# Two points to line equation (standard form)

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This should be damned simple, but I'm having problems anyway. I started with the equation y - bx = c and came up with the following code (VB.NET):
    Public Function CalcLine( p As PointF, q As PointF ) As Line
Dim dx As Single = q.X - p.X
Dim dy As Single = q.Y - p.Y

Dim Ret As Line
Ret.n.X = -dx / dy
Ret.n.Y = 1.0f
Normalize( Ret.n )
Ret.c = p.Y - (dy/dx) * p.X
Return Ret
End Function


This works. But the problem is that the direction that the normal points is "wrong". I want the result to be such that if you are standing in between p and q, and facing in the direction of the normal, p will be on your left and q will be on your right, no matter what the signs of dx and dy. (Put another way, the normal should always point counter clockwise.) Oh, and there's one last little catch: this is drawn in a GDI+ window, so +y goes downwards. You'd probably be better served to consider it as looking down on the XZ plane rather than the XY plane. Anyway, after some toying around, I came up with the following fix:
    Public Function CalcLine( p As PointF, q As PointF ) As Line
Dim dx As Single = q.X - p.X
Dim dy As Single = q.Y - p.Y
Dim dxAbs As Single = Math.Abs( dx )

Dim Ret As Line
Ret.n.X = dy / dxAbs
Ret.n.Y = -dxAbs / dx
Normalize( Ret.n )
Ret.c = p.Y - (dy/dx) * p.X
Return Ret
End Function


This works. But I'm generally wary of using abs and sign calculations explicitly in mathematical calculations like so, and I don't like this fix. I suspect I'm missing something very simple.

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This should work plus it avoids the problem when dy == 0.
        Ret.n.X = dy        Ret.n.Y = -dx        Normalize( Ret.n )

Note: this solution comes from the standard 2D rotation formulas and the fact that cos(pi/2) = 0 and sin(pi/2) = 1.

^^^ what he said

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Thanks guys, working beautifully. I figured it was something stupidly simple.

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