xor

Exclusive OR of shapes in geographic or planar coordinates

Since R2025a

Syntax

shapeout = xor(shape1,shape2)

Description

shapeout = xor(shape1,shape2) calculates the geometric exclusive OR of the specified point, line, or polygon shapes by comparing the shapes in shape1 to the shapes in shape2. The function calculates element-wise exclusive ORs.

• When you specify point shapes, the exclusive OR is a point shape that contains the points in shape1 that are not in shape2, and the points in shape2 that are not in shape1.

• When you specify line shapes, the exclusive OR is a line shape that contains the line parts in shape1 that are not in shape2, and the line parts in shape2 that are not in shape1.

• When you specify polygon shapes, the exclusive OR is a polygon shape that contains the polygon regions in shape1 that are not in shape2, and the polygon regions in shape2 that are not in shape1.

Examples

Calculate Exclusive OR of Shapes

Read a shapefile containing the coordinates of locations in Boston as a geospatial table. The table represents the locations using point shapes in planar coordinates.

GT = readgeotable("boston_placenames.shp");

Create a subtable that contains two table rows. Then, create two polygon shapes by buffering the point shapes.

subGT = geocode(["BEACON HILL","COPPS HILL"],GT);
buffered = buffer(subGT.Shape,1000);

shape1 = buffered(1);
shape2 = buffered(2);

Display the polygon shapes on a map.

figure
geoplot([shape1 shape2])

Prepare to display the difference of the polygon shapes on a similar map by getting the limits of the current map.

[latlim,lonlim] = geolimits;

Calculate the exclusive OR of the polygon shapes. The result is a scalar polygon shape in planar coordinates.

shapeout = xor(shape1,shape2)

shapeout = 
  mappolyshape with properties:

              NumRegions: 2
                NumHoles: 0
                Geometry: "polygon"
    CoordinateSystemType: "planar"
            ProjectedCRS: [1×1 projcrs]

Display the exclusive OR on a new map.

figure
geoplot(shapeout)
geolimits(latlim,lonlim)

Calculate Element-Wise Exclusive OR of Shapes

Create two vectors of polygon shapes in geographic coordinates.

• The first vector contains polygon shapes that buffer the cities of Adelaide and Brisbane.

• The second vector contains polygon shapes that buffer the cities of Melbourne and Sydney.

GT1 = geocode(["Adelaide","Brisbane"]);
shape1 = buffer(GT1.Shape,6);

GT2 = geocode(["Melbourne","Sydney"]);
shape2 = buffer(GT2.Shape,3.5);

Display the polygon shapes on a map.

figure
geoplot([shape1; shape2])

Calculate the element-wise exclusive ORs of the polygon shapes. The result is a two-element vector of polygon shapes.

• The first polygon shape is the exclusive OR of the polygon shapes for Adelaide and Melbourne.

• The second polygon shape is the exclusive OR of the polygon shapes for Brisbane and Sydney.

shapeout = xor(shape1,shape2)

shapeout=2×1 geopolyshape array with properties:
              NumRegions: [2×1 double]
                NumHoles: [2×1 double]
                Geometry: "polygon"
    CoordinateSystemType: "geographic"
           GeographicCRS: [1×1 geocrs]

Display the exclusive ORs on a new map. Note that the xor function did not calculate the exclusive OR of the polygon shapes for Melbourne and Sydney.

figure
geoplot(shapeout)

Input Arguments

shape1, shape2 — Input shapes

array of geopointshape objects | array of geolineshape objects | array of geopolyshape objects | array of mappointshape objects | array of maplineshape objects | array of mappolyshape objects

Input shapes, specified as one of these options:

• Array of geopointshape objects — Point shapes in geographic coordinates

• Array of geolineshape objects — Line shapes in geographic coordinates

• Array of geopolyshape objects — Polygon shapes in geographic coordinates

• Array of mappointshape objects — Point shapes in planar coordinates

• Array of maplineshape objects — Line shapes in planar coordinates

• Array of mappolyshape objects — Polygon shapes in planar coordinates

shape1 and shape2 must share these characteristics:

• The geometric types of shape1 and shape2 must match. For example, if shape1 is a polygon, then shape2 must also be a polygon. You can find the geometric type of a shape object by querying the Geometry property.

• The coordinate system types of shape1 and shape2 must match. For example, if shape1 is in geographic coordinates, then shape2 must also be in geographic coordinates. You can find the coordinate system type of a shape object by querying the CoordinateSystemType property.

• The coordinate reference systems (CRSs) of shape1 and shape2 must match, unless one of shape1 or shape2 is not associated with a CRS. For a shape object in geographic coordinates, you can find the CRS by querying the GeographicCRS property. For a shape object in planar coordinates, you can find the CRS by querying the ProjectedCRS property.

• The sizes of shape1 and shape2 must be compatible. For more information about compatible array sizes, see Compatible Array Sizes for Basic Operations.

Output Arguments

shapeout — Exclusive OR of shapes

array of geopointshape objects | array of geolineshape objects | array of geopolyshape objects | array of mappointshape objects | array of maplineshape objects | array of mappolyshape objects

Exclusive OR of the shapes, returned as an array of geopointshape, geolineshape, geopolyshape, mappointshape, maplineshape, or mappolyshape objects.

The size of shapeout depends on the sizes of shape1 and shape2. For more information about array sizes, see Compatible Array Sizes for Basic Operations.

The geometric type and coordinate system of shapeout matches the geometric type and coordinate system of shape1 and shape2. For example, if shape1 and shape2 contain maplineshape objects, then shapeout also contains maplineshape objects.

Version History

Introduced in R2025a