code: private double getDistanceFromPosition( IParseIssue pi, int line, int col )
    {
      if( pi.getSource() != null && pi.getSource().getLocation() != null )
      {
        int squaredDist = ((pi.getSource().getLocation().getLineNum() - line) * (pi.getSource().getLocation().getLineNum() - line)) +
                          ((pi.getSource().getLocation().getColumn() - col) * (pi.getSource().getLocation().getColumn() - col));
        return Math.sqrt( squaredDist );
      }
      else
      {
        return Double.MAX_VALUE;
      }
    }
docs: Returns the cartesian distance of this parse issue from the given column/line
  in column/line units