a5_covering: A5 covering vectors

In a5R: 'A5' Discrete Global Grid System

A5 covering vectors

Description

A covering is a set of A5 cells at one resolution, standing for an area of the globe, possibly in disjoint parts: the cells of a polygon, a disk or a cap. It is stored compacted. Complete groups of sibling cells are replaced by their parent, so the stored cells have mixed resolutions, and a trailing compaction marker records the resolution they stand for. An a5_covering vector holds one covering per element, so it fits in a data frame column, with one covering per feature or per centre cell.

Usage

as_a5_covering(x, ...)

## S3 method for class 'a5_covering'
as_a5_covering(x, ...)

## S3 method for class 'a5_cell'
as_a5_covering(x, resolution = NULL, ...)

## S3 method for class 'a5_cell_list'
as_a5_covering(x, resolution = NULL, ...)

## S3 method for class 'list'
as_a5_covering(x, resolution = NULL, ...)

is_a5_covering(x)

a5_covering_resolution(x)

Arguments

x	For as_a5_covering(): an a5_cell vector (one covering), an a5_cell_list (one covering per element), or a list of a5_cell vectors or of raw vectors of little-endian 64-bit values, as stored by other A5 libraries. NULL list elements are missing coverings. For a5_covering_resolution() and is_a5_covering(): any object.
...	Unused.
resolution	Integer scalar resolution the coverings stand for, or NULL (the default) for the resolution of each input's finest cell. No cell may be finer than resolution. Ignored for raw input that carries a compaction marker.

Details

a5_polygon_to_cells(), a5_grid_disk(), a5_spherical_cap() and a5_compact() return coverings. as_a5_covering() builds them from cells or from raw 64-bit values, sorting and compacting them as needed. a5_covering_resolution() returns the resolution each covering stands for, and a5_uncompact() expands coverings to their cells.

Value

as_a5_covering(): an a5_covering vector. a5_covering_resolution(): an integer vector, NA for a missing covering and -1 for an empty one without a recorded resolution. is_a5_covering(): a logical scalar.

Working with coverings

Use coverings through a5R functions where one fits. The stored cells are index parents (see a5_hierarchy): their outlines do not nest geometrically, so drawing them shows overlaps and gaps. Uncompact a covering before plotting or joining it to data keyed by cell. For index range queries, a5_covering_stored() returns the stored cells.

length() counts coverings, not cells. x[i] and x[[i]] both return coverings, and c() concatenates them. Two coverings of the same cells compare equal with ==, because a5R always stores a covering in the same sorted, compacted form. A missing covering is NA, for example the disk around an NA cell; an empty covering (no cells) is not missing.

Coverings are stored with the compaction marker, as in the other A5 libraries, so a5_covering_to_arrow() writes them to a ⁠list<uint64>⁠ column that DuckDB, Python and JavaScript read without losing the resolution.

See Also

a5_uncompact(), a5_is_valid(), a5_covering_to_arrow().

Examples

cell <- a5_lonlat_to_cell(-3.19, 55.95, resolution = 8)
disk <- a5_grid_disk(cell, k = 3)
disk
a5_covering_resolution(disk)

# from cells: complete sibling groups are stored as their parent
kids <- a5_cell_to_children(cell, child_resolution = 10)
as_a5_covering(kids)
as_a5_covering(kids[-1])

a5R documentation built on Oct. 19, 2026, 5:08 p.m.