select i686/posix/dwarf
Install in C:\mingw-w64\... # Not 'Program Files\...'
Rename mingw32/bin/mingw32-make.exe to make.exe
Add the 'bin' directory to your $PATH environment variable
- Compile Qhull from the home directory
make help
make
Notes
- Mingw is included with Qt SDK in qt/Tools/mingw53_32
- For Windows XP
Install Road Bash (http://www.qhull.org/bash) or MSYS (http://www.mingw.org/wiki/msys)
Install MINGW (http://mingw.org/)
-----------------
Compiling Qhull with cygwin on Windows
To compile Qhull with cygwin
- Download and extract Qhull (either GitHub, .tgz file, or .zip file)
- Install cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com)
- Include packages for gcc, make, ar, and ln
- make
-----------------
Compiling from Makfile without gcc
The file, qhull-src.tgz, contains documentation and source files for
qhull and rbox.
To unpack the tgz file
- tar zxf qhull-src.tgz
- cd qhull
- Use qhull/Makefile
Simpler Makefiles are qhull/src/libqhull/Makefile and qhull/src/libqhull_r/Makefile
Compiling qhull and rbox with Makefile
- in Makefile, check the CC, CCOPTS1, PRINTMAN, and PRINTC defines
- the defaults are gcc and enscript
- CCOPTS1 should include the ANSI flag. It defines __STDC__
- in user.h, check the definitions of qh_SECticks and qh_CPUclock.
- use '#define qh_CLOCKtype 2' for timing runs longer than 1 hour
- type: make
- this builds: qhull qconvex qdelaunay qhalf qvoronoi rbox libqhull.a libqhull_r.a
- type: make doc
- this prints the man page
- See also qhull/html/index.htm
- if your compiler reports many errors, it is probably not a ANSI C compiler
- you will need to set the -ansi switch or find another compiler
- if your compiler warns about missing prototypes for fprintf() etc.
- this is ok, your compiler should have these in stdio.h
- if your compiler warns about missing prototypes for memset() etc.
- include memory.h in qhull_a.h
- if your compiler reports "global.c: storage size of 'qh_qh' isn't known"
- delete the initializer "={0}" in global.c, stat.c and mem.c
- if your compiler warns about "stat.c: improper initializer"
- this is ok, the initializer is not used
- if you have trouble building libqhull.a with 'ar'
- try 'make -f Makefile.txt qhullx'
- if the code compiles, the qhull test case will automatically execute
- if an error occurs, there's an incompatibility between machines
- If you can, try a different compiler
- You can turn off the Qhull memory manager with qh_NOmem in mem.h
- You can turn off compiler optimization (-O2 in Makefile)
- If you find the source of the problem, please let us know
- to install the programs and their man pages:
- define MANDIR and BINDIR
- type 'make install'
- if you have Geomview (www.geomview.org)
- try 'rbox 100 | qconvex G >a' and load 'a' into Geomview
- run 'q_eg' for Geomview examples of Qhull output (see qh-eg.htm)
------------------
Compiling on other machines and compilers
Qhull may compile with Borland C++ 5.0 bcc32. A Makefile is included.
Execute 'cd src/libqhull; make -f Mborland'. If you use the Borland IDE, set
the ANSI option in Options:Project:Compiler:Source:Language-compliance.
Qhull may compile with Borland C++ 4.02 for Win32 and DOS Power Pack.
Use 'cd src/libqhull; make -f Mborland -D_DPMI'. Qhull 1.0 compiles with
Borland C++ 4.02. For rbox 1.0, use "bcc32 -WX -w- -O2-e -erbox -lc rbox.c".
Use the same options for Qhull 1.0. [D. Zwick]
If you have troubles with the memory manager, you can turn it off by
defining qh_NOmem in mem.h.
-----------------
Distributed files
README.txt // Instructions for installing Qhull
REGISTER.txt // Qhull registration
COPYING.txt // Copyright notice
QHULL-GO.lnk // Windows icon for eg/qhull-go.bat
Announce.txt // Announcement
CMakeLists.txt // CMake build file (2.6 or later)
CMakeModules/CheckLFS.cmake // enables Large File Support in cmake
File_id.diz // Package descriptor
index.htm // Home page
Makefile // Makefile for gcc and other compilers
qhull*.md5sum // md5sum for all files
bin/* // Qhull executables and dll (.zip only)
build/config.cmake.in // extract target variables
build/qhull*.pc.in // pkg-config templates for qhull_r, qhull, and qhull_p
build/qhull-32.sln // 32-bit DevStudio solution and project files (2010 and later)
build/*-32.vcxproj
build/qhull-64.sln // 64-bit DevStudio solution and project files (2010 and later)
build/*-64.vcxproj
build/qhull.sln // DevStudio solution and project files (2005 and 2009)
build/*.vcproj
eg/* // Test scripts and geomview files from q_eg
html/index.htm // Manual
html/qh-faq.htm // Frequently asked questions
html/qh-get.htm // Download page
html/qhull-cpp.xml // C++ style notes as a Road FAQ (www.qhull.org/road)
src/Changes.txt // Change history for Qhull and rbox
src/qhull-all.pro // Qt project
eg/
q_benchmark // shell script for precision and performance benchmark
q_benchmark-ok.txt // reviewed output from q_benchmark
q_eg // shell script for Geomview examples (eg.01.cube)
q_egtest // shell script for Geomview test examples
q_test // shell script to test qhull
q_test.bat // Windows batch test for QHULL-GO.bat
// cd bin; ..\eg\q_test.bat >q_test.x 2>&1
q_test-ok.txt // reviewed output from q_test
qhulltest-ok.txt // reviewed output from qhulltest (Qt only)
make-qhull_qh.sh // shell script to create non-reentrant qhull_qh from reentrant Qhull
make-vcproj.sh // shell script to create vcproj and vcxprog files
qhull-zip.sh // shell script to create distribution files
qtest.sh // shell script for testing and logging qhull
rbox consists of (bin, html):
rbox.exe // Win32 executable (.zip only)
rbox.htm // html manual
rbox.man // Unix man page
rbox.txt
qhull consists of (bin, html):
qconvex.exe // Win32 executables and dlls (.zip download only)
qhull.exe // Built with the reentrant library (about 2% slower)
qdelaunay.exe
qhalf.exe
qvoronoi.exe
qhull_r.dll
qhull-go.bat // command window
qconvex.htm // html manual
qdelaun.htm
qdelau_f.htm
qhalf.htm
qvoronoi.htm
qvoron_f.htm
qh-eg.htm
qh-code.htm
qh-impre.htm
index.htm
qh-opt*.htm
qh-quick.htm
qh--*.gif // images for manual
normal_voronoi_knauss_oesterle.jpg
qh_findbestfacet-drielsma.pdf
qhull.man // Unix man page
qhull.txt
bin/
msvcr80.dll // Visual C++ redistributable file (.zip download only)
src/
qhull/unix.c // Qhull and rbox applications using non-reentrant libqhullstatic.a
rbox/rbox.c
qconvex/qconvex.c
qhalf/qhalf.c
qdelaunay/qdelaunay.c
qvoronoi/qvoronoi.c
qhull/unix_r.c // Qhull and rbox applications using reentrant libqhullstatic_r.a
rbox/rbox_r.c
qconvex/qconvex_r.c // Qhull applications built with reentrant libqhull_r/Makefile
qhalf/qhalf_r.c
qdelaunay/qdelaun_r.c
qvoronoi/qvoronoi_r.c
user_eg/user_eg_r.c // example of using qhull_r.dll from a user program
user_eg2/user_eg2_r.c // example of using libqhullstatic_r.a from a user program
user_eg3/user_eg3_r.cpp // example of Qhull's C++ interface libqhullcpp with libqhullstatic_r.a
qhulltest/qhulltest.cpp // Test of Qhull's C++ interface using Qt's QTestLib
qhull-*.pri // Include files for Qt projects
testqset_r/testqset_r.c // Test of reentrant qset_r.c and mem_r.c
testqset/testqset.c // Test of non-rentrant qset.c and mem.c
src/libqhull
libqhull.pro // Qt project for non-rentrant, shared library (qhull.dll)
index.htm // design documentation for libqhull
qh-*.htm
qhull-exports.def // Export Definition files for Visual C++
qhull-nomerge-exports.def
qhull_p-exports.def
qhull_p-nomerge-exports.def
Makefile // Simple gcc Makefile for qhull and libqhullstatic.a
Mborland // Makefile for Borland C++ 5.0
libqhull.h // header file for qhull
user.h // header file of user definable constants
libqhull.c // Quickhull algorithm with partitioning
user.c // user re-definable functions
usermem.c
userprintf.c
userprintf_rbox.c
qhull_a.h // include files for libqhull/*.c
geom.c // geometric routines
geom2.c
geom.h
global.c // global variables
io.c // input-output routines
io.h
mem.c // memory routines, this is stand-alone code
mem.h
merge.c // merging of non-convex facets
merge.h
poly.c // polyhedron routines
poly2.c
poly.h
qset.c // set routines, this only depends on mem.c
qset.h
random.c // utilities w/ Park & Miller's random number generator
random.h
rboxlib.c // point set generator for rbox
stat.c // statistics
stat.h
src/libqhull_r
libqhull_r.pro // Qt project for rentrant, shared library (qhull_r.dll)
index.htm // design documentation for libqhull_r
qh-*_r.htm
qhull_r-exports.def // Export Definition files for Visual C++
qhull_r-nomerge-exports.def
Makefile // Simple gcc Makefile for qhull and libqhullstatic.a
libqhull_r.h // header file for qhull
user_r.h // header file of user definable constants
libqhull_r.c // Quickhull algorithm wi_r.hpartitioning
user_r.c // user re-definable functions
usermem.c
userprintf.c
userprintf_rbox.c
qhull_ra.h // include files for libqhull/*_r.c
geom_r.c // geometric routines
geom2.c
geom_r.h
global_r.c // global variables
io_r.c // input-output routines
io_r.h
mem_r.c // memory routines, this is stand-alone code
mem.h
merge_r.c // merging of non-convex facets
merge.h
poly_r.c // polyhedron routines
poly2.c
poly_r.h
qset_r.c // set routines, this only depends on mem_r.c
qset.h
random_r.c // utilities w/ Park & Miller's random number generator
random.h
rboxlib_r.c // point set generator for rbox
stat_r.c // statistics
stat.h
src/libqhullcpp/
libqhullcpp.pro // Qt project for renentrant, static C++ library
Qhull.cpp // Calls libqhull_r.c from C++
Qhull.h
qt-qhull.cpp // Supporting methods for Qt
Coordinates.cpp // input classes
Coordinates.h
PointCoordinates.cpp
PointCoordinates.h
RboxPoints.cpp // call rboxlib.c from C++
RboxPoints.h
QhullFacet.cpp // data structure classes
QhullFacet.h
QhullHyperplane.cpp
QhullHyperplane.h
QhullPoint.cpp
QhullPoint.h
QhullQh.cpp
QhullRidge.cpp
QhullRidge.h
QhullVertex.cpp
QhullVertex.h
QhullFacetList.cpp // collection classes
QhullFacetList.h
QhullFacetSet.cpp
QhullFacetSet.h
QhullIterator.h
QhullLinkedList.h
QhullPoints.cpp
QhullPoints.h
QhullPointSet.cpp
QhullPointSet.h
QhullSet.cpp
QhullSet.h
QhullSets.h
QhullVertexSet.cpp
QhullVertexSet.h
functionObjects.h // supporting classes
QhullError.cpp
QhullError.h
QhullQh.cpp
QhullQh.h
QhullStat.cpp
QhullStat.h
RoadError.cpp // Supporting base classes
RoadError.h
RoadLogEvent.cpp
RoadLogEvent.h
usermem_r-cpp.cpp // Optional override for qh_exit() to throw an error
src/libqhullstatic/
libqhullstatic.pro // Qt project for non-reentrant, static library
src/libqhullstatic_r/
libqhullstatic_r.pro // Qt project for reentrant, static library
src/qhulltest/
qhulltest.pro // Qt project for test of C++ interface
Coordinates_test.cpp // Test of each class
PointCoordinates_test.cpp
Qhull_test.cpp
QhullFacet_test.cpp
QhullFacetList_test.cpp
QhullFacetSet_test.cpp
QhullHyperplane_test.cpp
QhullLinkedList_test.cpp
QhullPoint_test.cpp
QhullPoints_test.cpp
QhullPointSet_test.cpp
QhullRidge_test.cpp
QhullSet_test.cpp
QhullVertex_test.cpp
QhullVertexSet_test.cpp
RboxPoints_test.cpp
RoadTest.cpp // Run multiple test files with QTestLib
RoadTest.h
-----------------
Authors
C. Bradford Barber Hannu Huhdanpaa (Version 1.0)
bradb@shore.net hannu@qhull.org
Qhull 1.0 and 2.0 were developed under NSF grants NSF/DMS-8920161
and NSF-CCR-91-15793 750-7504 at the Geometry Center and Harvard
University. If you find Qhull useful, please let us know.