Help determining if a mouse is clicked on any point of a line

[developer4321]

I need help coming up with an algorithm to determine if the user clicks on any point of a line. A line is given by two points.

So you have x1, y1 positions of the first point, and x2,y2 positions of the second point.

I need to determine in the mousePressed event, if the x and y positions of the mouse (evt.getX() and evt.getY()) fall on a point on the line between the two original points.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[peter_budo]

In the case that line is horizontal x1 == x2, if line is vertical y1 ==y2.
1) So what you do collect pointer position(a,b)
2) Find out if your line is horizontal or vertical
A) If horizontal a == x1 && ( b >= y1 && b =< y2)
B) if vertical (a >= x1 && a =< x2) && b == y1
That is just one of many approches, however if line is under certain angle this will not work and you will need serious arithmetic to work it out

[developer4321]

yes, the line will not always (in fact, usually not) be exactly horizontal or vertical.

The program i am working on is similar to mapquest. I have a Map Editor which loads an image of a (somewhat small area) map. then i create points for locations. Then i connect the points to create a path. I have all of this working, and all the locations are stored in a Vector and all the paths are stored in another Vector. I need to have the option to 1) delete a path, and 2) choose whether it is directed (one-way) or not. In order to do both of these, I need to be able to click on any point of the line to select it. Quite complicated

[developer4321]

I figured this out. and yes, it involves comparing a lot of numbers and taking square roots, etc. it works perfectly though.

[peter_budo]

Good job, would you mind to share with us your solution?

[developer4321]

Yep- here it is.

The
((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).get------
lines are just getting the X and Y coordinates of the two endpoints of the lines

public boolean pathSelected(int index, int x, int y)
    {
        int _x0 = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getFrom().x;
        int _y0 = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getFrom().y;
        int _x1 = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getTo().x;
        int _y1 = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getTo().y;
        int _dx = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getTo().x
            - ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getFrom().x;
        int _dy = ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getTo().y
            - ((MapEdge)edge.elementAt(index)).getFrom().y;
        double dx0 = _dx;
        double dy0 = _dy;
        double dx = x - _x0;
        double dy = y - _y0;
        double d = dy0 * dx - dx0 * dy;
        double r = Math.sqrt(dx0*dx0 + dy0*dy0);
        if(Math.abs(r) < 0.1)
        {
            r = 1;
        }
        d = Math.abs(d/r);
        if(d < 3 &&
           x >= getMinX(_x0, _dx) && x < getMaxX(_x0, _dx) &&
           y >= getMinY(_y0, _dy) && y < getMaxY(_y0, _dy))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
 
public int getMinX(int _x0, int _dx)
        {
            int x1 = _x0 + _dx;
            if(_x0 < x1)
                return _x0;
            else
                return x1;
        }
        public int getMaxX(int _x0, int _dx)
        {
            int x1 = _x0 + _dx;
            if(_x0 > x1)
                return _x0;
            else
                return x1;
        }
        public int getMinY(int _y0, int _dy)
        {
            int y1 = _y0 + _dy;
            if(_y0 < y1)
                return _y0;
            else
                return y1;
        }
        public int getMaxY(int _y0, int _dy)
        {
            int y1 = _y0 + _dy;
            if(_y0 > y1)
                return _y0;
            else
                return y1;
        }