From: leary@sdsc.edu (Bob Leary,,)
Newsgroups: sci.math.num-analysis
Subject: Re: Rectangles
Date: 18 Sep 1995 22:22:12 GMT

In article flv@uuneo.neosoft.com, jp@hal-pc.org (j.p. hamilton) writes:
>Can someone help a lowly peon with a formula?  Say I have rectangles A
>and B.  Is there a QUICK way to determine if any point from A lies
>within the bounds of B.  (Note: I know of a slow way....I need a quick
>way.  Does one exist?)
>


I'm not sure if this qualifies as 'fast', but it is quite general (it will
work for any two convex figures with a finite number of extreme
points) - the two rectangles intersect iff there is no plane separating
the four corner points of A from those of B.  The determination 
of the existence of such a plane (and the defining coefficients) is
easily formulated as a linear programmming problem.