Sorting lines by slope

Question

Is there a function in any of CGAL packages to sort lines (Line_2) by slope? Or can anyone recommend a sorting algorithm that considers degenerate cases like vertical lines?

Answer 1

There's the CGAL::compare_slopes free function for Line_2 objects, and the corresponding K::Compare_slope_2 functor (which can be extracted from a given instance k of K by k.compare_slope_2_object()).

You can see it in the following example:

#include <algorithm>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <CGAL/Exact_predicates_inexact_constructions_kernel.h>

typedef CGAL::Exact_predicates_inexact_constructions_kernel K;
typedef typename K::Line_2 Line_2;

struct Slope_comparator {
  // K k;
  // Slope_comparator (const K &k = K()) : k(k) {}
  bool operator() (const Line_2 &l1, const Line_2 &l2) const {
    return (CGAL::compare_slopes (l1, l2) < 0);
    // return (k.compare_slope_2_object()(l1, l2) < 0);
  }
};

int main () {
  std::vector< Line_2 > l;
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    1.,     1., 0.));
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    1.,    -1., 0.));
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    0.,     1., 0.)); // vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (1e-100,     1., 0.)); // almost vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (1e-100,    -1., 0.)); // almost vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    0.,    -1., 1.)); // also vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (1e-100,     1., 2.)); // also almost vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (1e-100,    -1., 3.)); // also almost vertical
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    1.,     0., 0.)); // horizontal
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    1., 1e-100, 0.)); // almost horizontal
  l.push_back (Line_2 (   -1., 1e-100, 0.)); // almost horizontal
  l.push_back (Line_2 (   -1.,     0., 4.)); // also horizontal
  l.push_back (Line_2 (   -1., 1e-100, 5.)); // also almost horizontal
  l.push_back (Line_2 (    1., 1e-100, 6.)); // also almost horizontal

  std::cout << "insertion order:" << std::endl;
  for (int i = 0; i < l.size(); ++i)
    std::cout << "    " << l[i] << std::endl;

  std::sort (l.begin(), l.end(), Slope_comparator());
  std::cout << "sorted order:" << std::endl;
  for (int i = 0; i < l.size(); ++i)
    std::cout << "    " << l[i] << std::endl;
}

Note that compare_slopes compares oriented lines, essentially directions; if that's not what you want, you have to normalize your lines (e.g. ensure all y-coordinates positive).