A while ago I had been playing a bit with the new spatial data types in SQL Server 2008. Not only can SQL Server store such data, it can also visualize it. So I had come up with the following query:
select geometry::STPolyFromText ('POLYGON((1 1, 1.5 1.85, 2.5 1.85, 3 1, 2.5 0.15, 1.5 0.15, 1 1), (1.5 1.5, 1.5 0.5, 1.7 0.5, 1.7 0.9, 2.3 0.9, 2.3 0.5, 2.5 0.5, 2.5 1.5, 2.3 1.5, 2.3 1.1, 1.7 1.1, 1.7 1.5, 1.5 1.5))', 0);
Running that in the Management Studio produces something like this on the Spatial results tab:
I’m using the STPolyFromText function to produce a six-sided polygon with a letter H in the center. To get to the result, I’m passing a bunch of XY coordinates to the function. A line gets drawn between two coordinates following each other.
The first list of coordinates (the first list of numbers enclosed in round brackets) creates the hexagon while the second list produces the letter H. Each list of coordinates thus represents one polygon. The starting XY coordinate must be equal to the ending coordinate to form a closed shape. The shape is then filled with a color. Overlapping shapes will be filled using different colors, as shown above.
Producing these coordinates was quite interesting: to be able to calculate the angled sides of the hexagon I used the following formulas.
With S being the length of one side:
Width = 2 * S
Height = S * SQRT(3)
Note: these formulas are only applicable when the hexagon is rotated as shown above.
I needed to know these distances to be able to calculate how much I should increase the X/Y coordinates to get to the next connector.
Okay, enough theory, back to the story now.
Q: “So, why are you creating a helipad platform?”
A: No, it’s not supposed to look like a helipad platform. The shape resembles the beer coasters for the beer called Hoegaarden. And those coasters always have a funny drawing or comment on them. Let’s see if I can find one that’s understandable for non-native Dutch-speakers…
(And half an hour later – turns out it’s really not easy to find one without text – luckily they’ve also created some in English!)
Initially I was planning on writing a longer article about the spatial data types but hadn’t found the time to do it yet. And then a couple of days ago I came across a challenge that made me think of this query and so now I’m publishing it in this post.
The challenge to which I’m referring was started by Itzik Ben-Gan and is called Geekiest Sig Challenge. The point is to use the new SQL Server spatial data types to create a signature for yourself. Well, a perfect description for my query!
I was happy to just get an H on there, getting those coordinates right without first putting it on paper is really a challenge 
And on top of that, I was never any good at drawing. I remember in secondary school we got an assignment to draw a tree. Any tree. So at home I looked out the window and started drawing the tree. I ended up with the most atrocious thing I’d ever seen (well, that may be a bit exaggerated), it could have starred in a Hitchcock movie straight away, really spiky, and probably spooky when encountered in the dark and with the right background noises playing.
Anyway, what I wanted to say, some people are just talented: check out this submission by Michael J. Swart! No further words needed.
Right, enough geeky stuff to close the week, and remember: have fun!
(Hmm, now I’ve got something to build my favicon from…)
Valentino.
.png)
.png)
