How to evaluate distance between point and line

[tmuecksch]

Hey there,

 

I'd like to determine the distance between a point and a line. The line is denoted by two pairs of x,y coordinates.

 

Is there a phaser-way of doing this?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[rich]

You can't determine the distance between a point and a line without deciding where on the line to base the distance from - as it could be a variety of distances away depending where on the line you check it against.

 

Alternatively you can give the point a 'heading' from which you can extrapolate that into a line itself and check for intersection against the other line.

[stupot]

Also, do you mean a line segment or an infinite line.

 

I'll wager you want the minimum distance and the answer to be a handy javascript function, a bit like this:

 

    http://codemonger.tumblr.com/post/10717903865/distance-from-a-point-to-a-line-in-javascript

[tmuecksch]

Thank you very much.

Yes my question was about the minimum distance between a point and a line segment (I didn't know the english term).