--- /dev/null
+%% Copyright (c) 2011, INRA
+%% 2010-2011, David Legland <david.legland@grignon.inra.fr>
+%% 2011 Adapted to Octave by Juan Pablo Carbajal <carbajal@ifi.uzh.ch>
+%%
+%% All rights reserved.
+%% (simplified BSD License)
+%%
+%% Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+%% modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+%%
+%% 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
+%% list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+%%
+%% 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
+%% this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
+%% and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+%%
+%% THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
+%% AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+%% IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+%% ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
+%% LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
+%% CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
+%% SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
+%% INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+%% CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+%% ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
+%% POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+%%
+%% The views and conclusions contained in the software and documentation are
+%% those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official
+%% policies, either expressed or implied, of copyright holder.
+
+%% -*- texinfo -*-
+%% @deftypefn {Function File} {@var{box} =} mergeBoxes (@var{box1}, @var{box2})
+%% Merge two boxes, by computing their greatest extent.
+%%
+% Example
+%%
+%% @example
+%% box1 = [5 20 5 30];
+%% box2 = [0 15 0 15];
+%% mergeBoxes(box1, box2)
+%% ans =
+%% 0 20 0 30
+%% @end example
+%%
+%% @seealso{boxes2d, drawBox, intersectBoxes}
+%% @end deftypefn
+
+function bb = mergeBoxes(box1, box2)
+
+ % unify sizes of data
+ if size(box1,1) == 1
+ box1 = repmat(box1, size(box2,1), 1);
+ elseif size(box2, 1) == 1
+ box2 = repmat(box2, size(box1,1), 1);
+ elseif size(box1,1) != size(box2,1)
+ error('geom2d:Error', 'Bad size for inputs');
+ end
+
+ % compute extreme coords
+ mini = min(box1(:,[1 3]), box2(:,[1 3]));
+ maxi = max(box1(:,[2 4]), box2(:,[2 4]));
+
+ % concatenate result into a new box structure
+ bb = [mini(:,1) maxi(:,1) mini(:,2) maxi(:,2)];
+
+endfunction
+
+%!test
+%! box1 = [5 20 10 25];
+%! box2 = [0 15 15 20];
+%! res = [0 20 10 25];
+%! bb = mergeBoxes(box1, box2);
+%! assert (res, bb, 1e-6);
+