Point in Polygon Algorithm
Solution 1:
The algorithm is ray-casting to the right. Each iteration of the loop, the test point is checked against one of the polygon's edges. The first line of the if-test succeeds if the point's y-coord is within the edge's scope. The second line checks whether the test point is to the left of the line (I think - I haven't got any scrap paper to hand to check). If that is true the line drawn rightwards from the test point crosses that edge.
By repeatedly inverting the value of c, the algorithm counts how many times the rightward line crosses the polygon. If it crosses an odd number of times, then the point is inside; if an even number, the point is outside.
I would have concerns with a) the accuracy of floating-point arithmetic, and b) the effects of having a horizontal edge, or a test point with the same y-coord as a vertex, though.
Solution 2:
Chowlett is correct in every way, shape, and form. The algorithm assumes that if your point is on the line of the polygon, then that is outside - for some cases, this is false. Changing the two '>' operators to '>=' and changing '<' to '<=' will fix that.
bool PointInPolygon(Point point, Polygon polygon) {
vector<Point> points = polygon.getPoints();
int i, j, nvert = points.size();
bool c = false;
for(i = 0, j = nvert - 1; i < nvert; j = i++) {
if( ( (points[i].y >= point.y ) != (points[j].y >= point.y) ) &&
(point.x <= (points[j].x - points[i].x) * (point.y - points[i].y) / (points[j].y - points[i].y) + points[i].x)
)
c = !c;
}
return c;
}
Solution 3:
This might be as detailed as it might get for explaining the ray-tracing algorithm in actual code. It might not be optimized but that must always come after a complete grasp of the system.
//method to check if a Coordinate is located in a polygon
public boolean checkIsInPolygon(ArrayList<Coordinate> poly){
//this method uses the ray tracing algorithm to determine if the point is in the polygon
int nPoints=poly.size();
int j=-999;
int i=-999;
boolean locatedInPolygon=false;
for(i=0;i<(nPoints);i++){
//repeat loop for all sets of points
if(i==(nPoints-1)){
//if i is the last vertex, let j be the first vertex
j= 0;
}else{
//for all-else, let j=(i+1)th vertex
j=i+1;
}
float vertY_i= (float)poly.get(i).getY();
float vertX_i= (float)poly.get(i).getX();
float vertY_j= (float)poly.get(j).getY();
float vertX_j= (float)poly.get(j).getX();
float testX = (float)this.getX();
float testY = (float)this.getY();
// following statement checks if testPoint.Y is below Y-coord of i-th vertex
boolean belowLowY=vertY_i>testY;
// following statement checks if testPoint.Y is below Y-coord of i+1-th vertex
boolean belowHighY=vertY_j>testY;
/* following statement is true if testPoint.Y satisfies either (only one is possible)
-->(i).Y < testPoint.Y < (i+1).Y OR
-->(i).Y > testPoint.Y > (i+1).Y
(Note)
Both of the conditions indicate that a point is located within the edges of the Y-th coordinate
of the (i)-th and the (i+1)- th vertices of the polygon. If neither of the above
conditions is satisfied, then it is assured that a semi-infinite horizontal line draw
to the right from the testpoint will NOT cross the line that connects vertices i and i+1
of the polygon
*/
boolean withinYsEdges= belowLowY != belowHighY;
if( withinYsEdges){
// this is the slope of the line that connects vertices i and i+1 of the polygon
float slopeOfLine = ( vertX_j-vertX_i )/ (vertY_j-vertY_i) ;
// this looks up the x-coord of a point lying on the above line, given its y-coord
float pointOnLine = ( slopeOfLine* (testY - vertY_i) )+vertX_i;
//checks to see if x-coord of testPoint is smaller than the point on the line with the same y-coord
boolean isLeftToLine= testX < pointOnLine;
if(isLeftToLine){
//this statement changes true to false (and vice-versa)
locatedInPolygon= !locatedInPolygon;
}//end if (isLeftToLine)
}//end if (withinYsEdges
}
return locatedInPolygon;
}
Just one word about optimization: It isn't true that the shortest (and/or the tersest) code is the fastest implemented. It is a much faster process to read and store an element from an array and use it (possibly) many times within the execution of the block of code than to access the array each time it is required. This is especially significant if the array is extremely large. In my opinion, by storing each term of an array in a well-named variable, it is also easier to assess its purpose and thus form a much more readable code. Just my two cents...
Solution 4:
I changed the original code to make it a little more readable (also this uses Eigen). The algorithm is identical.
// This uses the ray-casting algorithm to decide whether the point is inside
// the given polygon. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_in_polygon#Ray_casting_algorithm
bool pnpoly(const Eigen::MatrixX2d &poly, float x, float y)
{
// If we never cross any lines we're inside.
bool inside = false;
// Loop through all the edges.
for (int i = 0; i < poly.rows(); ++i)
{
// i is the index of the first vertex, j is the next one.
// The original code uses a too-clever trick for this.
int j = (i + 1) % poly.rows();
// The vertices of the edge we are checking.
double xp0 = poly(i, 0);
double yp0 = poly(i, 1);
double xp1 = poly(j, 0);
double yp1 = poly(j, 1);
// Check whether the edge intersects a line from (-inf,y) to (x,y).
// First check if the line crosses the horizontal line at y in either direction.
if ((yp0 <= y) && (yp1 > y) || (yp1 <= y) && (yp0 > y))
{
// If so, get the point where it crosses that line. This is a simple solution
// to a linear equation. Note that we can't get a division by zero here -
// if yp1 == yp0 then the above if be false.
double cross = (xp1 - xp0) * (y - yp0) / (yp1 - yp0) + xp0;
// Finally check if it crosses to the left of our test point. You could equally
// do right and it should give the same result.
if (cross < x)
inside = !inside;
}
}
return inside;
}