Question

I have a very simple class definition for 3D Vectors, TVector3D, and a few methods used to implement the TVector3D.Normalise function. If I pass the Normalise function a vector that is already normalised, I want it to return the vector I passed it. Here I have used Result := Self but I am having some crazy returns.

The console application:

program Project1;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

{$R *.res}

uses
  System.SysUtils;

type
  TVector3D = Class
  public
    x : Single;
    y : Single;
    z : Single;
    constructor Create(x : Single;
                       y : Single;
                       z : Single);
    function GetMagnitude() : Single;
    function IsUnitVector() : Boolean;
    function Normalise() : TVector3D;
  end;

  constructor TVector3D.Create(x : Single;
                               y : Single;
                               z : Single);
  begin
    Self.x := x;
    Self.y := y;
    Self.z := z;
  end;

  function TVector3D.GetMagnitude;
  begin
    Result := Sqrt(Sqr(Self.x) + Sqr(Self.y) + Sqr(Self.z));
  end;

  function TVector3D.IsUnitVector;
  begin
    if Self.GetMagnitude = 1 then
      Result := True
    else
      Result := False;
  end;

  function TVector3D.Normalise;
  var
    x : Single;
    y : Single;
    z : Single;
    MagnitudeFactor : Single;
  begin
    if IsUnitVector then
      Result := Self
    else
      MagnitudeFactor := 1/(Self.GetMagnitude);
      x := Self.x*MagnitudeFactor;
      y := Self.y*MagnitudeFactor;
      z := Self.z*MagnitudeFactor;
      Result := TVector3D.Create(x,
                                 y,
                                 z);
  end;

  procedure TestNormalise;
  var
    nonUnitVector : TVector3D;
    unitVector : TVector3D;
    nUVNormed : TVector3D;
    uVNormed : TVector3D;
  begin
  //Setup Vectors for Test
    nonUnitVector := TVector3D.Create(1,
                                      1,
                                      1);
    unitVector := TVector3D.Create(1,
                                   0,
                                   0);
  //Normalise Vectors & Free Memory
    nUVNormed := nonUnitVector.Normalise;
    nonUnitVector.Free;
    uVNormed := unitVector.Normalise;
    unitVector.Free;
  //Print Output & Free Memory
    WriteLn('nUVNormed = (' + FloatToStr(nUVNormed.x) + ', ' + FloatToStr(nUVNormed.y) + ', ' + FloatToStr(nUVNormed.z) + ')');
    nUVNormed.Free;
    WriteLn('uVNormed = (' + FloatToStr(uVNormed.x) + ', ' + FloatToStr(uVNormed.y) + ', ' + FloatToStr(uVNormed.z) + ')');
    uVNormed.Free;
  end;

begin
  try
    TestNormalise;
    Sleep(10000);
  except
    on E: Exception do
      Writeln(E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;
end.

Normalise works fine for non-unit vecors, i.e. IsUnitVector returns false. But for unit vectors, such as (1,0,0), instead of returning itself I get a result with very low nonzero numbers wherever there was a nonzero previously, such as (8.47122...E-38,0,0).

If I run this through the debugger with a breakpoint on the line Result := Self set to evaluate Self, Self is (1,0,0) yet result becomes (Very Low Number,0,0). Where Very Low Number changes each time I run the programme but always seems to be around E-38/E-39.

I do not understand why this happens. Why does it happen and how is it best to alter my Normalise function to avoid it.

Answer 1

Your current TVector3D.Normalise implementation has some issues:

• The last 4 lines are always executed, because you have not used a begin-end block after the else,
• So the routine never returns Self, but always a new instance,
• The returned instance’s memory is propably leaked because you lost ownership of it after the function call,
• When IsUnitVector returns True, then the assignment of MagnitudeFactor will be skipped, and it will be a random value (currently present at that memory’s address), which explains why you get rubish. You are also warned by the compiler for this: Variable MagnitudeFactor might not have been initialized.

Instead, I would rewrite the routine as follows:

function TVector3D.Normalise: TVector3D;
begin
  if not IsUnitVector then
  begin
    x := x / GetMagnitude;
    y := y / GetMagnitude;
    z := z / GetMagnitude;
  end;
  Result := Self;
end;