R/sort_points.R

In skgrange/gissr: Tools To Make Working With R and Spatial Data Easier

#' Function to sort a set of points/coordinates in a clockwise or anti-clockwise
#' direction.
#' 
#' \code{sort_points} can be useful for creating spatial lines or polygons from 
#' points. 
#' 
#' @author Stuart K. Grange
#' 
#' @param df Data frame containing y and x points. 
#' @param y Name of y variable in \code{df}. 
#' @param x Name of x variable in \code{df}. 
#' @param clockwise Should the points be arranged in a clockwise direction? If 
#' \code{FALSE}, the order will be an anti-clockwise direction. 
#'
#' @export
sort_points <- function(df, y = "latitude", x = "longitude", clockwise = TRUE) {
  
  # NA check, if NAs drop them
  if (any(is.na(c(df[, y], df[, x])))) {
    
    # Remove NAs
    df <- df[!(is.na(df[, y]) & is.na(df[, x])), ]
    
    # Raise warning
    warning("Missing coordinates were detected and have been removed.", 
            call. = FALSE)
    
    # Check 
    if (nrow(df) == 0) stop("There are no valid coordinates.", call. = FALSE)
    
  }
  
  # Get centre (-oid) point of points
  x_centre <- mean(df[, x])
  y_centre <- mean(df[, y])
  
  # Calculate deltas
  df$x_delta <- df[, x] - x_centre
  df$y_delta <- df[, y] - y_centre
  
  # Resolve angle, in radians
  df$angle <- atan2(df$y_delta, df$x_delta)
  # d$angle_degrees <- d$angle * 180 / pi
  
  # Arrange by angle
  if (clockwise) {
    
    df <- df[order(df$angle, decreasing = TRUE), ]
    
  } else {
    
    df <- df[order(df$angle, decreasing = FALSE), ]
    
  }
  
  # Drop intermediate variables
  df[, c("x_delta", "y_delta", "angle")] <- NULL
  
  # Return
  df
  
}