python - Manhatten distance between rectangles -

i have set of rectangles , need calculate manhatten distance between them. tried implement it, code blow , did not work well.

maybe me smart (and efficient) formulas used calculate distance between 2 rectangles?

examples:

the distance between a , b length of line 1. distance between a , c length of line 2. etc.

i use python implement everything. if function exists (e.g. in scipy) , knows it, great.

thank you

i suggest, work central points of rectangles , rectangle widths compute distances. have figure out corners (edges) of rectangles use computation. else simple. quick example:

class rect:     def __init__(self,cpt,w,h):         self.x = cpt[0]         self.y = cpt[1]         self.w = w         self.h = h      def dist(self,other):         #overlaps in x or y:         if abs(self.x - other.x) <= (self.w + other.w):             dx = 0;         else:             dx = abs(self.x - other.x) - (self.w + other.w)         #         if abs(self.y - other.y) <= (self.h + other.h):             dy = 0;         else:             dy = abs(self.y - other.y) - (self.h + other.h)         return dx + dy  #example: = rect((0,0),2,1) b = rect((4,5),1,2) c = rect((-1,-5),1,1)  print(a.dist(c)) print(a.dist(b)) print(b.dist(c))