HasCoordinate

HasCoordinate is a predicate used in software development to determine whether a given object contains coordinate data. It is commonly used in geographic information systems, mapping libraries, computer graphics, and data validation tasks to ensure that spatial data can be processed.

Coordinate data can be stored in several forms: a two-element numeric pair (x, y) or (latitude, longitude); a three-element triple (x, y, z) for 3D space; or as an object with named properties such as lat and lon, x and y, or as a nested array under a coordinates field. Implementations may also rely on dedicated point types or classes that encapsulate coordinates.

In practice, hasCoordinate typically checks for finite numeric values in common locations. A typical approach is to return true if any of the following patterns are found: lat and lon are numbers; x and y are numbers; coordinates is an array with two or more numeric elements; or a Point-like object exposes coordinate data directly. The function is generally designed to be tolerant of extra fields and to ignore non-spatial data.

Usage includes validating input before spatial operations, filtering datasets to items with location data, and guiding rendering or queries that require coordinates. Developers should consider different coordinate systems and units, handle nulls gracefully, and validate ranges (for example, latitude within -90 to 90 and longitude within -180 to 180). Clear documentation of the expected input forms improves reliability when integrating hasCoordinate across modules.

See also: latitude, longitude, geographic coordinate system, spatial data type.