Starting with Halcon version 12, vectors can contain tuples or even other vectors, allowing them to act like structured data. This is particularly useful for organizing complex information, such as categorizing objects in a vision system.

Example: Categorizing Donuts

Data.at(0).at(0) := ['UID', 1]
Data.at(0).at(1) := ['Frosting', 'Chocolate']
Data.at(0).at(2) := ['Topping', 'Sprinkles']
Data.at(0).at(3) := ['Hole', 1]

Of course, this input could be replaced with a simple function:

add_new_object (Data, 2,  ['Frosting','Topping','Hole'], ['Strawberry','Sprinkles', 1], Data)

Properties := ['Frosting','Topping','Hole']

add_new_object (Data, 3,  Properties, ['Chocolate', 'None',      1], Data)
add_new_object (Data, 4,  Properties, ['None',	      'None',	     1], Data)
add_new_object (Data, 5,  Properties, ['Raspberry', 'None',	     1], Data)

...

Structuring data like this allows us to have a clear overview of data…

…and writing of simple queries:

** get_all_property_values (Data, PropertyName, OutputValues)

convert_vector_to_tuple (Data, Result)
tuple_find (Result, PropertyName, Indices)
OutputValues := Result[Indices+1]
return ()

** get_all_property_values (Data, 'UID', IDs)
** Result:
** [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Like getting all of the possible donut toppings:

** get_all_unique_property_values (Data, PropertyName, OutputValues)


get_all_property_values (Data, PropertyName, ValuesAll)
tuple_sort (ValuesAll, Sorted)
tuple_uniq (Sorted, OutputValues)
return ()

** get_all_unique_property_values (Data, 'Topping', Toppings)
** Result:
** ['Chocolate', 'None', 'Sprinkles', 'Sugar']

Or getting donut indices (starting from one from top left corner) with chocolate frosting:

** get_all_where_property_equals_X (Data, PropertyName, X, OutputValues)
get_all_property_values (Data, 'UID', IDs)
get_all_property_values (Data, PropertyName, Frostings)
tuple_find (Frostings, X, Indices)


OutputValues := IDs[Indices]
return ()

** get_all_where_property_equals_X (Data, 'Frosting', 'Chocolate', OutputValues)
** Result:
** [1, 3, 8, 11]

You can find the sample code here: Example