Shortest distance between points and a line

Question

I???m working with ArcGIS 9.3 (shortly to be updated!).   I have two layers, one with points and one with a line.  Both layers are in spatial reference WGS84.  I want to find the shortest distance (in meters, if possible) between each point and the line.  I???ve read some previous threads trying to do a similar thing using the IProximityOperator, and I???ve tried some of the code that was posted on these threads, but am a VBA novice and can???t get it to work at all.

Any help (in the most basic language possible :o ) would be much appreciated!

Best wishes

Jo

gpnobbir · Answer

Run the geoprocessing tool called Near with points as input and lines as near features. Or run Generate Near Table if you want more than one closest lines. 
 
Follow examples in this topic (valid for 9.2 onward):
http://help.arcgis.com/en/sdk/10.0/arcobjects_net/conceptualhelp/index.html#/How_to_run_a_geoprocessing_tool/0001000003rr000000/
 
Take the avtange of built-in ArcGIS validation.

DubravkoAntonic · Answer

Jo this is simple task to do. If you would like to dive into ArcObjects you should get a lot of patience and reading SDK.
This is simple code that you can adopt to your needs.

IFeature pLine = Temp_Line.GetLayer().FeatureClass.GetFeature(6);
IFeature pPoint = Temp_Point.GetLayer().FeatureClass.GetFeature(1);

IProximityOperator pProximity = pPoint.Shape as IProximityOperator;
double distance = pProximity.ReturnDistance(pLine.Shape);

This is all you should do to calculate distance.

RodrigoSalvador · Answer

Jo

I can't run your code right now, I'll do it since I can. About the points, one may be the point you are interested, and the other two may be the edges of your line. You must calculate de distance from one tho another (you have one, the length of the segment, so it's just two calculations). After that, you use the 3 sides in Heron's formula, to get the distance of each point to the line.

I assure you, it's not difficult to do.

Good luck

Rodrigo Salvador