engeom 0.2.5__cp38-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl → 0.2.6__cp38-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl

engeom/geom3.pyi

@@ -5,14 +5,26 @@ from typing import Tuple, Iterable, List, TypeVar, Iterator, Any
 
 import numpy
 from numpy.typing import NDArray
-from engeom import DeviationMode, Resample, SelectOp
-from .metrology import Length3
+import engeom
+import metrology
 
 Transformable3 = TypeVar("Transformable3", Vector3, Point3, Plane3, Iso3, SurfacePoint3)
 PointOrVector3 = TypeVar("PointOrVector3", Vector3, Point3)
 
 
 class Vector3(Iterable[float]):
+    """
+    A class representing a vector in 3D space. The vector is represented by its x, y, and z components. It is
+    iterable and will yield the x, y, and z components in that order, allowing the Python unpacking operator `*` to be
+    used to compensate for the lack of function overloading in other parts of the library.
+
+    A vector supports a number of mathematical operations, including addition, subtraction, scalar multiplication,
+    dot and cross products, and normalization. It also supports transformation by isometry.
+
+    Vectors have different semantics than points when it comes to transformations and some mathematical operations. Be
+    sure to use the type which matches the conceptual use of the object in your code.
+    """
+
     def __init__(self, x: float, y: float, z: float):
         """
         Create a vector in 3D space by specifying the x, y, and z components.
@@ -24,40 +36,80 @@ class Vector3(Iterable[float]):
 
     @property
     def x(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the x component of the vector as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def y(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the y component of the vector as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def z(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the z component of the vector as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __iter__(self) -> Iterator[float]:
         ...
 
     def __rmul__(self, other: float) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Multiply the vector by a scalar value. This allows the scalar to be on the left side of the multiplication
+        operator.
+        :param other: the scalar value to multiply the vector by.
+        :return: a new vector that is the result of the multiplication.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __add__(self, other: PointOrVector3) -> PointOrVector3:
+        """
+        Add a vector to another vector or a point. Adding a vector to a point will return a new point, and adding a
+        vector to a vector will return a new vector.
+        :param other: the other vector or point to add to this vector.
+        :return: a new vector or point that is the result of the addition.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __sub__(self, other: Vector3) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Subtract another vector from this vector.
+        :param other: the other vector to subtract from this vector.
+        :return: a new vector that is the result of the subtraction.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __neg__(self) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Invert the vector by negating all of its components.
+        :return: a new vector in which the x, y, and z components are negated.
+        """
         ...
 
-    def __mul__(self, x: float) -> Vector3:
+    def __mul__(self, other: float) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Multiply the vector by a scalar value.
+        :param other: the scalar value to multiply the vector by.
+        :return: a new vector that is the result of the multiplication.
+        """
         ...
 
-    def __truediv__(self, x: float) -> Vector3:
+    def __truediv__(self, other: float) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Divide the vector by a scalar value.
+        :param other: the scalar value to divide the vector by.
+        :return: a new vector that is the result of the division.
+        """
         ...
 
     def as_numpy(self) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
-        Create a numpy array of shape (3,) from the vector.
+        Create a numpy array of shape (3, ) from the vector.
         """
         ...
 
@@ -79,19 +131,20 @@ class Vector3(Iterable[float]):
 
     def norm(self) -> float:
         """
-        Calculate the norm (length) of the vector.
-        :return:
+        Calculate the Euclidian norm (aka magnitude, length) of the vector.
+        :return: the length of the vector as a floating point value.
         """
 
     def normalized(self) -> Vector3:
         """
-        Return a normalized version of the vector.
+        Return a normalized version of the vector. The normalized vector will have the same direction as the original
+        vector, but will have a length of 1.
         :return: a new vector that has unit length
         """
 
     def angle_to(self, other: Vector3) -> float:
         """
-        Calculate the smallest angle between this vector and another vector.
+        Calculate the smallest angle between this vector and another vector and return it in radians.
         :param other: the other vector to calculate the angle to.
         :return: the angle between the two vectors in radians.
         """
@@ -99,6 +152,18 @@ class Vector3(Iterable[float]):
 
 
 class Point3(Iterable[float]):
+    """
+    A class representing a point in 3D space. The point is represented by its x, y, and z coordinates. It is iterable
+    and will yield the x, y, and z coordinates in that order, allowing the Python unpacking operator `*` to be used to
+    compensate for the lack of function overloading in other parts of the library.
+
+    A point supports a number of mathematical operations, including addition and subtraction with vectors, subtraction
+    with other points, and scaling by a scalar value. It also supports transformation by isometry.
+
+    Points have different semantics than vectors when it comes to transformations and some mathematical operations. Be
+    sure to use the type which matches the conceptual use of the object in your code.
+    """
+
     def __init__(self, x: float, y: float, z: float):
         """
         Create a point in 3D space by specifying the x, y, and z coordinates.
@@ -111,14 +176,23 @@ class Point3(Iterable[float]):
 
     @property
     def x(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the x coordinate of the point as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def y(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the y coordinate of the point as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def z(self) -> float:
+        """
+        Get the z coordinate of the point as a floating point value.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __iter__(self) -> Iterator[float]:
@@ -133,31 +207,70 @@ class Point3(Iterable[float]):
         ...
 
     def __sub__(self, other: PointOrVector3) -> PointOrVector3:
+        """
+        Subtract a vector from a point to get a new point, or subtract a point from a point to get a new vector.
+        :param other: the other point or vector to subtract from this point.
+        :return: a new point or vector that is the result of the subtraction.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __add__(self, other: Vector3) -> Vector3:
+        """
+        Add a vector to a point to get a new point.
+        :param other: the vector to add to this point.
+        :return: a new point that is the result of the addition.
+        """
         ...
 
     def __neg__(self) -> Point3:
+        """
+        Invert the point by negating all of its components.
+        :return: a new point in which the x, y, and z components are negated
+        """
         ...
 
-    def __mul__(self, x: float) -> Point3:
+    def __mul__(self, other: float) -> Point3:
+        """
+        Multiply the coordinates of the point by a scalar value.
+        :param other: the scalar value to multiply the point by.
+        :return: a new point that is the result of the multiplication.
+        """
         ...
 
-    def __rmul__(self, x: float) -> Point3:
+    def __rmul__(self, other: float) -> Point3:
+        """
+        Multiply the coordinates of the point by a scalar value. This allows the scalar to be on the left side of the
+        multiplication operator.
+        :param other: the scalar value to multiply the point by.
+        :return: a new point that is the result of the multiplication.
+        """
         ...
 
-    def __truediv__(self, x: float) -> Point3:
+    def __truediv__(self, other: float) -> Point3:
+        """
+        Divide the coordinates of the point by a scalar value.
+        :param other: the scalar value to divide the point by.
+        :return: a new point that is the result of the division.
+        """
         ...
 
     def as_numpy(self) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
-        Create a numpy array of shape (2,) from the point.
+        Create a numpy array of shape (2, ) from the point.
         """
         ...
 
 
 class SurfacePoint3:
+    """
+    This class is used to represent a surface point in 3D space.
+
+    Surface points are a composite structure that consist of a point in space and a normal direction. Conceptually, they
+    come from metrology as a means of representing a point on the surface of an object along with the normal direction
+    of the surface at that point. However, they are also isomorphic with the concept of a ray or a parameterized line
+    with a direction of unit length, and can be used in that way as well.
+    """
+
     def __init__(self, x: float, y: float, z: float, nx: float, ny: float, nz: float):
         """
         Create a surface point in 3D space by specifying the x, y, and z coordinates of the point, as well as the x, y,
@@ -278,10 +391,25 @@ class SurfacePoint3:
 
 
 class Iso3:
-    """ An isometry (rigid body transformation) in 3D space. """
+    """
+    A class representing an isometry in 3D space. An isometry is a transformation that preserves distances and angles,
+    and is also sometimes known as a rigid body transformation.  It is composed of a translation and a rotation, with
+    the rotation part being internally represented by a unit quaternion.
+
+    `Iso3` objects can be used to transform 3D points, vectors, surface points, other isometries, and a few other types
+    of objects. They can also be inverted and decomposed.
+    """
 
     def __init__(self, matrix: NDArray[float]):
-        """ Create an isometry from a 4x4 matrix. """
+        """
+        Attempt to create an isometry from a 4x4 matrix in the form of a numpy array. If the matrix is not a valid
+        isometry (it is not orthogonal, it has scale or shear, etc.), an exception will be raised.
+
+        Use this method if you explicitly have a known matrix to convert to an isometry, otherwise consider using a
+        composition of the `from_translation` and `from_rotation` methods.
+
+        :param matrix: a numpy array of shape (4, 4) containing the matrix representation of the isometry.
+        """
         ...
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -291,18 +419,28 @@ class Iso3:
 
     @staticmethod
     def from_translation(x: float, y: float, z: float) -> Iso3:
-        """ Create an isometry representing a translation. """
+        """
+        Create an isometry representing a translation by the specified x, y, and z components.
+        :param x: the x component of the translation.
+        :param y: the y component of the translation.
+        :param z: the z component of the translation.
+        :return: an isometry containing only a translation component
+        """
         ...
 
     @staticmethod
-    def from_rotation(angle: float, a: float, b: float, c: float) -> Iso3:
+    def from_rotation(angle: float, ax: float, ay: float, az: float) -> Iso3:
         """
-        Create an isometry representing a rotation around an axis. The axis will be normalized before the rotation is
-        applied.
+        Create an isometry representing a rotation around an axis defined by a vector direction and the origin. The
+        components of the direction will be automatically normalized before the rotation applied.
+
+        When looking down the axis of rotation (the axis is pointing towards the observer), the rotation will be
+        counter-clockwise.
+
         :param angle: the angle to rotate by in radians.
-        :param a: the x component of the rotation axis.
-        :param b: the y component of the rotation axis.
-        :param c: the z component of the rotation axis.
+        :param ax: the x component of the rotation axis.
+        :param ay: the y component of the rotation axis.
+        :param az: the z component of the rotation axis.
         :return: the isometry representing the rotation.
         """
         ...
@@ -316,51 +454,84 @@ class Iso3:
         ...
 
     def inverse(self) -> Iso3:
-        """ Return the inverse of the isometry. """
+        """
+        Get the inverse of the isometry. The inverse is the isometry that will undo the transformation of the original
+        isometry, or the isometry that when applied to the original isometry will return the identity isometry.
+        """
         ...
 
     def transform_points(self, points: NDArray[float]) -> NDArray[float]:
-        """ Transform a set of points by the isometry. This will transform the points by the rotation and translation
-        of the isometry.
+        """
+        Transform an array of points using the isometry. The semantics of transforming points are such that the full
+        matrix is applied, first rotating the point around the origin and then translating it by the translation vector.
+
+        To transform vectors, use the `transform_vectors` method instead.
 
-        :param points: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the points to transform.
-        :return: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the transformed points.
+        This is an efficient way to transform a large number of points at once, rather than using the `@` operator
+        individually on a large number of `Point3` objects.
+
+        :param points: a numpy array of shape (N, 3)
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (N, 3) containing the transformed points in the same order as the input.
         """
         ...
 
-    def transform_vectors(self, vector: NDArray[float]) -> NDArray[float]:
-        """ Transform a set of vectors by the isometry. This will only transform the direction of the vectors, not
-        their magnitude.
+    def transform_vectors(self, vectors: NDArray[float]) -> NDArray[float]:
+        """
+        Transform an array of vectors using the isometry. The semantics of transforming vectors are such that only the
+        rotation matrix is applied, and the translation vector is not used. The vectors retain their original
+        magnitude, but their direction is rotated by the isometry.
+
+        To transform points, use the `transform_points` method instead.
 
-        :param vector: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the vectors to transform.
-        :return: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the transformed vectors.
+        This is an efficient way to transform a large number of vectors at once, rather than using the `@` operator
+        individually on a large number of `Vector3` objects.
+
+        :param vectors: a numpy array of shape (N, 3)
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (N, 3) containing the transformed vectors in the same order as the input.
         """
         ...
 
     def as_numpy(self) -> NDArray[float]:
-        """ Return a copy of the 4x4 matrix representation of the isometry. This is a copy operation. """
+        """
+        Return a copy of the 4x4 matrix representation of the isometry.
+        """
         ...
 
     def flip_around_x(self) -> Iso3:
-        """ Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the x-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
-        preserved, but the y and z axes will point in the opposite directions. """
+        """
+        Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the x-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
+        preserved, but the y and z axes will point in the opposite directions.
+        :return: a new isometry that is the result of the flip.
+        """
         ...
 
     def flip_around_y(self) -> Iso3:
-        """ Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the y-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
-        preserved, but the x and z axes will point in the opposite directions. """
+        """
+        Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the y-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
+        preserved, but the x and z axes will point in the opposite directions.
+        :return: a new isometry that is the result of the flip.
+        """
         ...
 
     def flip_around_z(self) -> Iso3:
-        """ Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the z-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
-        preserved, but the x and y axes will point in the opposite directions. """
+        """
+        Return a new isometry that flips the isometry 180° around the z-axis. The origin of the isometry will be
+        preserved, but the x and y axes will point in the opposite directions.
+        :return: a new isometry that is the result of the flip.
+        """
         ...
 
 
 class SvdBasis3:
     """
-    A class representing a basis in 3D space. This class is created from a set of points and will calculate the best
-    fitting basis for the points using a singular value decomposition.
+    A class which creates a set of orthonormal basis vectors from a set of points in 3D space. The basis is created
+    using a singular value decomposition of the points, and is very similar to the statistical concept of principal
+    component analysis.
+
+    The basis can be used to determine the rank of the point set, the variance of the points along the basis vectors,
+    and to extract an isometry that will transform points from the world space to the basis space.  It is useful for
+    orienting unknown point sets in a consistent way, for finding best-fit lines or planes, and for other similar
+    tasks.
     """
 
     def __init__(self, points: NDArray[float], weights: NDArray[float] | None = None):
@@ -369,7 +540,7 @@ class SvdBasis3:
         points.
 
         :param points: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the points to calculate the basis from.
-        :param weights: a numpy array of shape (n,) containing the weights of the points. If None, all points will be
+        :param weights: a numpy array of shape (n, ) containing the weights of the points. If None, all points will be
         weighted equally.
         """
         ...
@@ -401,14 +572,14 @@ class SvdBasis3:
     def basis_variances(self) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
         Return the variances of the basis vectors.
-        :return: a numpy array of shape (3,) containing the variances of the basis vectors.
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (3, ) containing the variances of the basis vectors.
         """
         ...
 
     def basis_stdevs(self) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
         Return the standard deviations of the basis vectors.
-        :return: a numpy array of shape (3,) containing the standard deviations of the basis vectors.
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (3, ) containing the standard deviations of the basis vectors.
         """
         ...
 
@@ -494,6 +665,10 @@ class Mesh:
         triangle. The triangles should be specified in counter-clockwise order when looking at the triangle from the
         front/outside.
 
+        !!! tip
+            If you get an error `TypeError: argument 'faces': 'ndarray' object cannot be converted to 'PyArray<T, D>'`,
+            make sure to convert the faces array to an unsigned integer type, e.g. `numpy.uint32`.
+
         :param vertices: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the vertices of the mesh.
         :param faces: a numpy array of shape (m, 3) containing the triangles of the mesh, should be uint.
         :param merge_duplicates: merge duplicate vertices and triangles
@@ -503,7 +678,7 @@ class Mesh:
 
     @property
     def aabb(self) -> Aabb3:
-        """ Return the axis-aligned bounding box of the mesh. """
+        """ Get the axis-aligned bounding box of the mesh. """
         ...
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -513,6 +688,11 @@ class Mesh:
         file.  Optional parameters can be used to control the behavior of the loader when handling duplicate vertices/
         triangles and degenerate triangles.
 
+        !!! note
+            The STL loader will automatically merge duplicate vertices due to the extreme redundancy of the STL format,
+            but the `merge_duplicates` flag will control whether to merge vertices when new meshes are appended to the
+            existing mesh.
+
         :param path: the path to the STL file to load.
         :param merge_duplicates: merge duplicate vertices and triangles. If None, the default behavior is to do nothing
         :param delete_degenerate: delete degenerate triangles. If None, the default behavior is to do nothing
@@ -534,7 +714,7 @@ class Mesh:
         Will return a copy of the mesh. This is a copy of the data, so modifying the returned mesh will not modify the
         original mesh.
 
-        :return:
+        :return: an independent copy of the mesh.
         """
 
     def transform_by(self, iso: Iso3):
@@ -542,7 +722,6 @@ class Mesh:
         Transforms the vertices of the mesh by an isometry. This will modify the mesh in place.  Any copies made of
         the vertices will no longer match the mesh after this operation.
         :param iso: the isometry to transform the mesh by.
-        :return: None
         """
         ...
 
@@ -551,6 +730,9 @@ class Mesh:
         Append another mesh to this mesh. This will add the vertices and triangles from the other mesh to this mesh,
         changing this one and leaving the other one unmodified.
 
+        The `merge_duplicates` and `delete_degenerate` flags will control whether to merge duplicate vertices/triangles
+        and delete degenerate triangles when appending the mesh.
+
         :param other: the mesh to append to this mesh, will not be modified in this operation
         """
         ...
@@ -574,26 +756,38 @@ class Mesh:
     def split(self, plane: Plane3) -> Tuple[Mesh | None, Mesh | None]:
         """
         Split the mesh by a plane. The plane will divide the mesh into two possible parts and return them as two new
-        objects.  If the part lies entirely on one side of the plane, the other part will be None.
+        objects.  If the part lies entirely on one side of the plane, the other part will be `None`.
 
         :param plane: the plane to split the mesh by.
 
-        :return: a tuple of two optional meshes, the first being that on the negative side of the plane, the second being
-        that on the positive side of the plane.
+        :return: a tuple of two optional meshes, the first being that on the negative side of the plane, the second
+        being that on the positive side of the plane.
         """
         ...
 
-    def deviation(self, points: NDArray[float], mode: DeviationMode) -> NDArray[float]:
+    def deviation(self, points: NDArray[float], mode: engeom.DeviationMode) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
-        Calculate the deviation between a set of points and their respective closest points on the mesh surface. The
-        deviation can be calculated in two modes: absolute and normal. In the absolute mode, the deviation is the
-        linear distance between the point and the closest point on the mesh. In the normal mode, the deviation is the
-        distance along the normal of the closest point on the mesh.  In both cases, the deviation will be positive if
-        the point is outside the surface and negative if the point is inside the surface.
+        Calculate the deviation between a set of points and their respective closest points on the mesh surface.
+        There are two possible modes of computing the distance, specified using the `DeviationMode` enum.  The two
+        modes are essentially the same except for how they treat points which are beyond the edge of the closest face.
+
+        - `DeviationMode.Point`: The deviation is calculated as the direct distance from the test point to the closest
+        point on the face.
+
+        - `DeviationMode.Plane`: The deviation is calculated as the distance from the test point to the plane of the
+        face on which the closest point lies. This allows for points that are slightly beyond the edge of the closest
+        face to have a deviation which would be the same as if the edge of the face extended to beyond the test point.
+
+        In both cases, the deviation will be positive if the point is outside the surface and negative if the point is
+        inside the surface.
+
+        This is a means of efficiently calculating the deviation of a large number of points from a mesh surface. For
+        a single point, the `measure_point_deviation` method will provide a `Distance3` result, which is more suitable
+        for visualization and reporting.
 
         :param points: a numpy array of shape (n, 3) containing the points to calculate the deviation for.
         :param mode: the mode to calculate the deviation in.
-        :return: a numpy array of shape (n,) containing the deviation for each point.
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (n, ) containing the deviation for each point.
         """
         ...
 
@@ -617,13 +811,14 @@ class Mesh:
         """
         Calculate and return the intersection curves between the mesh and a plane.
 
-        :param plane:
-        :param tol:
-        :return:
+        :param plane: The plane to intersect the mesh with.
+        :param tol: The curve tolerance to use when constructing the intersection curves. See the `Curve3` class
+        initializer for more information on the tolerance parameter.
+        :return: a list of `Curve3` objects representing the intersection curves.
         """
         ...
 
-    def face_select_none(self) -> MeshTriangleFilter:
+    def face_select_none(self) -> FaceFilterHandle:
         """
         Start a filter operation on the faces of the mesh beginning with no faces selected. This will return a filter
         object that can be used to further add or remove faces from the selection.
@@ -632,7 +827,7 @@ class Mesh:
         """
         ...
 
-    def face_select_all(self) -> MeshTriangleFilter:
+    def face_select_all(self) -> FaceFilterHandle:
         """
         Start a filter operation on the faces of the mesh beginning with all faces selected. This will return a filter
         object that can be used to further add or remove faces from the selection.
@@ -646,7 +841,7 @@ class Mesh:
         Separate the mesh into connected patches. This will return a list of new mesh objects, each containing one
         connected patch of the original mesh. These objects will be clones of the original mesh, so modifying them will
         have no effect on the original mesh.
-        :return:
+        :return: a list of new mesh objects containing the connected patches.
         """
 
     def create_from_indices(self, indices: List[int]) -> Mesh:
@@ -655,36 +850,76 @@ class Mesh:
         triangles (and their respective vertices) identified by the given list of indices.  Do not allow duplicate
         indices in the list.
         :param indices: the triangle indices to include in the new mesh
-        :return:
+        :return: a new mesh object containing only the specified triangles
         """
         ...
 
-    def measure_point_deviation(self, x: float, y: float, z: float, dist_mode: DeviationMode) -> Length3:
+    def measure_point_deviation(self, x: float, y: float, z: float,
+                                dist_mode: engeom.DeviationMode) -> metrology.Distance3:
         """
         Compute the deviation of a point from this mesh's surface and return it as a measurement object.
 
-        The deviation is the distance from the point to its closest projection onto the mesh using
-        the specified distance mode.  The direction of the measurement is the direction between the
-        point and the projection, flipped into the positive half-space of the mesh surface at the
-        projection point.
+        The deviation is the distance from the point to its closest projection onto the mesh using the specified
+        distance mode.  The direction of the measurement is the direction between the point and the projection,
+        flipped so that it points in the same direction as the mesh surface normal.
+
+        If the distance is less than a very small floating point epsilon, the direction will be taken directly from the
+        mesh surface normal.
+
+        The first point `.a` of the measurement is the point on the mesh, and the second point `.b` is the test point
+        that was given as an argument.
 
-        If the distance is less than a very small floating point epsilon, the direction will be
-        taken directly from the mesh surface normal.
+        There are two possible modes of computing the distance, specified using the `DeviationMode` enum.  The two
+        modes are essentially the same except for how they treat points which are beyond the edge of the closest face.
 
-        The first point `.a` of the measurement is the reference point, and the second point `.b`
-        is the test point.
+        - `DeviationMode.Point`: The deviation is calculated as the direct distance from the test point to the closest
+        point on the face.
+
+        - `DeviationMode.Plane`: The deviation is calculated as the distance from the test point to the plane of the
+        face on which the closest point lies. This allows for points that are slightly beyond the edge of the closest
+        face to have a deviation which would be the same as if the edge of the face extended to beyond the test point.
+
+        In both cases, the deviation will be positive if the point is outside the surface and negative if the point is
+        inside the surface.
+
+        This method is appropriate for measuring the deviation at a few points of interest, returning a rich object
+        that contains features to aid in visualization or analysis.  For bulk measurement of large numbers of points,
+        use the `deviation` method instead.
 
         :param x: the x component of the point to measure
         :param y: the y component of the point to measure
         :param z: the z component of the point to measure
         :param dist_mode: the deviation mode to use
-        :return:
+        :return: a `Distance3` object containing the deviation measurement
         """
 
     def boundary_first_flatten(self) -> NDArray[float]:
         """
+        This method will perform a conformal mapping of the mesh to the XY plane using the boundary-first flattening
+        algorithm developed by Crane et al.  This mapping attempts to preserve angles from the original mesh to the
+        flattened mesh, and is useful for applications such as texture mapping or transformation to an image/raster
+        space for analysis.
 
-        :return:
+        There are a number of limitations to this method based on the implementation:
+
+        * There can be no non-manifold edges in the mesh.  Non-manifold edges are edges that have more than two faces
+          connected to them. If there are non-manifold edges, the method will raise an exception.
+
+        * There must be a single patch (sets of faces connected by common edges) in the mesh. If there are multiple
+          patches, the method will raise an exception.
+
+        * There can be only one boundary loop in the mesh, meaning that there can be no holes. If there are holes, the
+          method will raise an exception.
+
+        The method will return a numpy array of shape (n, 2) containing the flattened vertices of the mesh in the XY
+        plane. There is no specific orientation or position guarantee to the output vertices, so they may need to be
+        transformed, scaled, and/or rotated to fit a specific application.
+
+        The 2D vertices in the output will be in the exact same order as those in the mesh and will have a 1:1
+        correspondence by index, meaning that the `faces` array from the mesh also describes the triangles in the
+        flattened output.
+
+        :return: a numpy array of shape (n, 2) containing the flattened vertices of the mesh.
         """
 
     def surface_closest_to(self, x: float, y: float, z: float) -> SurfacePoint3:
@@ -699,11 +934,21 @@ class Mesh:
         ...
 
 
-class MeshTriangleFilter:
+class FaceFilterHandle:
+    """
+    A class that acts as a handle to a filtering (selection/deselection) operation of faces on a mesh.
+
+    A filtering operation is started using the `face_select_all` or `face_select_none` methods on a `Mesh` object, and
+    then further filtering operations can be done on the handle to select or deselect faces based on various criteria.
+
+    Once finished, the handle can be finalized into a list of the final indices of the triangles that passed the filter,
+    or used to directly create a new mesh containing only the filtered triangles.
+    """
+
     def collect(self) -> List[int]:
         """
-        Collect the final indices of the triangles that passed the filter.
-        :return:
+        Finalize the handle by collecting the final indices of the triangles that passed the filter.
+        :return: a list of the final indices of the triangles that passed the filter.
         """
         ...
 
@@ -711,19 +956,23 @@ class MeshTriangleFilter:
         """
         Create a new mesh from the filtered triangles. This will build a new mesh object containing only the triangles
         (and their respective vertices) that are still retained in the filter.
-        :return:
+        :return: a new mesh object containing only the filtered triangles.
         """
         ...
 
-    def facing(self, x: float, y: float, z: float, angle: float, mode: SelectOp) -> MeshTriangleFilter:
+    def facing(self, x: float, y: float, z: float, angle: float, mode: engeom.SelectOp) -> FaceFilterHandle:
         """
+        Add, remove, or keep only the faces whose normals are facing a given direction within a certain angle tolerance.
 
-        :param x:
-        :param y:
-        :param z:
-        :param angle:
-        :param mode:
-        :return:
+        This method will alter the filter handle object in place and return `self` to allow for the use of a fluent-like
+        interface if desired.
+
+        :param x: the x component of the direction to check against
+        :param y: the y component of the direction to check against
+        :param z: the z component of the direction to check against
+        :param angle: the maximum angle in radians between the face normal and the filter direction
+        :param mode: the operation to perform on the faces, one of `SelectOp.Add`, `SelectOp.Remove`, or `SelectOp.Keep`
+        :return: the altered filter handle object
         """
         ...
 
@@ -732,28 +981,28 @@ class MeshTriangleFilter:
             other: Mesh,
             all_points: bool,
             distance_tol: float,
-            mode: SelectOp,
+            mode: engeom.SelectOp,
             planar_tol: float | None = None,
             angle_tol: float | None = None,
-    ) -> MeshTriangleFilter:
+    ) -> FaceFilterHandle:
         """
-        Reduce the list of indices to only include triangles that are within a certain distance of
-        their closest projection onto another mesh. The distance can require that all points of the
-        triangle are within the tolerance, or just one.
+        Add, remove, or keep only the faces that are within a certain distance of their closest projection onto another
+        mesh. The distance can require that all three vertices of the triangle are within the tolerance, or just one.
 
         There are two additional optional tolerances that can be applied.
 
-        1. A planar tolerance, which checks the distance of the vertex projected onto the plane of
-           the reference mesh triangle and looks at how far it is from the projection point. This
-           is useful to filter out triangles that go past the edge of the reference mesh.
-        2. An angle tolerance, which checks the angle between the normal of the current triangle
-           and the normal of the reference triangle. This is useful to filter out triangles that
-           are not facing the same direction as the reference mesh.
+        1. A planar tolerance, which checks the distance of the vertex projected onto the plane of the reference mesh
+           triangle and looks at how far it is from the projection point. This is useful to filter out triangles
+           that go past the edge of the reference mesh.
+
+        2. An angle tolerance, which checks the angle between the normal of the current triangle and the normal of the
+           reference triangle. This is useful to filter out triangles that are not facing the same direction as the
+           reference mesh.
 
         :param other: the mesh to use as a reference
         :param all_points: if True, all points of the triangle must be within the tolerance, if False, only one point
         :param distance_tol: the maximum distance between the triangle and its projection onto the reference mesh
-        :param mode:
+        :param mode: the operation to perform on the faces, one of `SelectOp.Add`, `SelectOp.Remove`, or `SelectOp.Keep`
         :param planar_tol: the maximum in-plane distance between the triangle and its projection onto the reference mesh
         :param angle_tol: the maximum angle between the normals of the triangle and the reference mesh
         """
@@ -764,16 +1013,25 @@ class CurveStation3:
     """
     A class representing a station along a curve in 3D space. The station is represented by a point on the curve, a
     tangent (direction) vector, and a length along the curve.
+
+    These are created as the result of position finding operations on `Curve3` objects.
     """
 
     @property
     def point(self) -> Point3:
-        """ The 3d position in space on the curve. """
+        """
+        Get the point in 3D world space where the station is located.
+        :return: the point in 3D world space
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def direction(self) -> Vector3:
-        """ The tangent (direction) vector of the curve at the station. """
+        """
+        Get the direction vector of the curve at the location of the station. This is the tangent vector of the curve,
+        and is typically the direction from the previous vertex to the next vertex.
+        :return: the direction vector of the curve at the station.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
@@ -785,19 +1043,30 @@ class CurveStation3:
 
     @property
     def index(self) -> int:
-        """ The index of the previous vertex on the curve, at or before the station. """
+        """
+        Get the index of the previous vertex on the curve, at or before the station.
+        :return: the index of the previous vertex on the curve.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def length_along(self) -> float:
-        """ The length along the curve from the start of the curve to the station. """
+        """
+        Get the length along the curve to the station, starting at the first vertex of the curve.
+        :return: the length along the curve to the station.
+        """
         ...
 
 
 class Curve3:
     """
-    A class representing a polyline in 3D space. The curve is represented by a set of vertices and the segments
-    between them.
+    A class representing a polyline in 3D space. The curve is represented by a set of vertices and the lien segments
+    between them (also known as a polyline).
+
+    !!! note
+        Because this curve is a simplicial 1-complex in 3D space it cannot divide space the way a `Curve2` can in 2D
+        space. As a result, it lacks the concept of left/right or inside/outside, and so does not have all the same
+        features that exist in the 2D curve class.
     """
 
     def __init__(self, vertices: NDArray[float], tol: float = 1.0e-6):
@@ -880,7 +1149,7 @@ class Curve3:
         """
         ...
 
-    def resample(self, resample: Resample) -> Curve3:
+    def resample(self, resample: engeom.ResampleEnum) -> Curve3:
         """
         Resample the curve using the given resampling method. The resampling method can be one of the following:
 
@@ -915,7 +1184,15 @@ class Curve3:
 
 class Aabb3:
     """
-    A class representing an axis-aligned bounding box in 3D space. The box is defined by its minimum and maximum
+    A class representing an axis-aligned bounding box in 3D space. The bounding box is defined by a minimum point and a
+    maximum point, which are the lower-left and upper-right corners of the box, respectively.
+
+    Bounding boxes are typically used for accelerating intersection and distance queries and are used internally inside
+    the Rust language `engeom` library for this purpose.  However, they have other useful applications and so are
+    exposed here in the Python API.
+
+    Typically, `Aabb3` objects will be retrieved from other `engeom` objects which use them internally, such as
+    `Curve3` and `Mesh` entities.  However, they can also be created and manipulated directly.
     """
 
     def __init__(self, x_min: float, y_min: float, z_min: float, x_max: float, y_max: float, z_max: float):
@@ -932,35 +1209,47 @@ class Aabb3:
 
     @property
     def min(self) -> Point3:
-        """ The minimum point of the box. """
+        """
+        Get the minimum point of the AABB.
+        :return: the minimum point of the AABB.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def max(self) -> Point3:
-        """ The maximum point of the box. """
+        """
+        Get the maximum point of the AABB.
+        :return: the maximum point of the AABB.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def center(self) -> Point3:
-        """ The center point of the box. """
+        """
+        Get the center point of the AABB.
+        :return: the center point of the AABB.
+        """
         ...
 
     @property
     def extent(self) -> Vector3:
-        """ The extent of the box. """
+        """
+        The extent of the box (equivalent to `self.max - self.min`).
+        :return: A vector representing the extent of the box.
+        """
         ...
 
     @staticmethod
     def at_point(x: float, y: float, z: float, w: float, h: float | None = None, l: float | None = None) -> Aabb3:
         """
         Create an AABB centered at a point with a given width and height.
-        :param x: the x-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
-        :param y: the y-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
-        :param z: the z-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
-        :param w: the width of the AABB.
-        :param h: the height of the AABB. If not provided, the AABB will be square.
-        :param l: the length of the AABB. If not provided, the AABB will be square.
-        :return: a new AABB object.
+        :param x: The x-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
+        :param y: The y-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
+        :param z: The z-coordinate of the center of the AABB.
+        :param w: The width (x extent) of the AABB.
+        :param h: The height (y extent) of the AABB. If not provided, it will have the same value as the width.
+        :param l: The length (z extent) of the AABB. If not provided, it will have the same value as the width.
+        :return: A new axis aligned bounding box object.
         """
         ...