atan2(y, x)
has that discontinuity at 180° where it switches to -180°..0° going clockwise.
How do I map the range of values to 0°..360°?
here is my code:
CGSize deltaPoint = CGSizeMake(endPoint.x - startPoint.x, endPoint.y - startPoint.y);
float swipeBearing = atan2f(deltaPoint.height, deltaPoint.width);
I'm calculating the direction of a swiping touch event given the startPoint
and endPoint
, both XY point structs. The code is for the iPhone but any language that supports atan2f()
will do.
A simple solution that catches all cases.
degrees = (degrees + 360) % 360; // +360 for implementations where mod returns negative numbers
Positive: 1 to 180
If you mod any positive number between 1 and 180 by 360, you will get the exact same number you put in. Mod here just ensures these positive numbers are returned as the same value.
Negative: -180 to -1
Using mod here will return values in the range of 180 and 359 degrees.
Special cases: 0 and 360
Using mod means that 0 is returned, making this a safe 0-359 degrees solution.