shapely.difference

difference(a, b, grid_size=None, **kwargs)

Return the part of geometry A that does not intersect with geometry B.

If grid_size is nonzero, input coordinates will be snapped to a precision grid of that size and resulting coordinates will be snapped to that same grid. If 0, this operation will use double precision coordinates. If None, the highest precision of the inputs will be used, which may be previously set using set_precision. Note: returned geometry does not have precision set unless specified previously by set_precision.

Parameters:

aGeometry or array_like

Geometry or geometries to subtract b from.

bGeometry or array_like

Geometry or geometries to subtract from a.

grid_sizefloat, optional

Precision grid size; will use the highest precision of the inputs by default.

**kwargs

See NumPy ufunc docs for other keyword arguments.

See also

set_precision

Examples

>>> from shapely import box, LineString, normalize, Polygon
>>> line = LineString([(0, 0), (2, 2)])
>>> difference(line, LineString([(1, 1), (3, 3)]))
<LINESTRING (0 0, 1 1)>
>>> difference(line, LineString())
<LINESTRING (0 0, 2 2)>
>>> difference(line, None) is None
True
>>> box1 = box(0, 0, 2, 2)
>>> box2 = box(1, 1, 3, 3)
>>> normalize(difference(box1, box2))
<POLYGON ((0 0, 0 2, 1 2, 1 1, 2 1, 2 0, 0 0))>
>>> box1 = box(0.1, 0.2, 2.1, 2.1)
>>> difference(box1, box2, grid_size=1)
<POLYGON ((2 0, 0 0, 0 2, 1 2, 1 1, 2 1, 2 0))>