[OT] Poll: What does it mean for 1 rect to be 'within' a certain distance of another rect?

[Paul Dupuis]

On 2/15/2021 5:53 PM, Paul Dupuis via use-livecode wrote:
> This is an Off Topic informal poll of sorts, but related to LiveCode 
> as I am writing a LiveCode expression to determine if 2 arbitrary 
> rectangles (r1,r2) are with some distance d (in px) of one another. In 
> considering this problem, the questions comes up: What is meant by 
> rectangles being within a distance d of one another. What is the 'd' 
> measured from?
>
> center to center? Easiest is many ways, but I don't think this is what 
> most people would think of.
>
> adjacent edge to adjacent edge? This is harder (I think), but I think 
> this is what more people intuitively think of. To me, implicit in the 
> visual concept of 2 rects being within some distance of one another is 
> that they are NOT overlapping, but that some gap exists between the 
> nearest adjacent edges?
>
> Something else? What does 2 rects  being 'within' d pixels of one 
> another mean to you, if not one of the two above options?
>
> Maybe there is a exact mathematical definition of what 2 rectangles 
> being within distance d of one another is, but, if there is, I am 
> unfamiliar with it.


Okay, Poll Closed!

Thank you everyone. I think the responses (informal as this is) confirms 
the majority fo people think of distance between 2 rectangles as the 
distance between nearest edges or vertices which is the same as saying 
the *smallest* distance between any two points in the rects (mathematically)

I appreciate all the responses! (and the links and code examples!)

-- Paul