我制作了一个交互式Desmos图来演示如何实现这一点:

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/kswrm8ddum

红点是A点，绿点是B点，C点是蓝色点。 您可以拖动图形中的点来查看值的变化。 左边的值“s”是线段的参数(即s = 0表示点A, s = 1表示点B)。 值“d”是第三点到经过A和B的直线的距离。

编辑:

有趣的小见解:坐标(s, d)是坐标系中第三点C的坐标，AB是单位x轴，单位y轴垂直于AB。

GLSL版:

// line (a -> b ) point p[enter image description here][1]
float distanceToLine(vec2 a, vec2 b, vec2 p) {
    float aside = dot((p - a),(b - a));
    if(aside< 0.0) return length(p-a);
    float bside = dot((p - b),(a - b));
    if(bside< 0.0) return length(p-b);
    vec2 pointOnLine = (bside*a + aside*b)/pow(length(a-b),2.0);
    return length(p - pointOnLine);
}

这是Javascript中最简单的完整代码。

(X, y)是目标点(x1, y)到(x2, y)是线段。

更新:修复了评论中0长度的行问题。

function pDistance(x, y, x1, y1, x2, y2) {

  var A = x - x1;
  var B = y - y1;
  var C = x2 - x1;
  var D = y2 - y1;

  var dot = A * C + B * D;
  var len_sq = C * C + D * D;
  var param = -1;
  if (len_sq != 0) //in case of 0 length line
      param = dot / len_sq;

  var xx, yy;

  if (param < 0) {
    xx = x1;
    yy = y1;
  }
  else if (param > 1) {
    xx = x2;
    yy = y2;
  }
  else {
    xx = x1 + param * C;
    yy = y1 + param * D;
  }

  var dx = x - xx;
  var dy = y - yy;
  return Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy);
}

更新:Kotlin版本

fun getDistance(x: Double, y: Double, x1: Double, y1: Double, x2: Double, y2: Double): Double {
    val a = x - x1
    val b = y - y1
    val c = x2 - x1
    val d = y2 - y1

    val lenSq = c * c + d * d
    val param = if (lenSq != .0) { //in case of 0 length line
        val dot = a * c + b * d
        dot / lenSq
    } else {
        -1.0
    }

    val (xx, yy) = when {
        param < 0 -> x1 to y1
        param > 1 -> x2 to y2
        else -> x1 + param * c to y1 + param * d
    }

    val dx = x - xx
    val dy = y - yy
    return hypot(dx, dy)
}

在数学

它使用线段的参数描述，并将点投影到线段定义的直线中。当参数在线段内从0到1时，如果投影在这个范围之外，我们计算到相应端点的距离，而不是法线到线段的直线。

Clear["Global`*"];
 distance[{start_, end_}, pt_] := 
   Module[{param},
   param = ((pt - start).(end - start))/Norm[end - start]^2; (*parameter. the "."
                                                       here means vector product*)

   Which[
    param < 0, EuclideanDistance[start, pt],                 (*If outside bounds*)
    param > 1, EuclideanDistance[end, pt],
    True, EuclideanDistance[pt, start + param (end - start)] (*Normal distance*)
    ]
   ];  

策划的结果:

Plot3D[distance[{{0, 0}, {1, 0}}, {xp, yp}], {xp, -1, 2}, {yp, -1, 2}]

画出比截断距离更近的点:

等高线图:

in R

     #distance beetween segment ab and point c in 2D space
getDistance_ort_2 <- function(a, b, c){
  #go to complex numbers
  A<-c(a[1]+1i*a[2],b[1]+1i*b[2])
  q=c[1]+1i*c[2]
  
  #function to get coefficients of line (ab)
  getAlphaBeta <- function(A)
  { a<-Re(A[2])-Re(A[1])
    b<-Im(A[2])-Im(A[1])
    ab<-as.numeric()
    ab[1] <- -Re(A[1])*b/a+Im(A[1])
    ab[2] <-b/a
    if(Im(A[1])==Im(A[2])) ab<- c(Im(A[1]),0)
    if(Re(A[1])==Re(A[2])) ab <- NA
    return(ab)
  }
  
  #function to get coefficients of line ortogonal to line (ab) which goes through point q
  getAlphaBeta_ort<-function(A,q)
  { ab <- getAlphaBeta(A) 
  coef<-c(Re(q)/ab[2]+Im(q),-1/ab[2])
  if(Re(A[1])==Re(A[2])) coef<-c(Im(q),0)
  return(coef)
  }
  
  #function to get coordinates of interception point 
  #between line (ab) and its ortogonal which goes through point q
  getIntersection_ort <- function(A, q){
    A.ab <- getAlphaBeta(A)
    q.ab <- getAlphaBeta_ort(A,q)
    if (!is.na(A.ab[1])&A.ab[2]==0) {
      x<-Re(q)
      y<-Im(A[1])}
    if (is.na(A.ab[1])) {
      x<-Re(A[1])
      y<-Im(q)
    } 
    if (!is.na(A.ab[1])&A.ab[2]!=0) {
      x <- (q.ab[1] - A.ab[1])/(A.ab[2] - q.ab[2])
      y <- q.ab[1] + q.ab[2]*x}
    xy <- x + 1i*y  
    return(xy)
  }
  
  intersect<-getIntersection_ort(A,q)
  if ((Mod(A[1]-intersect)+Mod(A[2]-intersect))>Mod(A[1]-A[2])) {dist<-min(Mod(A[1]-q),Mod(A[2]-q))
  } else dist<-Mod(q-intersect)
  return(dist)
}



 

这里没有看到Java实现，所以我将Javascript函数从接受的答案转换为Java代码:

static double sqr(double x) {
    return x * x;
}
static double dist2(DoublePoint v, DoublePoint w) {
    return sqr(v.x - w.x) + sqr(v.y - w.y);
}
static double distToSegmentSquared(DoublePoint p, DoublePoint v, DoublePoint w) {
    double l2 = dist2(v, w);
    if (l2 == 0) return dist2(p, v);
    double t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / l2;
    if (t < 0) return dist2(p, v);
    if (t > 1) return dist2(p, w);
    return dist2(p, new DoublePoint(
            v.x + t * (w.x - v.x),
            v.y + t * (w.y - v.y)
    ));
}
static double distToSegment(DoublePoint p, DoublePoint v, DoublePoint w) {
    return Math.sqrt(distToSegmentSquared(p, v, w));
}
static class DoublePoint {
    public double x;
    public double y;

    public DoublePoint(double x, double y) {
        this.x = x;
        this.y = y;
    }
}