embedded_libs/box2d-2.4.1/docs/dynamics.md
browsing at commit = 426e8fd77d815743d4269d61d979007a5146b6be
# Dynamics Module
The Dynamics module is the most complex part of Box2D and is the part
you likely interact with the most. The Dynamics module sits on top of
the Common and Collision modules, so you should be somewhat familiar
with those by now.
The Dynamics module contains:
- fixture class
- rigid body class
- contact class
- joint classes
- world class
- listener classes
There are many dependencies between these classes so it is difficult to
describe one class without referring to another. In the following, you
may see some references to classes that have not been described yet.
Therefore, you may want to quickly skim this chapter before reading it
closely.
The dynamics module is covered in the following chapters.
## Bodies
Bodies have position and velocity. You can apply forces, torques, and
impulses to bodies. Bodies can be static, kinematic, or dynamic. Here
are the body type definitions:
#### b2_staticBody
A static body does not move under simulation and behaves as if it has
infinite mass. Internally, Box2D stores zero for the mass and the
inverse mass. Static bodies can be moved manually by the user. A static
body has zero velocity. Static bodies do not collide with other static
or kinematic bodies.
#### b2_kinematicBody
A kinematic body moves under simulation according to its velocity.
Kinematic bodies do not respond to forces. They can be moved manually by
the user, but normally a kinematic body is moved by setting its
velocity. A kinematic body behaves as if it has infinite mass, however,
Box2D stores zero for the mass and the inverse mass. Kinematic bodies do
not collide with other kinematic or static bodies.
#### b2_dynamicBody
A dynamic body is fully simulated. They can be moved manually by the
user, but normally they move according to forces. A dynamic body can
collide with all body types. A dynamic body always has finite, non-zero
mass. If you try to set the mass of a dynamic body to zero, it will
automatically acquire a mass of one kilogram and it won't rotate.
Bodies are the backbone for fixtures (shapes). Bodies carry fixtures and
move them around in the world. Bodies are always rigid bodies in Box2D.
That means that two fixtures attached to the same rigid body never move
relative to each other and fixtures attached to the same body don't
collide.
Fixtures have collision geometry and density. Normally, bodies acquire
their mass properties from the fixtures. However, you can override the
mass properties after a body is constructed.
You usually keep pointers to all the bodies you create. This way you can
query the body positions to update the positions of your graphical
entities. You should also keep body pointers so you can destroy them
when you are done with them.
### Body Definition
Before a body is created you must create a body definition (b2BodyDef).
The body definition holds the data needed to create and initialize a
body.
Box2D copies the data out of the body definition; it does not keep a
pointer to the body definition. This means you can recycle a body
definition to create multiple bodies.
Let's go over some of the key members of the body definition.
### Body Type
As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, there are three different
body types: static, kinematic, and dynamic. You should establish the
body type at creation because changing the body type later is expensive.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.type = b2_dynamicBody;
```
Setting the body type is mandatory.
### Position and Angle
The body definition gives you the chance to initialize the position of
the body on creation. This has far better performance than creating the
body at the world origin and then moving the body.
> **Caution**:
> Do not create a body at the origin and then move it. If you create
> several bodies at the origin, then performance will suffer.
A body has two main points of interest. The first point is the body's
origin. Fixtures and joints are attached relative to the body's origin.
The second point of interest is the center of mass. The center of mass
is determined from mass distribution of the attached shapes or is
explicitly set with b2MassData. Much of Box2D's internal computations
use the center of mass position. For example b2Body stores the linear
velocity for the center of mass.
When you are building the body definition, you may not know where the
center of mass is located. Therefore you specify the position of the
body's origin. You may also specify the body's angle in radians, which
is not affected by the position of the center of mass. If you later
change the mass properties of the body, then the center of mass may move
on the body, but the origin position does not change and the attached
shapes and joints do not move.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.position.Set(0.0f, 2.0f); // the body's origin position.
bodyDef.angle = 0.25f * b2_pi; // the body's angle in radians.
```
A rigid body is also a frame of reference. You can define fixtures and
joints in that frame. Those fixtures and joint anchors never move in the
local frame of the body.
### Damping
Damping is used to reduce the world velocity of bodies. Damping is
different than friction because friction only occurs with contact.
Damping is not a replacement for friction and the two effects should be
used together.
Damping parameters should be between 0 and infinity, with 0 meaning no
damping, and infinity meaning full damping. Normally you will use a
damping value between 0 and 0.1. I generally do not use linear damping
because it makes bodies look like they are floating.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.linearDamping = 0.0f;
bodyDef.angularDamping = 0.01f;
```
Damping is approximated for stability and performance. At small damping
values the damping effect is mostly independent of the time step. At
larger damping values, the damping effect will vary with the time step.
This is not an issue if you use a fixed time step (recommended).
### Gravity Scale
You can use the gravity scale to adjust the gravity on a single body. Be
careful though, increased gravity can decrease stability.
```cpp
// Set the gravity scale to zero so this body will float
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.gravityScale = 0.0f;
```
### Sleep Parameters
What does sleep mean? Well it is expensive to simulate bodies, so the
less we have to simulate the better. When a body comes to rest we would
like to stop simulating it.
When Box2D determines that a body (or group of bodies) has come to rest,
the body enters a sleep state which has very little CPU overhead. If a
body is awake and collides with a sleeping body, then the sleeping body
wakes up. Bodies will also wake up if a joint or contact attached to
them is destroyed. You can also wake a body manually.
The body definition lets you specify whether a body can sleep and
whether a body is created sleeping.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.allowSleep = true;
bodyDef.awake = true;
```
### Fixed Rotation
You may want a rigid body, such as a character, to have a fixed
rotation. Such a body should not rotate, even under load. You can use
the fixed rotation setting to achieve this:
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.fixedRotation = true;
```
The fixed rotation flag causes the rotational inertia and its inverse to
be set to zero.
### Bullets
Game simulation usually generates a sequence of images that are played
at some frame rate. This is called discrete simulation. In discrete
simulation, rigid bodies can move by a large amount in one time step. If
a physics engine doesn't account for the large motion, you may see some
objects incorrectly pass through each other. This effect is called
tunneling.
By default, Box2D uses continuous collision detection (CCD) to prevent
dynamic bodies from tunneling through static bodies. This is done by
sweeping shapes from their old position to their new positions. The
engine looks for new collisions during the sweep and computes the time
of impact (TOI) for these collisions. Bodies are moved to their first
TOI and then the solver performs a sub-step to complete the full time
step. There may be additional TOI events within a sub-step.
Normally CCD is not used between dynamic bodies. This is done to keep
performance reasonable. In some game scenarios you need dynamic bodies
to use CCD. For example, you may want to shoot a high speed bullet at a
stack of dynamic bricks. Without CCD, the bullet might tunnel through
the bricks.
Fast moving objects in Box2D can be labeled as bullets. Bullets will
perform CCD with both static and dynamic bodies. You should decide what
bodies should be bullets based on your game design. If you decide a body
should be treated as a bullet, use the following setting.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.bullet = true;
```
The bullet flag only affects dynamic bodies.
### Activation
You may wish a body to be created but not participate in collision or
dynamics. This state is similar to sleeping except the body will not be
woken by other bodies and the body's fixtures will not be placed in the
broad-phase. This means the body will not participate in collisions, ray
casts, etc.
You can create a body in an inactive state and later re-activate it.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.active = true;
```
Joints may be connected to inactive bodies. These joints will not be
simulated. You should be careful when you activate a body that its
joints are not distorted.
Note that activating a body is almost as expensive as creating the body
from scratch. So you should not use activation for streaming worlds. Use
creation/destruction for streaming worlds to save memory.
### User Data
User data is a void pointer. This gives you a hook to link your
application objects to bodies. You should be consistent to use the same
object type for all body user data.
```cpp
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.userData.pointer = reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(&myActor);
```
### Body Factory
Bodies are created and destroyed using a body factory provided by the
world class. This lets the world create the body with an efficient
allocator and add the body to the world data structure.
```cpp
b2World* myWorld;
b2Body* dynamicBody = myWorld->CreateBody(&bodyDef);
// ... do stuff ...
myWorld->DestroyBody(dynamicBody);
dynamicBody = nullptr;
```
> **Caution**:
> You should never use new or malloc to create a body. The world won't
> know about the body and the body won't be properly initialized.
Box2D does not keep a reference to the body definition or any of the
data it holds (except user data pointers). So you can create temporary
body definitions and reuse the same body definitions.
Box2D allows you to avoid destroying bodies by deleting your b2World
object, which does all the cleanup work for you. However, you should be
mindful to nullify body pointers that you keep in your game engine.
When you destroy a body, the attached fixtures and joints are
automatically destroyed. This has important implications for how you
manage shape and joint pointers.
### Using a Body
After creating a body, there are many operations you can perform on the
body. These include setting mass properties, accessing position and
velocity, applying forces, and transforming points and vectors.
### Mass Data
A body has mass (scalar), center of mass (2-vector), and rotational
inertia (scalar). For static bodies, the mass and rotational inertia are
set to zero. When a body has fixed rotation, its rotational inertia is
zero.
Normally the mass properties of a body are established automatically
when fixtures are added to the body. You can also adjust the mass of a
body at run-time. This is usually done when you have special game
scenarios that require altering the mass.
```cpp
void b2Body::SetMassData(const b2MassData* data);
```
After setting a body's mass directly, you may wish to revert to the
natural mass dictated by the fixtures. You can do this with:
```cpp
void b2Body::ResetMassData();
```
The body's mass data is available through the following functions:
```cpp
float b2Body::GetMass() const;
float b2Body::GetInertia() const;
const b2Vec2& b2Body::GetLocalCenter() const;
void b2Body::GetMassData(b2MassData* data) const;
```
### State Information
There are many aspects to the body's state. You can access this state
data efficiently through the following functions:
```cpp
void b2Body::SetType(b2BodyType type);
b2BodyType b2Body::GetType();
void b2Body::SetBullet(bool flag);
bool b2Body::IsBullet() const;
void b2Body::SetSleepingAllowed(bool flag);
bool b2Body::IsSleepingAllowed() const;
void b2Body::SetAwake(bool flag);
bool b2Body::IsAwake() const;
void b2Body::SetEnabled(bool flag);
bool b2Body::IsEnabled() const;
void b2Body::SetFixedRotation(bool flag);
bool b2Body::IsFixedRotation() const;
```
### Position and Velocity
You can access the position and rotation of a body. This is common when
rendering your associated game actor. You can also set the position,
although this is less common since you will normally use Box2D to
simulate movement.
```cpp
bool b2Body::SetTransform(const b2Vec2& position, float angle);
const b2Transform& b2Body::GetTransform() const;
const b2Vec2& b2Body::GetPosition() const;
float b2Body::GetAngle() const;
```
You can access the center of mass position in local and world
coordinates. Much of the internal simulation in Box2D uses the center of
mass. However, you should normally not need to access it. Instead you
will usually work with the body transform. For example, you may have a
body that is square. The body origin might be a corner of the square,
while the center of mass is located at the center of the square.
```cpp
const b2Vec2& b2Body::GetWorldCenter() const;
const b2Vec2& b2Body::GetLocalCenter() const;
```
You can access the linear and angular velocity. The linear velocity is
for the center of mass. Therefore, the linear velocity may change if the
mass properties change.
### Forces and Impulses
You can apply forces, torques, and impulses to a body. When you apply a
force or an impulse, you provide a world point where the load is
applied. This often results in a torque about the center of mass.
```cpp
void b2Body::ApplyForce(const b2Vec2& force, const b2Vec2& point);
void b2Body::ApplyTorque(float torque);
void b2Body::ApplyLinearImpulse(const b2Vec2& impulse, const b2Vec2& point);
void b2Body::ApplyAngularImpulse(float impulse);
```
Applying a force, torque, or impulse wakes the body. Sometimes this is
undesirable. For example, you may be applying a steady force and want to
allow the body to sleep to improve performance. In this case you can use
the following code.
```cpp
if (myBody->IsAwake() == true)
{
myBody->ApplyForce(myForce, myPoint);
}
```
### Coordinate Transformations
The body class has some utility functions to help you transform points
and vectors between local and world space. If you don't understand
these concepts, please read \"Essential Mathematics for Games and
Interactive Applications\" by Jim Van Verth and Lars Bishop. These
functions are efficient (when inlined).
```cpp
b2Vec2 b2Body::GetWorldPoint(const b2Vec2& localPoint);
b2Vec2 b2Body::GetWorldVector(const b2Vec2& localVector);
b2Vec2 b2Body::GetLocalPoint(const b2Vec2& worldPoint);
b2Vec2 b2Body::GetLocalVector(const b2Vec2& worldVector);
```
### Acessing Fixtures, Joints, and Contacts
You can iterate over a body's fixtures. This is mainly useful if you
need to access the fixture's user data.
```cpp
for (b2Fixture* f = body->GetFixtureList(); f; f = f->GetNext())
{
MyFixtureData* data = (MyFixtureData*)f->GetUserData();
// do something with data ...
}
```
You can similarly iterate over the body's joint list.
The body also provides a list of associated contacts. You can use this
to get information about the current contacts. Be careful, because the
contact list may not contain all the contacts that existed during the
previous time step.
## Fixtures
Recall that shapes don't know about bodies and may be used independently
of the physics simulation. Therefore Box2D provides the b2Fixture class
to attach shapes to bodies. A body may have zero or more fixtures. A
body with multiple fixtures is sometimes called a *compound body.*
Fixtures hold the following:
- a single shape
- broad-phase proxies
- density, friction, and restitution
- collision filtering flags
- back pointer to the parent body
- user data
- sensor flag
These are described in the following sections.
### Fixture Creation
Fixtures are created by initializing a fixture definition and then
passing the definition to the parent body.
```cpp
b2Body* myBody;
b2FixtureDef fixtureDef;
fixtureDef.shape = &myShape;
fixtureDef.density = 1.0f;
b2Fixture* myFixture = myBody->CreateFixture(&fixtureDef);
```
This creates the fixture and attaches it to the body. You do not need to
store the fixture pointer since the fixture will automatically be
destroyed when the parent body is destroyed. You can create multiple
fixtures on a single body.
You can destroy a fixture on the parent body. You may do this to model a
breakable object. Otherwise you can just leave the fixture alone and let
the body destruction take care of destroying the attached fixtures.
```cpp
myBody->DestroyFixture(myFixture);
```
### Density
The fixture density is used to compute the mass properties of the parent
body. The density can be zero or positive. You should generally use
similar densities for all your fixtures. This will improve stacking
stability.
The mass of a body is not adjusted when you set the density. You must
call ResetMassData for this to occur.
```cpp
b2Fixture* fixture;
fixture->SetDensity(5.0f);
b2Body*
body->ResetMassData();
```
### Friction
Friction is used to make objects slide along each other realistically.
Box2D supports static and dynamic friction, but uses the same parameter
for both. Friction is simulated accurately in Box2D and the friction
strength is proportional to the normal force (this is called Coulomb
friction). The friction parameter is usually set between 0 and 1, but
can be any non-negative value. A friction value of 0 turns off friction
and a value of 1 makes the friction strong. When the friction force is
computed between two shapes, Box2D must combine the friction parameters
of the two parent fixtures. This is done with the geometric mean:
```cpp
b2Fixture* fixtureA;
b2Fixture* fixtureB;
float friction;
friction = sqrtf(fixtureA->friction * fixtureB->friction);
```
So if one fixture has zero friction then the contact will have zero
friction.
You can override the default mixed friction using
`b2Contact::SetFriction`. This is usually done in the `b2ContactListener`
callback.
### Restitution
Restitution is used to make objects bounce. The restitution value is
usually set to be between 0 and 1. Consider dropping a ball on a table.
A value of zero means the ball won't bounce. This is called an
inelastic collision. A value of one means the ball's velocity will be
exactly reflected. This is called a perfectly elastic collision.
Restitution is combined using the following formula.
```cpp
b2Fixture* fixtureA;
b2Fixture* fixtureB;
float restitution;
restitution = b2Max(fixtureA->restitution, fixtureB->restitution);
```
Restitution is combined this way so that you can have a bouncy super
ball without having a bouncy floor.
You can override the default mixed restitution using
`b2Contact::SetRestitution`. This is usually done in the b2ContactListener
callback.
When a shape develops multiple contacts, restitution is simulated
approximately. This is because Box2D uses an iterative solver. Box2D
also uses inelastic collisions when the collision velocity is small.
This is done to prevent jitter. See `b2_velocityThreshold`.
### Filtering
Collision filtering allows you to prevent collision between fixtures.
For example, say you make a character that rides a bicycle. You want the
bicycle to collide with the terrain and the character to collide with
the terrain, but you don't want the character to collide with the
bicycle (because they must overlap). Box2D supports such collision
filtering using categories and groups.
Box2D supports 16 collision categories. For each fixture you can specify
which category it belongs to. You also specify what other categories
this fixture can collide with. For example, you could specify in a
multiplayer game that all players don't collide with each other and
monsters don't collide with each other, but players and monsters should
collide. This is done with masking bits. For example:
```cpp
b2FixtureDef playerFixtureDef, monsterFixtureDef;
playerFixtureDef.filter.categoryBits = 0x0002;
monsterFixtureDef.filter.categoryBits = 0x0004;
playerFixtureDef.filter.maskBits = 0x0004;
monsterFixtureDef.filter.maskBits = 0x0002;
```
Here is the rule for a collision to occur:
```cpp
uint16 catA = fixtureA.filter.categoryBits;
uint16 maskA = fixtureA.filter.maskBits;
uint16 catB = fixtureB.filter.categoryBits;
uint16 maskB = fixtureB.filter.maskBits;
if ((catA & maskB) != 0 && (catB & maskA) != 0)
{
// fixtures can collide
}
```
Collision groups let you specify an integral group index. You can have
all fixtures with the same group index always collide (positive index)
or never collide (negative index). Group indices are usually used for
things that are somehow related, like the parts of a bicycle. In the
following example, fixture1 and fixture2 always collide, but fixture3
and fixture4 never collide.
```cpp
fixture1Def.filter.groupIndex = 2;
fixture2Def.filter.groupIndex = 2;
fixture3Def.filter.groupIndex = -8;
fixture4Def.filter.groupIndex = -8;
```
Collisions between fixtures of different group indices are filtered
according the category and mask bits. In other words, group filtering
has higher precedence than category filtering.
Note that additional collision filtering occurs in Box2D. Here is a
list:
- A fixture on a static body can only collide with a dynamic body.
- A fixture on a kinematic body can only collide with a dynamic body.
- Fixtures on the same body never collide with each other.
- You can optionally enable/disable collision between fixtures on bodies connected by a joint.
Sometimes you might need to change collision filtering after a fixture
has already been created. You can get and set the b2Filter structure on
an existing fixture using b2Fixture::GetFilterData and
b2Fixture::SetFilterData. Note that changing the filter data will not
add or remove contacts until the next time step (see the World class).
### Sensors
Sometimes game logic needs to know when two fixtures overlap yet there
should be no collision response. This is done by using sensors. A sensor
is a fixture that detects collision but does not produce a response.
You can flag any fixture as being a sensor. Sensors may be static,
kinematic, or dynamic. Remember that you may have multiple fixtures per
body and you can have any mix of sensors and solid fixtures. Also,
sensors only form contacts when at least one body is dynamic, so you
will not get a contact for kinematic versus kinematic, kinematic versus
static, or static versus static.
Sensors do not generate contact points. There are two ways to get the
state of a sensor:
1. `b2Contact::IsTouching`
2. `b2ContactListener::BeginContact` and `b2ContactListener::EndContact`
## Joints
Joints are used to constrain bodies to the world or to each other.
Typical examples in games include ragdolls, teeters, and pulleys. Joints
can be combined in many different ways to create interesting motions.
Some joints provide limits so you can control the range of motion. Some
joint provide motors which can be used to drive the joint at a
prescribed speed until a prescribed force/torque is exceeded.
Joint motors can be used in many ways. You can use motors to control
position by specifying a joint velocity that is proportional to the
difference between the actual and desired position. You can also use
motors to simulate joint friction: set the joint velocity to zero and
provide a small, but significant maximum motor force/torque. Then the
motor will attempt to keep the joint from moving until the load becomes
too strong.
### Joint Definition
Each joint type has a definition that derives from b2JointDef. All
joints are connected between two different bodies. One body may static.
Joints between static and/or kinematic bodies are allowed, but have no
effect and use some processing time.
You can specify user data for any joint type and you can provide a flag
to prevent the attached bodies from colliding with each other. This is
actually the default behavior and you must set the collideConnected
Boolean to allow collision between to connected bodies.
Many joint definitions require that you provide some geometric data.
Often a joint will be defined by anchor points. These are points fixed
in the attached bodies. Box2D requires these points to be specified in
local coordinates. This way the joint can be specified even when the
current body transforms violate the joint constraint \-\-- a common
occurrence when a game is saved and reloaded. Additionally, some joint
definitions need to know the default relative angle between the bodies.
This is necessary to constrain rotation correctly.
Initializing the geometric data can be tedious, so many joints have
initialization functions that use the current body transforms to remove
much of the work. However, these initialization functions should usually
only be used for prototyping. Production code should define the geometry
directly. This will make joint behavior more robust.
The rest of the joint definition data depends on the joint type. We
cover these now.
### Joint Factory
Joints are created and destroyed using the world factory methods. This
brings up an old issue:
> **Caution**:
> Don't try to create a joint on the stack or on the heap using new or
> malloc. You must create and destroy bodies and joints using the create
> and destroy methods of the b2World class.
Here's an example of the lifetime of a revolute joint:
```cpp
b2World* myWorld;
b2RevoluteJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.bodyA = myBodyA;
jointDef.bodyB = myBodyB;
jointDef.anchorPoint = myBodyA->GetCenterPosition();
b2RevoluteJoint* joint = (b2RevoluteJoint*)myWorld->CreateJoint(&jointDef);
// ... do stuff ...
myWorld->DestroyJoint(joint);
joint = nullptr;
```
It is always good to nullify your pointer after they are destroyed. This
will make the program crash in a controlled manner if you try to reuse
the pointer.
The lifetime of a joint is not simple. Heed this warning well:
> **Caution**:
> Joints are destroyed when an attached body is destroyed.
This precaution is not always necessary. You may organize your game
engine so that joints are always destroyed before the attached bodies.
In this case you don't need to implement the listener class. See the
section on Implicit Destruction for details.
### Using Joints
Many simulations create the joints and don't access them again until
they are destroyed. However, there is a lot of useful data contained in
joints that you can use to create a rich simulation.
First of all, you can get the bodies, anchor points, and user data from
a joint.
```cpp
b2Body* b2Joint::GetBodyA();
b2Body* b2Joint::GetBodyB();
b2Vec2 b2Joint::GetAnchorA();
b2Vec2 b2Joint::GetAnchorB();
void* b2Joint::GetUserData();
```
All joints have a reaction force and torque. This the reaction force
applied to body 2 at the anchor point. You can use reaction forces to
break joints or trigger other game events. These functions may do some
computations, so don't call them if you don't need the result.
```cpp
b2Vec2 b2Joint::GetReactionForce();
float b2Joint::GetReactionTorque();
```
### Distance Joint
One of the simplest joint is a distance joint which says that the
distance between two points on two bodies must be constant. When you
specify a distance joint the two bodies should already be in place. Then
you specify the two anchor points in world coordinates. The first anchor
point is connected to body 1, and the second anchor point is connected
to body 2. These points imply the length of the distance constraint.
Here is an example of a distance joint definition. In this case we
decide to allow the bodies to collide.
```cpp
b2DistanceJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.Initialize(myBodyA, myBodyB, worldAnchorOnBodyA,
worldAnchorOnBodyB);
jointDef.collideConnected = true;
```
The distance joint can also be made soft, like a spring-damper
connection. See the Web example in the testbed to see how this behaves.
Softness is achieved by tuning two constants in the definition:
stiffness and damping. It can be non-intuitive setting these values directly
since they have units in terms on Newtons. Box2D provides and API to compute
these values in terms of frequency and damping ratio.
```cpp
void b2LinearStiffness(float& stiffness, float& damping,
float frequencyHertz, float dampingRatio,
const b2Body* bodyA, const b2Body* bodyB);
```
Think of the frequency as the frequency of a harmonic oscillator (like a
guitar string). The frequency is specified in Hertz. Typically the frequency
should be less than a half the frequency of the time step. So if you are using
a 60Hz time step, the frequency of the distance joint should be less than 30Hz.
The reason is related to the Nyquist frequency.
The damping ratio is non-dimensional and is typically between 0 and 1,
but can be larger. At 1, the damping is critical (all oscillations
should vanish).
```cpp
float frequencyHz = 4.0f;
float dampingRatio = 0.5f;
b2LinearStiffness(jointDef.stiffness, jointDef.damping, frequencyHz, dampingRatio, jointDef.bodyA, jointDef.bodyB);
```
It is also possible to define a minimum and maximum length for the distance joint.
See `b2DistanceJointDef` for details.
### Revolute Joint
A revolute joint forces two bodies to share a common anchor point, often
called a hinge point. The revolute joint has a single degree of freedom:
the relative rotation of the two bodies. This is called the joint angle.
To specify a revolute you need to provide two bodies and a single anchor
point in world space. The initialization function assumes that the
bodies are already in the correct position.
In this example, two bodies are connected by a revolute joint at the
first body's center of mass.
```cpp
b2RevoluteJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.Initialize(myBodyA, myBodyB, myBodyA->GetWorldCenter());
```
The revolute joint angle is positive when bodyB rotates CCW about the
angle point. Like all angles in Box2D, the revolute angle is measured in
radians. By convention the revolute joint angle is zero when the joint
is created using Initialize(), regardless of the current rotation of the
two bodies.
In some cases you might wish to control the joint angle. For this, the
revolute joint can optionally simulate a joint limit and/or a motor.
A joint limit forces the joint angle to remain between a lower and upper
bound. The limit will apply as much torque as needed to make this
happen. The limit range should include zero, otherwise the joint will
lurch when the simulation begins.
A joint motor allows you to specify the joint speed (the time derivative
of the angle). The speed can be negative or positive. A motor can have
infinite force, but this is usually not desirable. Recall the eternal
question:
> *What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?*
I can tell you it's not pretty. So you can provide a maximum torque for
the joint motor. The joint motor will maintain the specified speed
unless the required torque exceeds the specified maximum. When the
maximum torque is exceeded, the joint will slow down and can even
reverse.
You can use a joint motor to simulate joint friction. Just set the joint
speed to zero, and set the maximum torque to some small, but significant
value. The motor will try to prevent the joint from rotating, but will
yield to a significant load.
Here's a revision of the revolute joint definition above; this time the
joint has a limit and a motor enabled. The motor is setup to simulate
joint friction.
```cpp
b2RevoluteJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.Initialize(bodyA, bodyB, myBodyA->GetWorldCenter());
jointDef.lowerAngle = -0.5f * b2_pi; // -90 degrees
jointDef.upperAngle = 0.25f * b2_pi; // 45 degrees
jointDef.enableLimit = true;
jointDef.maxMotorTorque = 10.0f;
jointDef.motorSpeed = 0.0f;
jointDef.enableMotor = true;
```
You can access a revolute joint's angle, speed, and motor torque.
```cpp
float b2RevoluteJoint::GetJointAngle() const;
float b2RevoluteJoint::GetJointSpeed() const;
float b2RevoluteJoint::GetMotorTorque() const;
```
You also update the motor parameters each step.
```cpp
void b2RevoluteJoint::SetMotorSpeed(float speed);
void b2RevoluteJoint::SetMaxMotorTorque(float torque);
```
Joint motors have some interesting abilities. You can update the joint
speed every time step so you can make the joint move back-and-forth like
a sine-wave or according to whatever function you want.
```cpp
// ... Game Loop Begin ...
myJoint->SetMotorSpeed(cosf(0.5f * time));
// ... Game Loop End ...
```
You can also use joint motors to track a desired joint angle. For example:
```cpp
// ... Game Loop Begin ...
float angleError = myJoint->GetJointAngle() - angleTarget;
float gain = 0.1f;
myJoint->SetMotorSpeed(-gain * angleError);
// ... Game Loop End ...
```
Generally your gain parameter should not be too large. Otherwise your
joint may become unstable.
### Prismatic Joint
A prismatic joint allows for relative translation of two bodies along a
specified axis. A prismatic joint prevents relative rotation. Therefore,
a prismatic joint has a single degree of freedom.
The prismatic joint definition is similar to the revolute joint
description; just substitute translation for angle and force for torque.
Using this analogy provides an example prismatic joint definition with a
joint limit and a friction motor:
```cpp
b2PrismaticJointDef jointDef;
b2Vec2 worldAxis(1.0f, 0.0f);
jointDef.Initialize(myBodyA, myBodyB, myBodyA->GetWorldCenter(), worldAxis);
jointDef.lowerTranslation = -5.0f;
jointDef.upperTranslation = 2.5f;
jointDef.enableLimit = true;
jointDef.maxMotorForce = 1.0f;
jointDef.motorSpeed = 0.0f;
jointDef.enableMotor = true;
```
The revolute joint has an implicit axis coming out of the screen. The
prismatic joint needs an explicit axis parallel to the screen. This axis
is fixed in the two bodies and follows their motion.
Like the revolute joint, the prismatic joint translation is zero when
the joint is created using Initialize(). So be sure zero is between your
lower and upper translation limits.
Using a prismatic joint is similar to using a revolute joint. Here are
the relevant member functions:
```cpp
float PrismaticJoint::GetJointTranslation() const;
float PrismaticJoint::GetJointSpeed() const;
float PrismaticJoint::GetMotorForce() const;
void PrismaticJoint::SetMotorSpeed(float speed);
void PrismaticJoint::SetMotorForce(float force);
```
### Pulley Joint
A pulley is used to create an idealized pulley. The pulley connects two
bodies to ground and to each other. As one body goes up, the other goes
down. The total length of the pulley rope is conserved according to the
initial configuration.
```
length1 + length2 == constant
```
You can supply a ratio that simulates a block and tackle. This causes
one side of the pulley to extend faster than the other. At the same time
the constraint force is smaller on one side than the other. You can use
this to create mechanical leverage.
```
length1 + ratio * length2 == constant
```
For example, if the ratio is 2, then length1 will vary at twice the rate
of length2. Also the force in the rope attached to body1 will have half
the constraint force as the rope attached to body2.
Pulleys can be troublesome when one side is fully extended. The rope on
the other side will have zero length. At this point the constraint
equations become singular (bad). You should configure collision shapes
to prevent this.
Here is an example pulley definition:
```cpp
b2Vec2 anchor1 = myBody1->GetWorldCenter();
b2Vec2 anchor2 = myBody2->GetWorldCenter();
b2Vec2 groundAnchor1(p1.x, p1.y + 10.0f);
b2Vec2 groundAnchor2(p2.x, p2.y + 12.0f);
float ratio = 1.0f;
b2PulleyJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.Initialize(myBody1, myBody2, groundAnchor1, groundAnchor2, anchor1, anchor2, ratio);
```
Pulley joints provide the current lengths.
```cpp
float PulleyJoint::GetLengthA() const;
float PulleyJoint::GetLengthB() const;
```
### Gear Joint
If you want to create a sophisticated mechanical contraption you might
want to use gears. In principle you can create gears in Box2D by using
compound shapes to model gear teeth. This is not very efficient and
might be tedious to author. You also have to be careful to line up the
gears so the teeth mesh smoothly. Box2D has a simpler method of creating
gears: the gear joint.
The gear joint can only connect revolute and/or prismatic joints.
Like the pulley ratio, you can specify a gear ratio. However, in this
case the gear ratio can be negative. Also keep in mind that when one
joint is a revolute joint (angular) and the other joint is prismatic
(translation), and then the gear ratio will have units of length or one
over length.
```
coordinate1 + ratio * coordinate2 == constant
```
Here is an example gear joint. The bodies myBodyA and myBodyB are any
bodies from the two joints, as long as they are not the same bodies.
```cpp
b2GearJointDef jointDef;
jointDef.bodyA = myBodyA;
jointDef.bodyB = myBodyB;
jointDef.joint1 = myRevoluteJoint;
jointDef.joint2 = myPrismaticJoint;
jointDef.ratio = 2.0f * b2_pi / myLength;
```
Note that the gear joint depends on two other joints. This creates a
fragile situation. What happens if those joints are deleted?
> **Caution**:
> Always delete gear joints before the revolute/prismatic joints on the
> gears. Otherwise your code will crash in a bad way due to the orphaned
> joint pointers in the gear joint. You should also delete the gear joint
> before you delete any of the bodies involved.
### Mouse Joint
The mouse joint is used in the testbed to manipulate bodies with the
mouse. It attempts to drive a point on a body towards the current
position of the cursor. There is no restriction on rotation.
The mouse joint definition has a target point, maximum force, frequency,
and damping ratio. The target point initially coincides with the body's
anchor point. The maximum force is used to prevent violent reactions
when multiple dynamic bodies interact. You can make this as large as you
like. The frequency and damping ratio are used to create a spring/damper
effect similar to the distance joint.
Many users have tried to adapt the mouse joint for game play. Users
often want to achieve precise positioning and instantaneous response.
The mouse joint doesn't work very well in that context. You may wish to
consider using kinematic bodies instead.
### Wheel Joint
The wheel joint restricts a point on bodyB to a line on bodyA. The wheel
joint also provides a suspension spring. See b2WheelJoint.h and Car.h
for details.
### Weld Joint
The weld joint attempts to constrain all relative motion between two
bodies. See the Cantilever.h in the testbed to see how the weld joint
behaves.
It is tempting to use the weld joint to define breakable structures.
However, the Box2D solver is iterative so the joints are a bit soft. So
chains of bodies connected by weld joints will flex.
Instead it is better to create breakable bodies starting with a single
body with multiple fixtures. When the body breaks, you can destroy a
fixture and recreate it on a new body. See the Breakable example in the
testbed.
### Rope Joint
The rope joint restricts the maximum distance between two points. This
can be useful to prevent chains of bodies from stretching, even under
high load. See b2RopeJoint.h and rope_joint.cpp for details.
### Friction Joint
The friction joint is used for top-down friction. The joint provides 2D
translational friction and angular friction. See b2FrictionJoint.h and
apply_force.cpp for details.
### Motor Joint
A motor joint lets you control the motion of a body by specifying target
position and rotation offsets. You can set the maximum motor force and
torque that will be applied to reach the target position and rotation.
If the body is blocked, it will stop and the contact forces will be
proportional the maximum motor force and torque. See b2MotorJoint and
motor_joint.cpp for details.
### Wheel Joint
The wheel joint is designed specifically for vehicles. It provides a translation
and rotation. The translation has a spring and damper to simulate the vehicle
suspension. The rotation allows the wheel to rotate. You can specify an rotational
motor to drive the wheel and to apply braking. See b2WheelJoint, wheel_joint.cpp,
and car.cpp for details.
## Contacts
Contacts are objects created by Box2D to manage collision between two
fixtures. If the fixture has children, such as a chain shape, then a
contact exists for each relevant child. There are different kinds of
contacts, derived from b2Contact, for managing contact between different
kinds of fixtures. For example there is a contact class for managing
polygon-polygon collision and another contact class for managing
circle-circle collision.
Here is some terminology associated with contacts.
##### contact point
A contact point is a point where two shapes touch. Box2D approximates
contact with a small number of points.
##### contact normal
A contact normal is a unit vector that points from one shape to another.
By convention, the normal points from fixtureA to fixtureB.
##### contact separation
Separation is the opposite of penetration. Separation is negative when
shapes overlap. It is possible that future versions of Box2D will create
contact points with positive separation, so you may want to check the
sign when contact points are reported.
##### contact manifold
Contact between two convex polygons may generate up to 2 contact points.
Both of these points use the same normal, so they are grouped into a
contact manifold, which is an approximation of a continuous region of
contact.
##### normal impulse
The normal force is the force applied at a contact point to prevent the
shapes from penetrating. For convenience, Box2D works with impulses. The
normal impulse is just the normal force multiplied by the time step.
##### tangent impulse
The tangent force is generated at a contact point to simulate friction.
For convenience, this is stored as an impulse.
##### contact ids
Box2D tries to re-use the contact force results from a time step as the
initial guess for the next time step. Box2D uses contact ids to match
contact points across time steps. The ids contain geometric features
indices that help to distinguish one contact point from another.
Contacts are created when two fixture's AABBs overlap. Sometimes
collision filtering will prevent the creation of contacts. Contacts are
destroyed with the AABBs cease to overlap.
So you might gather that there may be contacts created for fixtures that
are not touching (just their AABBs). Well, this is correct. It's a
\"chicken or egg\" problem. We don't know if we need a contact object
until one is created to analyze the collision. We could delete the
contact right away if the shapes are not touching, or we can just wait
until the AABBs stop overlapping. Box2D takes the latter approach
because it lets the system cache information to improve performance.
### Contact Class
As mentioned before, the contact class is created and destroyed by
Box2D. Contact objects are not created by the user. However, you are
able to access the contact class and interact with it.
You can access the raw contact manifold:
```cpp
b2Manifold* b2Contact::GetManifold();
const b2Manifold* b2Contact::GetManifold() const;
```
You can potentially modify the manifold, but this is generally not
supported and is for advanced usage.
There is a helper function to get the `b2WorldManifold`:
```cpp
void b2Contact::GetWorldManifold(b2WorldManifold* worldManifold) const;
```
This uses the current positions of the bodies to compute world positions
of the contact points.
Sensors do not create manifolds, so for them use:
```cpp
bool touching = sensorContact->IsTouching();
```
This function also works for non-sensors.
You can get the fixtures from a contact. From those you can get the
bodies.
```cpp
b2Fixture* fixtureA = myContact->GetFixtureA();
b2Body* bodyA = fixtureA->GetBody();
MyActor* actorA = (MyActor*)bodyA->GetUserData().pointer;
```
You can disable a contact. This only works inside the
b2ContactListener::PreSolve event, discussed below.
### Accessing Contacts
You can get access to contacts in several ways. You can access the
contacts directly on the world and body structures. You can also
implement a contact listener.
You can iterate over all contacts in the world:
```cpp
for (b2Contact* c = myWorld->GetContactList(); c; c = c->GetNext())
{
// process c
}
```
You can also iterate over all the contacts on a body. These are stored
in a graph using a contact edge structure.
```cpp
for (b2ContactEdge* ce = myBody->GetContactList(); ce; ce = ce->next)
{
b2Contact* c = ce->contact;
// process c
}
```
You can also access contacts using the contact listener that is
described below.
> **Caution**:
> Accessing contacts off b2World and b2Body may miss some transient
> contacts that occur in the middle of the time step. Use
> b2ContactListener to get the most accurate results.
### Contact Listener
You can receive contact data by implementing b2ContactListener. The
contact listener supports several events: begin, end, pre-solve, and
post-solve.
```cpp
class MyContactListener : public b2ContactListener
{
public:
void BeginContact(b2Contact* contact)
{ /* handle begin event */ }
void EndContact(b2Contact* contact)
{ /* handle end event */ }
void PreSolve(b2Contact* contact, const b2Manifold* oldManifold)
{ /* handle pre-solve event */ }
void PostSolve(b2Contact* contact, const b2ContactImpulse* impulse)
{ /* handle post-solve event */ }
};
```
> **Caution**:
> Do not keep a reference to the pointers sent to b2ContactListener.
> Instead make a deep copy of the contact point data into your own buffer.
> The example below shows one way of doing this.
At run-time you can create an instance of the listener and register it
with b2World::SetContactListener. Be sure your listener remains in scope
while the world object exists.
#### Begin Contact Event
This is called when two fixtures begin to overlap. This is called for
sensors and non-sensors. This event can only occur inside the time step.
#### End Contact Event
This is called when two fixtures cease to overlap. This is called for
sensors and non-sensors. This may be called when a body is destroyed, so
this event can occur outside the time step.
#### Pre-Solve Event
This is called after collision detection, but before collision
resolution. This gives you a chance to disable the contact based on the
current configuration. For example, you can implement a one-sided
platform using this callback and calling b2Contact::SetEnabled(false).
The contact will be re-enabled each time through collision processing,
so you will need to disable the contact every time-step. The pre-solve
event may be fired multiple times per time step per contact due to
continuous collision detection.
```cpp
void PreSolve(b2Contact* contact, const b2Manifold* oldManifold)
{
b2WorldManifold worldManifold;
contact->GetWorldManifold(&worldManifold);
if (worldManifold.normal.y < -0.5f)
{
contact->SetEnabled(false);
}
}
```
The pre-solve event is also a good place to determine the point state
and the approach velocity of collisions.
```cpp
void PreSolve(b2Contact* contact, const b2Manifold* oldManifold)
{
b2WorldManifold worldManifold;
contact->GetWorldManifold(&worldManifold);
b2PointState state1[2], state2[2];
b2GetPointStates(state1, state2, oldManifold, contact->GetManifold());
if (state2[0] == b2_addState)
{
const b2Body* bodyA = contact->GetFixtureA()->GetBody();
const b2Body* bodyB = contact->GetFixtureB()->GetBody();
b2Vec2 point = worldManifold.points[0];
b2Vec2 vA = bodyA->GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint(point);
b2Vec2 vB = bodyB->GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint(point);
float approachVelocity = b2Dot(vB -- vA, worldManifold.normal);
if (approachVelocity > 1.0f)
{
MyPlayCollisionSound();
}
}
}
```
#### Post-Solve Event
The post solve event is where you can gather collision impulse results.
If you don't care about the impulses, you should probably just implement
the pre-solve event.
It is tempting to implement game logic that alters the physics world
inside a contact callback. For example, you may have a collision that
applies damage and try to destroy the associated actor and its rigid
body. However, Box2D does not allow you to alter the physics world
inside a callback because you might destroy objects that Box2D is
currently processing, leading to orphaned pointers.
The recommended practice for processing contact points is to buffer all
contact data that you care about and process it after the time step. You
should always process the contact points immediately after the time
step; otherwise some other client code might alter the physics world,
invalidating the contact buffer. When you process the contact buffer you
can alter the physics world, but you still need to be careful that you
don't orphan pointers stored in the contact point buffer. The testbed
has example contact point processing that is safe from orphaned
pointers.
This code from the CollisionProcessing test shows how to handle orphaned
bodies when processing the contact buffer. Here is an excerpt. Be sure
to read the comments in the listing. This code assumes that all contact
points have been buffered in the b2ContactPoint array m_points.
```cpp
// We are going to destroy some bodies according to contact
// points. We must buffer the bodies that should be destroyed
// because they may belong to multiple contact points.
const int32 k_maxNuke = 6;
b2Body* nuke[k_maxNuke];
int32 nukeCount = 0;
// Traverse the contact buffer. Destroy bodies that
// are touching heavier bodies.
for (int32 i = 0; i < m_pointCount; ++i)
{
ContactPoint* point = m_points + i;
b2Body* bodyA = point->fixtureA->GetBody();
b2Body* bodyB = point->FixtureB->GetBody();
float massA = bodyA->GetMass();
float massB = bodyB->GetMass();
if (massA > 0.0f && massB > 0.0f)
{
if (massB > massA)
{
nuke[nukeCount++] = bodyA;
}
else
{
nuke[nukeCount++] = bodyB;
}
if (nukeCount == k_maxNuke)
{
break;
}
}
}
// Sort the nuke array to group duplicates.
std::sort(nuke, nuke + nukeCount);
// Destroy the bodies, skipping duplicates.
int32 i = 0;
while (i < nukeCount)
{
b2Body* b = nuke[i++];
while (i < nukeCount && nuke[i] == b)
{
++i;
}
m_world->DestroyBody(b);
}
```
### Contact Filtering
Often in a game you don't want all objects to collide. For example, you
may want to create a door that only certain characters can pass through.
This is called contact filtering, because some interactions are filtered
out.
Box2D allows you to achieve custom contact filtering by implementing a
b2ContactFilter class. This class requires you to implement a
ShouldCollide function that receives two b2Shape pointers. Your function
returns true if the shapes should collide.
The default implementation of ShouldCollide uses the b2FilterData
defined in Chapter 6, Fixtures.
```cpp
bool b2ContactFilter::ShouldCollide(b2Fixture* fixtureA, b2Fixture* fixtureB)
{
const b2Filter& filterA = fixtureA->GetFilterData();
const b2Filter& filterB = fixtureB->GetFilterData();
if (filterA.groupIndex == filterB.groupIndex && filterA.groupIndex != 0)
{
return filterA.groupIndex > 0;
}
bool collideA = (filterA.maskBits & filterB.categoryBits) != 0;
bool collideB = (filterA.categoryBits & filterB.maskBits) != 0
bool collide = collideA && collideB;
return collide;
}
```
At run-time you can create an instance of your contact filter and
register it with b2World::SetContactFilter. Make sure your filter stays
in scope while the world exists.
```cpp
MyContactFilter filter;
world->SetContactFilter(&filter);
// filter remains in scope ...
```
## World
The `b2World` class contains the bodies and joints. It manages all aspects
of the simulation and allows for asynchronous queries (like AABB queries
and ray-casts). Much of your interactions with Box2D will be with a
b2World object.
### Creating and Destroying a World
Creating a world is fairly simple. You just need to provide a gravity
vector and a Boolean indicating if bodies can sleep. Usually you will
create and destroy a world using new and delete.
```cpp
b2World* myWorld = new b2World(gravity, doSleep);
// ... do stuff ...
delete myWorld;
```
### Using a World
The world class contains factories for creating and destroying bodies
and joints. These factories are discussed later in the sections on
bodies and joints. There are some other interactions with b2World that I
will cover now.
### Simulation
The world class is used to drive the simulation. You specify a time step
and a velocity and position iteration count. For example:
```cpp
float timeStep = 1.0f / 60.f;
int32 velocityIterations = 10;
int32 positionIterations = 8;
myWorld->Step(timeStep, velocityIterations, positionIterations);
```
After the time step you can examine your bodies and joints for
information. Most likely you will grab the position off the bodies so
that you can update your actors and render them. You can perform the
time step anywhere in your game loop, but you should be aware of the
order of things. For example, you must create bodies before the time
step if you want to get collision results for the new bodies in that
frame.
As I discussed above in the HelloWorld tutorial, you should use a fixed
time step. By using a larger time step you can improve performance in
low frame rate scenarios. But generally you should use a time step no
larger than 1/30 seconds. A time step of 1/60 seconds will usually
deliver a high quality simulation.
The iteration count controls how many times the constraint solver sweeps
over all the contacts and joints in the world. More iteration always
yields a better simulation. But don't trade a small time step for a
large iteration count. 60Hz and 10 iterations is far better than 30Hz
and 20 iterations.
After stepping, you should clear any forces you have applied to your
bodies. This is done with the command `b2World::ClearForces`. This lets
you take multiple sub-steps with the same force field.
```cpp
myWorld->ClearForces();
```
### Exploring the World
The world is a container for bodies, contacts, and joints. You can grab
the body, contact, and joint lists off the world and iterate over them.
For example, this code wakes up all the bodies in the world:
```cpp
for (b2Body* b = myWorld->GetBodyList(); b; b = b->GetNext())
{
b->SetAwake(true);
}
```
Unfortunately real programs can be more complicated. For example, the
following code is broken:
```cpp
for (b2Body* b = myWorld->GetBodyList(); b; b = b->GetNext())
{
GameActor* myActor = (GameActor*)b->GetUserData().pointer;
if (myActor->IsDead())
{
myWorld->DestroyBody(b); // ERROR: now GetNext returns garbage.
}
}
```
Everything goes ok until a body is destroyed. Once a body is destroyed,
its next pointer becomes invalid. So the call to `b2Body::GetNext()` will
return garbage. The solution to this is to copy the next pointer before
destroying the body.
```cpp
b2Body* node = myWorld->GetBodyList();
while (node)
{
b2Body* b = node;
node = node->GetNext();
GameActor* myActor = (GameActor*)b->GetUserData().pointer;
if (myActor->IsDead())
{
myWorld->DestroyBody(b);
}
}
```
This safely destroys the current body. However, you may want to call a
game function that may destroy multiple bodies. In this case you need to
be very careful. The solution is application specific, but for
convenience I'll show one method of solving the problem.
```cpp
b2Body* node = myWorld->GetBodyList();
while (node)
{
b2Body* b = node;
node = node->GetNext();
GameActor* myActor = (GameActor*)b->GetUserData().pointer;
if (myActor->IsDead())
{
bool otherBodiesDestroyed = GameCrazyBodyDestroyer(b);
if (otherBodiesDestroyed)
{
node = myWorld->GetBodyList();
}
}
}
```
Obviously to make this work, GameCrazyBodyDestroyer must be honest about
what it has destroyed.
### AABB Queries
Sometimes you want to determine all the shapes in a region. The b2World
class has a fast log(N) method for this using the broad-phase data
structure. You provide an AABB in world coordinates and an
implementation of b2QueryCallback. The world calls your class with each
fixture whose AABB overlaps the query AABB. Return true to continue the
query, otherwise return false. For example, the following code finds all
the fixtures that potentially intersect a specified AABB and wakes up
all of the associated bodies.
```cpp
class MyQueryCallback : public b2QueryCallback
{
public:
bool ReportFixture(b2Fixture* fixture)
{
b2Body* body = fixture->GetBody();
body->SetAwake(true);
// Return true to continue the query.
return true;
}
};
// Elsewhere ...
MyQueryCallback callback;
b2AABB aabb;
aabb.lowerBound.Set(-1.0f, -1.0f);
aabb.upperBound.Set(1.0f, 1.0f);
myWorld->Query(&callback, aabb);
```
You cannot make any assumptions about the order of the callbacks.
### Ray Casts
You can use ray casts to do line-of-sight checks, fire guns, etc. You
perform a ray cast by implementing a callback class and providing the
start and end points. The world class calls your class with each fixture
hit by the ray. Your callback is provided with the fixture, the point of
intersection, the unit normal vector, and the fractional distance along
the ray. You cannot make any assumptions about the order of the
callbacks.
You control the continuation of the ray cast by returning a fraction.
Returning a fraction of zero indicates the ray cast should be
terminated. A fraction of one indicates the ray cast should continue as
if no hit occurred. If you return the fraction from the argument list,
the ray will be clipped to the current intersection point. So you can
ray cast any shape, ray cast all shapes, or ray cast the closest shape
by returning the appropriate fraction.
You may also return of fraction of -1 to filter the fixture. Then the
ray cast will proceed as if the fixture does not exist.
Here is an example:
```cpp
// This class captures the closest hit shape.
class MyRayCastCallback : public b2RayCastCallback
{
public:
MyRayCastCallback()
{
m_fixture = NULL;
}
float ReportFixture(b2Fixture* fixture, const b2Vec2& point,
const b2Vec2& normal, float fraction)
{
m_fixture = fixture;
m_point = point;
m_normal = normal;
m_fraction = fraction;
return fraction;
}
b2Fixture* m_fixture;
b2Vec2 m_point;
b2Vec2 m_normal;
float m_fraction;
};
// Elsewhere ...
MyRayCastCallback callback;
b2Vec2 point1(-1.0f, 0.0f);
b2Vec2 point2(3.0f, 1.0f);
myWorld->RayCast(&callback, point1, point2);
```
> **Caution**:
> Due to round-off errors, ray casts can sneak through small cracks
> between polygons in your static environment. If this is not acceptable
> in your application, trying slightly overlapping your polygons.