Extending a line segment to fit into a bounding box

Question

I have a line segment defined by two pointFs, along with a 2D bounding rectangle. I want to extend the line segment as much as possible in both directions so that the segment is flush with the walls of the bounding box. Here are some examples of what I'm trying to do:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?

Answer 1

Here is an code example in python:

def extend(xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax, x1, y1, x2, y2):
    if y1 == y2:
        return (xmin, y1, xmax, y1)
    if x1 == x2:
        return (x1, ymin, x1, ymax)

    # based on (y - y1) / (x - x1) == (y2 - y1) / (x2 - x1)
    # => (y - y1) * (x2 - x1) == (y2 - y1) * (x - x1)
    y_for_xmin = y1 + (y2 - y1) * (xmin - x1) / (x2 - x1)
    y_for_xmax = y1 + (y2 - y1) * (xmax - x1) / (x2 - x1)

    x_for_ymin = x1 + (x2 - x1) * (ymin - y1) / (y2 - y1)
    x_for_ymax = x1 + (x2 - x1) * (ymax - y1) / (y2 - y1)

    if ymin <= y_for_xmin <= ymax:
        if xmin <= x_for_ymax <= xmax:
            return (xmin, y_for_xmin, x_for_ymax, ymax)
        if xmin <= x_for_ymin <= xmax:
            return (xmin, y_for_xmin, x_for_ymin, ymin)
    if ymin <= y_for_xmax <= ymax:
        if xmin <= x_for_ymin <= xmax:
            return (x_for_ymin, ymin, xmax, y_for_xmax)
        if xmin <= x_for_ymax <= xmax:
            return (x_for_ymax, ymax, xmax, y_for_xmax)

def test():
    assert (2, 1,  2, 5) == extend(1, 1,  5, 5,  2, 3,  2, 4)
    assert (1, 2,  4, 5) == extend(1, 1,  5, 5,  2, 3,  3, 4)
    assert (1, 3,  5, 3) == extend(1, 1,  5, 5,  3, 3,  4, 3)
    assert (1, 1,  5, 5) == extend(1, 1,  5, 5,  2, 2,  3, 3)
    assert (3, 1,  5, 5) == extend(1, 1,  5, 5,  3.5, 2,  4, 3)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    test()

It doesn't check that the segment is contained in the rectangle and should work also if it is exterior to it (returns None -implicit- if there is no actual segment intersection).

It is based on the assumption that the rectangle has the segments parallel with the axes.

Answer 2

Define the rectangle as four lines.

Find the intersection between your line and each of the four lines. (How's your highschool geometry?)

Of these four intersection points, determine which points are within the bounds of the rectangle. (find the intersection points where both the x and y values are within the rectangles range).

Your algorithm must also allow for the following edge cases:

• The line is parallel with either the vertical of horizontal edge of the rectangle
• The line actually intersects with a corner of the rectangle.