h3-js
The h3-js
library provides a pure-JavaScript version of the H3 Core Library, a hexagon-based geographic grid system. It can be used either in Node >= 6 or in the browser. The core library is transpiled from C using emscripten, offering full parity with the C API and highly efficient operations.
For more information on H3 and for the full API documentation, please see the H3 Documentation.
- Post bug reports or feature requests to the Github Issues page
- Ask questions by posting to the H3 tag on StackOverflow
Install
npm install h3-js
Usage
The library uses ES6 modules. Bundles for Node and the browser are built to the dist
folder.
Import
ES6 usage:
import {h3ToGeo} from "h3-js";
CommonJS usage:
const h3 = require("h3-js");
Pre-bundled script (library is available as an h3
global):
<script src="https://unpkg.com/h3-js">script>
Core functions
// Convert a lat/lng point to a hexagon index at resolution 7
const h3Index = h3.geoToH3(37.3615593, -122.0553238, 7);
// -> '87283472bffffff'
// Get the center of the hexagon
const hexCenterCoordinates = h3.h3ToGeo(h3Index);
// -> [37.35171820183272, -122.05032565263946]
// Get the vertices of the hexagon
const hexBoundary = h3.h3ToGeoBoundary(h3Index);
// -> [ [37.341099093235684, -122.04156135164334 ], ...]
Useful algorithms
// Get all neighbors within 1 step of the hexagon
const kRing = h3.kRing(h3Index, 1);
// -> ['87283472bffffff', '87283472affffff', ...]
// Get the set of hexagons within a polygon
const polygon = [
[37.813318999983238, -122.4089866999972145],
[37.7198061999978478, -122.3544736999993603],
[37.8151571999998453, -122.4798767000009008]
];
const hexagons = h3.polyfill(polygon, 7);
// -> ['872830828ffffff', '87283082effffff', ...]
// Get the outline of a set of hexagons, as a GeoJSON-style MultiPolygon
const coordinates = h3.h3SetToMultiPolygon(hexagons, true);
// -> [[[
// [-122.37681938644465, 37.76546768434345],
// [-122.3856345540363,37.776004200673846],
// ...
// ]]]
API Reference
h3
- h3
- .h3IsValid(h3Index) ⇒
boolean
- .h3IsPentagon(h3Index) ⇒
boolean
- .h3IsResClassIII(h3Index) ⇒
boolean
- .h3GetBaseCell(h3Index) ⇒
number
- .h3GetFaces(h3Index) ⇒
Array.
- .h3GetResolution(h3Index) ⇒
number
- .geoToH3(lat, lng, res) ⇒
H3Index
- .h3ToGeo(h3Index) ⇒
Array.
- .h3ToGeoBoundary(h3Index, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒
Array.
> - .h3ToParent(h3Index, res) ⇒
H3Index
- .h3ToChildren(h3Index, res) ⇒
Array.
- .h3ToCenterChild(h3Index, res) ⇒
H3Index
- .kRing(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒
Array.
- .kRingDistances(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒
Array.
> - .hexRing(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒
Array.
- .polyfill(coordinates, res, [isGeoJson]) ⇒
Array.
- .h3SetToMultiPolygon(h3Indexes, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒
Array.
>>> - .compact(h3Set) ⇒
Array.
- .uncompact(compactedSet, res) ⇒
Array.
- .h3IndexesAreNeighbors(origin, destination) ⇒
boolean
- .getH3UnidirectionalEdge(origin, destination) ⇒
H3Index
- .getOriginH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒
H3Index
- .getDestinationH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒
H3Index
- .h3UnidirectionalEdgeIsValid(edgeIndex) ⇒
boolean
- .getH3IndexesFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒
Array.
- .getH3UnidirectionalEdgesFromHexagon(h3Index) ⇒
Array.
- .getH3UnidirectionalEdgeBoundary(edgeIndex, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒
Array.
> - .h3Distance(origin, destination) ⇒
number
- .h3Line(origin, destination) ⇒
Array.
- .experimentalH3ToLocalIj(origin, destination) ⇒
CoordIJ
- .experimentalLocalIjToH3(origin, coords) ⇒
H3Index
- .pointDist(latlng1, latlng2, unit) ⇒
number
- .cellArea(h3Index, unit) ⇒
number
- .exactEdgeLength(edge, unit) ⇒
number
- .hexArea(res, unit) ⇒
number
- .edgeLength(res, unit) ⇒
number
- .numHexagons(res) ⇒
number
- .getRes0Indexes() ⇒
Array.
- .getPentagonIndexes(res) ⇒
Array.
- .degsToRads(deg) ⇒
number
- .radsToDegs(rad) ⇒
number
- .H3Index :
string
- .H3IndexInput :
string
|Array.
- .CoordIJ :
Object
- .UNITS :
Object
- .h3IsValid(h3Index) ⇒
boolean
h3.h3IsValid(h3Index) ⇒ Whether a given string represents a valid H3 index
Returns: boolean
- Whether the index is valid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to check |
boolean
h3.h3IsPentagon(h3Index) ⇒ Whether the given H3 index is a pentagon
Returns: boolean
- isPentagon
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to check |
boolean
h3.h3IsResClassIII(h3Index) ⇒ Whether the given H3 index is in a Class III resolution (rotated versus the icosahedron and subject to shape distortion adding extra points on icosahedron edges, making them not true hexagons).
Returns: boolean
- isResClassIII
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to check |
number
h3.h3GetBaseCell(h3Index) ⇒ Get the number of the base cell for a given H3 index
Returns: number
- Index of the base cell (0-121)
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get the base cell for |
Array.
h3.h3GetFaces(h3Index) ⇒ Get the indices of all icosahedron faces intersected by a given H3 index
Returns: Array.
- Indices (0-19) of all intersected faces
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get faces for |
number
h3.h3GetResolution(h3Index) ⇒ Returns the resolution of an H3 index
Returns: number
- The number (0-15) resolution, or -1 if invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get resolution |
H3Index
h3.geoToH3(lat, lng, res) ⇒ Get the hexagon containing a lat,lon point
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
lat | number |
Latitude of point |
lng | number |
Longtitude of point |
res | number |
Resolution of hexagons to return |
Array.
h3.h3ToGeo(h3Index) ⇒ Get the lat,lon center of a given hexagon
Returns: Array.
- Point as a [lat, lng] pair
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index |
Array.
>
h3.h3ToGeoBoundary(h3Index, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒ Get the vertices of a given hexagon (or pentagon), as an array of [lat, lng] points. For pentagons and hexagons on the edge of an icosahedron face, this function may return up to 10 vertices.
Returns: Array.
- Array of [lat, lng] pairs
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3Index |
H3 index |
[formatAsGeoJson] | boolean |
Whether to provide GeoJSON output: [lng, lat], closed loops |
H3Index
h3.h3ToParent(h3Index, res) ⇒ Get the parent of the given hexagon at a particular resolution
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index of parent, or null for invalid input
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get parent for |
res | number |
Resolution of hexagon to return |
Array.
h3.h3ToChildren(h3Index, res) ⇒ Get the children/descendents of the given hexagon at a particular resolution
Returns: Array.
- H3 indexes of children, or empty array for invalid input
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get children for |
res | number |
Resolution of hexagons to return |
H3Index
h3.h3ToCenterChild(h3Index, res) ⇒ Get the center child of the given hexagon at a particular resolution
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index of child, or null for invalid input
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index to get center child for |
res | number |
Resolution of hexagon to return |
Array.
h3.kRing(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒ Get all hexagons in a k-ring around a given center. The order of the hexagons is undefined.
Returns: Array.
- H3 indexes for all hexagons in ring
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of center hexagon |
ringSize | number |
Radius of k-ring |
Array.
>
h3.kRingDistances(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒ Get all hexagons in a k-ring around a given center, in an array of arrays ordered by distance from the origin. The order of the hexagons within each ring is undefined.
Returns: Array.
- Array of arrays with H3 indexes for all hexagons each ring
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of center hexagon |
ringSize | number |
Radius of k-ring |
Array.
h3.hexRing(h3Index, ringSize) ⇒ Get all hexagons in a hollow hexagonal ring centered at origin with sides of a given length. Unlike kRing, this function will throw an error if there is a pentagon anywhere in the ring.
Returns: Array.
- H3 indexes for all hexagons in ring
Throws:
Error
If the algorithm could not calculate the ring
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of center hexagon |
ringSize | number |
Radius of ring |
Array.
h3.polyfill(coordinates, res, [isGeoJson]) ⇒ Get all hexagons with centers contained in a given polygon. The polygon is specified with GeoJson semantics as an array of loops. Each loop is an array of [lat, lng] pairs (or [lng, lat] if isGeoJson is specified). The first loop is the perimeter of the polygon, and subsequent loops are expected to be holes.
Returns: Array.
- H3 indexes for all hexagons in polygon
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
coordinates | Array.
| Array.
|
Array of loops, or a single loop |
res | number |
Resolution of hexagons to return |
[isGeoJson] | boolean |
Whether to expect GeoJson-style [lng, lat] pairs instead of [lat, lng] |
Array.
>>>
h3.h3SetToMultiPolygon(h3Indexes, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒ Get the outlines of a set of H3 hexagons, returned in GeoJSON MultiPolygon format (an array of polygons, each with an array of loops, each an array of coordinates). Coordinates are returned as [lat, lng] pairs unless GeoJSON is requested.
It is the responsibility of the caller to ensure that all hexagons in the set have the same resolution and that the set contains no duplicates. Behavior is undefined if duplicates or multiple resolutions are present, and the algorithm may produce unexpected or invalid polygons.
Returns: Array.
- MultiPolygon-style output.
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Indexes | Array.
|
H3 indexes to get outlines for |
[formatAsGeoJson] | boolean |
Whether to provide GeoJSON output: [lng, lat], closed loops |
Array.
h3.compact(h3Set) ⇒ Compact a set of hexagons of the same resolution into a set of hexagons across multiple levels that represents the same area.
Returns: Array.
- Compacted H3 indexes
Throws:
Error
If the input is invalid (e.g. duplicate hexagons)
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Set | Array.
|
H3 indexes to compact |
Array.
h3.uncompact(compactedSet, res) ⇒ Uncompact a compacted set of hexagons to hexagons of the same resolution
Returns: Array.
- The uncompacted H3 indexes
Throws:
Error
If the input is invalid (e.g. invalid resolution)
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
compactedSet | Array.
|
H3 indexes to uncompact |
res | number |
The resolution to uncompact to |
boolean
h3.h3IndexesAreNeighbors(origin, destination) ⇒ Whether two H3 indexes are neighbors (share an edge)
Returns: boolean
- Whether the hexagons share an edge
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin hexagon index |
destination | H3IndexInput |
Destination hexagon index |
H3Index
h3.getH3UnidirectionalEdge(origin, destination) ⇒ Get an H3 index representing a unidirectional edge for a given origin and destination
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index of the edge, or null if no edge is shared
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin hexagon index |
destination | H3IndexInput |
Destination hexagon index |
H3Index
h3.getOriginH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒ Get the origin hexagon from an H3 index representing a unidirectional edge
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index of the edge origin
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edgeIndex | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the edge |
H3Index
h3.getDestinationH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒ Get the destination hexagon from an H3 index representing a unidirectional edge
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index of the edge destination
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edgeIndex | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the edge |
boolean
h3.h3UnidirectionalEdgeIsValid(edgeIndex) ⇒ Whether the input is a valid unidirectional edge
Returns: boolean
- Whether the index is valid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edgeIndex | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the edge |
Array.
h3.getH3IndexesFromUnidirectionalEdge(edgeIndex) ⇒ Get the [origin, destination] pair represented by a unidirectional edge
Returns: Array.
- [origin, destination] pair as H3 indexes
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edgeIndex | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the edge |
Array.
h3.getH3UnidirectionalEdgesFromHexagon(h3Index) ⇒ Get all of the unidirectional edges with the given H3 index as the origin (i.e. an edge to every neighbor)
Returns: Array.
- List of unidirectional edges
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the origin hexagon |
Array.
>
h3.getH3UnidirectionalEdgeBoundary(edgeIndex, [formatAsGeoJson]) ⇒ Get the vertices of a given edge as an array of [lat, lng] points. Note that for edges that cross the edge of an icosahedron face, this may return 3 coordinates.
Returns: Array.
- Array of geo coordinate pairs
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edgeIndex | H3IndexInput |
H3 index of the edge |
[formatAsGeoJson] | boolean |
Whether to provide GeoJSON output: [lng, lat] |
number
h3.h3Distance(origin, destination) ⇒ Get the grid distance between two hex indexes. This function may fail to find the distance between two indexes if they are very far apart or on opposite sides of a pentagon.
Returns: number
- Distance between hexagons, or a negative number if the distance could not be computed
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin hexagon index |
destination | H3IndexInput |
Destination hexagon index |
Array.
h3.h3Line(origin, destination) ⇒ Given two H3 indexes, return the line of indexes between them (inclusive).
This function may fail to find the line between two indexes, for example if they are very far apart. It may also fail when finding distances for indexes on opposite sides of a pentagon.
Notes:
- The specific output of this function should not be considered stable across library versions. The only guarantees the library provides are that the line length will be
h3Distance(start, end) + 1
and that every index in the line will be a neighbor of the preceding index. - Lines are drawn in grid space, and may not correspond exactly to either Cartesian lines or great arcs.
Returns: Array.
- H3 indexes connecting origin and destination
Throws:
Error
If the line cannot be calculated
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin hexagon index |
destination | H3IndexInput |
Destination hexagon index |
CoordIJ
h3.experimentalH3ToLocalIj(origin, destination) ⇒ Produces IJ coordinates for an H3 index anchored by an origin.
- The coordinate space used by this function may have deleted regions or warping due to pentagonal distortion.
- Coordinates are only comparable if they come from the same origin index.
- Failure may occur if the index is too far away from the origin or if the index is on the other side of a pentagon.
- This function is experimental, and its output is not guaranteed to be compatible across different versions of H3.
Returns: CoordIJ
- Coordinates as an {i, j}
pair
Throws:
Error
If the IJ coordinates cannot be calculated
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin H3 index |
destination | H3IndexInput |
H3 index for which to find relative coordinates |
H3Index
h3.experimentalLocalIjToH3(origin, coords) ⇒ Produces an H3 index for IJ coordinates anchored by an origin.
- The coordinate space used by this function may have deleted regions or warping due to pentagonal distortion.
- Coordinates are only comparable if they come from the same origin index.
- Failure may occur if the index is too far away from the origin or if the index is on the other side of a pentagon.
- This function is experimental, and its output is not guaranteed to be compatible across different versions of H3.
Returns: H3Index
- H3 index at the relative coordinates
Throws:
Error
If the H3 index cannot be calculated
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
origin | H3IndexInput |
Origin H3 index |
coords | CoordIJ |
Coordinates as an {i, j} pair |
number
h3.pointDist(latlng1, latlng2, unit) ⇒ Great circle distance between two geo points. This is not specific to H3, but is implemented in the library and provided here as a convenience.
Returns: number
- Great circle distance
Throws:
Error
If the unit is invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
latlng1 | Array.
|
Origin coordinate as [lat, lng] |
latlng2 | Array.
|
Destination coordinate as [lat, lng] |
unit | string |
Distance unit (either UNITS.m or UNITS.km) |
number
h3.cellArea(h3Index, unit) ⇒ Exact area of a given cell
Returns: number
- Cell area
Throws:
Error
If the unit is invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
h3Index | H3Index |
H3 index of the hexagon to measure |
unit | string |
Distance unit (either UNITS.m2 or UNITS.km2) |
number
h3.exactEdgeLength(edge, unit) ⇒ Exact length of a given unidirectional edge
Returns: number
- Cell area
Throws:
Error
If the unit is invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
edge | H3Index |
H3 index of the edge to measure |
unit | string |
Distance unit (either UNITS.m, UNITS.km, or UNITS.rads) |
number
h3.hexArea(res, unit) ⇒ Average hexagon area at a given resolution
Returns: number
- Average area
Throws:
Error
If the unit is invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
res | number |
Hexagon resolution |
unit | string |
Area unit (either UNITS.m2, UNITS.km2, or UNITS.rads2) |
number
h3.edgeLength(res, unit) ⇒ Average hexagon edge length at a given resolution
Returns: number
- Average edge length
Throws:
Error
If the unit is invalid
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
res | number |
Hexagon resolution |
unit | string |
Distance unit (either UNITS.m, UNITS.km, or UNITS.rads) |
number
h3.numHexagons(res) ⇒ The total count of hexagons in the world at a given resolution. Note that above resolution 8 the exact count cannot be represented in a JavaScript 32-bit number, so consumers should use caution when applying further operations to the output.
Returns: number
- Count
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
res | number |
Hexagon resolution |
Array.
h3.getRes0Indexes() ⇒ Get all H3 indexes at resolution 0. As every index at every resolution > 0 is the descendant of a res 0 index, this can be used with h3ToChildren to iterate over H3 indexes at any resolution.
Returns: Array.
- All H3 indexes at res 0
Array.
h3.getPentagonIndexes(res) ⇒ Get the twelve pentagon indexes at a given resolution.
Returns: Array.
- All H3 pentagon indexes at res
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
res | number |
Hexagon resolution |
number
h3.degsToRads(deg) ⇒ Convert degrees to radians
Returns: number
- Value in radians
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
deg | number |
Value in degrees |
number
h3.radsToDegs(rad) ⇒ Convert radians to degrees
Returns: number
- Value in degrees
Param | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
rad | number |
Value in radians |
string
h3.H3Index : 64-bit hexidecimal string representation of an H3 index
string
| Array.
h3.H3IndexInput : 64-bit hexidecimal string representation of an H3 index, or two 32-bit integers in little endian order in an array.
Object
h3.CoordIJ : Coordinates as an {i, j}
pair
Properties
Name | Type |
---|---|
i | number |
j | number |
Object
h3.UNITS : Length/Area units
Properties
Name | Type |
---|---|
m | string |
m2 | string |
km | string |
km2 | string |
rads | string |
rads2 | string |
Development
The h3-js
library uses yarn
as the preferred package manager. To install the dev dependencies, just run:
yarn
To lint the code:
yarn lint
To run the tests:
yarn test
Code must be formatted with prettier
; unformatted code will fail the build. To format all files:
yarn prettier
Benchmarks
The h3-js
library includes a basic benchmark suite using Benchmark.js. Because many of the functions may be called over thousands of hexagons in a "hot loop", performance is an important concern. Benchmarks are run against the transpiled ES5 code by default.
To run the benchmarks in Node:
yarn benchmark-node
To run the benchmarks in a browser:
yarn benchmark-browser
Sample Node output (Macbook Pro running Node 6):
h3IsValid x 3,725,046 ops/sec ±0.47% (90 runs sampled)
geoToH3 x 227,458 ops/sec ±0.84% (89 runs sampled)
h3ToGeo x 843,167 ops/sec ±0.96% (87 runs sampled)
h3ToGeoBoundary x 220,797 ops/sec ±2.56% (86 runs sampled)
kRing x 144,955 ops/sec ±3.06% (85 runs sampled)
polyfill x 9,291 ops/sec ±1.12% (88 runs sampled)
h3SetToMultiPolygon x 311 ops/sec ±1.56% (82 runs sampled)
compact x 1,336 ops/sec ±4.51% (86 runs sampled)
uncompact x 574 ops/sec ±0.91% (85 runs sampled)
h3IndexesAreNeighbors x 670,031 ops/sec ±1.36% (88 runs sampled)
getH3UnidirectionalEdge x 356,089 ops/sec ±1.17% (85 runs sampled)
getOriginH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge x 1,052,652 ops/sec ±0.54% (89 runs sampled)
getDestinationH3IndexFromUnidirectionalEdge x 891,680 ops/sec ±0.90% (91 runs sampled)
h3UnidirectionalEdgeIsValid x 3,551,111 ops/sec ±0.69% (85 runs sampled)
When making code changes that may affect performance, please run benchmarks against master
and then against your branch to identify any regressions.
Transpiling the C Source
The core library is transpiled using emscripten. The easiest way to build from source locally is by using Docker. Make sure Docker is installed, then:
yarn docker-boot
yarn build-emscripten
The build script uses the H3_VERSION
file to determine the version of the core library to build. To use a different version of the library (e.g. to test local changes), clone the desired H3 repo to ./h3c
and then run yarn docker-emscripten
.
Contributing
Pull requests and Github issues are welcome. Please include tests for new work, and keep the library test coverage at 100%. Please note that the purpose of this module is to expose the API of the H3 Core library, so we will rarely accept new features that are not part of that API. New proposed feature work is more appropriate in the core C library or in a new JS library that depends on h3-js
.
Before we can merge your changes, you must agree to the Uber Contributor License Agreement.
Versioning
The H3 core library adheres to Semantic Versioning. The h3-js
library has a major.minor.patch
version scheme. The major and minor version numbers of h3-js
are the major and minor version of the bound core library, respectively. The patch version is incremented independently of the core library.
Legal and Licensing
The h3-js
library is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.
DGGRID Copyright (c) 2015 Southern Oregon University