How do I draw lines using XNA?

Question

I\'ve read a bunch of tutorials involving XNA (and it\'s various versions) and I still am a little confused on drawing primitives. Everything seems to be really convoluted.

Answer 1

I encountered this problem my self and decided to make a class called LineBatch. LineBatch will draw lines without needing a spriteBatch or dots. The class is below.

public class LineBatch
{
    bool cares_about_begin_without_end;
    bool began;
    GraphicsDevice GraphicsDevice;
    List<VertexPositionColor> verticies = new List<VertexPositionColor>();
    BasicEffect effect;
    public LineBatch(GraphicsDevice graphics)
    {
        GraphicsDevice = graphics;
        effect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
        Matrix world = Matrix.Identity;
        Matrix view = Matrix.CreateTranslation(-GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width / 2, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height / 2, 0);
        Matrix projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographic(GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, -10, 10);
        effect.World = world;
        effect.View = view;
        effect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
        effect.Projection = projection;
        effect.DiffuseColor = Color.White.ToVector3();
        cares_about_begin_without_end = true;
    }
    public LineBatch(GraphicsDevice graphics, bool cares_about_begin_without_end)
    {
        this.cares_about_begin_without_end = cares_about_begin_without_end;
        GraphicsDevice = graphics;
        effect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
        Matrix world = Matrix.Identity;
        Matrix view = Matrix.CreateTranslation(-GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width / 2, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height / 2, 0);
        Matrix projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographic(GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width, -GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, -10, 10);
        effect.World = world;
        effect.View = view;
        effect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
        effect.Projection = projection;
        effect.DiffuseColor = Color.White.ToVector3();
    }
    public void DrawAngledLineWithRadians(Vector2 start, float length, float radians, Color color)
    {
        Vector2 offset = new Vector2(
            (float)Math.Sin(radians) * length, //x
            -(float)Math.Cos(radians) * length //y
            );
        Draw(start, start + offset, color);
    }
    public void DrawOutLineOfRectangle(Rectangle rectangle, Color color)
    {
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
        Draw(new Vector2(rectangle.X, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), new Vector2(rectangle.X + rectangle.Width, rectangle.Y + rectangle.Height), color);
    }
    public void DrawOutLineOfTriangle(Vector2 point_1, Vector2 point_2, Vector2 point_3, Color color)
    {
        Draw(point_1, point_2, color);
        Draw(point_1, point_3, color);
        Draw(point_2, point_3, color);
    }
    float GetRadians(float angleDegrees)
    {
        return angleDegrees * ((float)Math.PI) / 180.0f;
    }
    public void DrawAngledLine(Vector2 start, float length, float angleDegrees, Color color)
    {
        DrawAngledLineWithRadians(start, length, GetRadians(angleDegrees), color);
    }
    public void Draw(Vector2 start, Vector2 end, Color color)
    {
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(new Vector3(start, 0f), color));
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(new Vector3(end, 0f), color));
    }
    public void Draw(Vector3 start, Vector3 end, Color color)
    {
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(start, color));
        verticies.Add(new VertexPositionColor(end, color));
    }
    public void End()
    {
        if (!began)
            if (cares_about_begin_without_end)
                throw new ArgumentException("Please add begin before end!");
            else
                Begin();
        if (verticies.Count > 0)
        {
            VertexBuffer vb = new VertexBuffer(GraphicsDevice, typeof(VertexPositionColor), verticies.Count, BufferUsage.WriteOnly);
            vb.SetData<VertexPositionColor>(verticies.ToArray());
            GraphicsDevice.SetVertexBuffer(vb);

            foreach (EffectPass pass in effect.CurrentTechnique.Passes)
            {
                pass.Apply();
                GraphicsDevice.DrawPrimitives(PrimitiveType.LineList, 0, verticies.Count / 2);
            }
        }
        began = false;
    }
    public void Begin()
    {
        if (began)
            if (cares_about_begin_without_end)
                throw new ArgumentException("You forgot end.");
            else
                End();
        verticies.Clear();
            began = true;
    }
}

Answer 2

Here is a simple way that I use to make lines by specifying a start coordinate, an end coordinate, width, and color of them:

NOTE: you must add a file named "dot" to the content directory (the line will be made out of these).

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GamerServices;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Media;

namespace Xna.LineHelper
{
    public class LineManager
    {
        int loopCounter;
        int lineLegnth;
        Vector2 lineDirection;
        Vector2 _position;
        Color dotColor;
        Rectangle _rectangle;
        List<Texture2D> _dots = new List<Texture2D>();
        FunctionsLibrary functions = new FunctionsLibrary();

        public void CreateLineFiles(Vector2 startPosition, Vector2 endPosition, int width, Color color, ContentManager content)
        {
            dotColor = color;
            _position.X = startPosition.X;
            _position.Y = startPosition.Y;
            lineLegnth = functions.Distance((int)startPosition.X, (int)endPosition.X, (int)startPosition.Y, (int)endPosition.Y);
            lineDirection = new Vector2((endPosition.X - startPosition.X) / lineLegnth, (endPosition.Y - startPosition.Y) / lineLegnth);
            _dots.Clear();
            loopCounter = 0;
            _rectangle = new Rectangle((int)startPosition.X, (int)startPosition.Y, width, width);
            while (loopCounter < lineLegnth)
            {
                Texture2D dot = content.Load<Texture2D>("dot");
                _dots.Add(dot);

                loopCounter += 1;
            }

        }

        public void DrawLoadedLine(SpriteBatch sb)
        {
            foreach (Texture2D dot in _dots)
            {
                _position.X += lineDirection.X;
                _position.Y += lineDirection.Y;
                _rectangle.X = (int)_position.X;
                _rectangle.Y = (int)_position.Y;
                sb.Draw(dot, _rectangle, dotColor);
            }
        }
    }

    public class FunctionsLibrary
    {
        //Random for all methods
        Random Rand = new Random();

        #region math
        public int TriangleArea1(int bottom, int height)
        {
            int answer = (bottom * height / 2);
            return answer;
        }

        public double TriangleArea2(int A, int B, int C)
        {
            int s = ((A + B + C) / 2);
            double answer = (Math.Sqrt(s * (s - A) * (s - B) * (s - C)));
            return answer;
        }
        public int RectangleArea(int side1, int side2)
        {
            int answer = (side1 * side2);
            return answer;
        }
        public int SquareArea(int side)
        {
            int answer = (side * side);
            return answer;
        }
        public double CircleArea(int diameter)
        {
            double answer = (((diameter / 2) * (diameter / 2)) * Math.PI);
            return answer;
        }
        public int Diference(int A, int B)
        {
            int distance = Math.Abs(A - B);
            return distance;
        }
        #endregion

        #region standardFunctions

        public int Distance(int x1, int x2, int y1, int y2)
        {
            return (int)(Math.Sqrt((x1 - x2) * (x1 - x2) + (y1 - y2) * (y1 - y2)));
        }

        #endregion



    }
}

Answer 3

Following NoHayProblema's answer (I cannot comment yet).

That answer, although the correct one for this old question, is incomplete. Texture2D constructor returns an uninitialized texture, which is never painted on screen. In order to use that approach, you need to set the texture's data like this:

Texture2D SimpleTexture = new Texture2D(GraphicsDevice, 1, 1, false,
    SurfaceFormat.Color);

Int32[] pixel = {0xFFFFFF}; // White. 0xFF is Red, 0xFF0000 is Blue
SimpleTexture.SetData<Int32> (pixel, 0, SimpleTexture.Width * SimpleTexture.Height);

// Paint a 100x1 line starting at 20, 50
this.spriteBatch.Draw(SimpleTexture, new Rectangle(20, 50, 100, 1), Color.Blue);

Take into account that the way you write the data into pixel must be consistent with the texture's SurfaceFormat. The example works because the texture is being formatted as RGB. Rotations can be applied in spriteBatch.Draw like this:

this.spriteBatch.Draw (SimpleTexture, new Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 1), null,
    Color.Blue, -(float)Math.PI/4, new Vector2 (0f, 0f), SpriteEffects.None, 1f);

Answer 4

found a tutorial for that http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=2832

its using a BasicEffect (shader) and the built in draw user primitive in XNA 4.0

some code samples i find helpful:

load content method

basicEffect = new BasicEffect(GraphicsDevice);
basicEffect.VertexColorEnabled = true;
basicEffect.Projection = Matrix.CreateOrthographicOffCenter
(0, GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Width,     // left, right
GraphicsDevice.Viewport.Height, 0,    // bottom, top
0, 1);   

draw method

basicEffect.CurrentTechnique.Passes[0].Apply();
var vertices = new VertexPositionColor[4];
vertices[0].Position = new Vector3(100, 100, 0);
vertices[0].Color = Color.Black;
vertices[1].Position = new Vector3(200, 100, 0);
vertices[1].Color = Color.Red;
vertices[2].Position = new Vector3(200, 200, 0);
vertices[2].Color = Color.Black;
vertices[3].Position = new Vector3(100, 200, 0);
vertices[3].Color = Color.Red;

GraphicsDevice.DrawUserPrimitives<VertexPositionColor>(PrimitiveType.LineList, vertices, 0, 2);

have fun and vote up if this helped you. also pay a visit to the tutorial i got this from.