How to rotate a triangle without rotating the entire canvas?

Question

I'm new to working with <canvas> and terrible at maths. I'm drawing a simple equilateral triangle on my canvas with this function that has borrowed code from somebody else (don't hate me):

drawTriangle(PosX, PosY, SideLength, Orientation) {
    context.beginPath();

    var sides = 3;

    var a = ((Math.PI * 2) / sides);

    context.moveTo(PosX + SideLength, PosY);

    for (var i = 1; i < sides + 1; i++) {
        context.lineTo(PosX + SideLength * Math.cos(a*i), PosY + SideLength * Math.sin(a*i));
    }

    context.closePath();

    return true;
}

The function would only know the centre co-ordinates of the triangle and the orientation to point it at, nothing else.

It currently draws the triangle successfully but "points" east.

How do I rotate the triangle using the Orientation parameter (degrees) without rotating the entire canvas like other answers suggest?

Answer 1

Here's a function that draws any regular polygon and a specified angle:

var canvas=document.getElementById("canvas");
var ctx=canvas.getContext("2d");
var cw=canvas.width;
var ch=canvas.height;

var sideCount=3;
var size=40;
var centerX=50;
var centerY=50;
var strokeWidth=4;
var strokeColor='purple';
var fillColor='skyblue';
var rotationDegrees=0;
var rotationIncrement=1;
var nextTime=0;
var delay=1000/60*1;

requestAnimationFrame(animate);

function animate(time){
    if(time<nextTime){requestAnimationFrame(animate);return;}
    nextTime=time+delay;
    ctx.clearRect(0,0,cw,ch);
    drawPolygon(centerX,centerY,sideCount,size,strokeWidth,strokeColor,fillColor,rotationDegrees);
    rotationDegrees+=rotationIncrement;
    requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}

function drawPolygon(centerX,centerY,sideCount,size,strokeWidth,strokeColor,fillColor,rotationDegrees){
    var radians=rotationDegrees*Math.PI/180;
    ctx.translate(centerX,centerY);
    ctx.rotate(radians);
    ctx.beginPath();
    ctx.moveTo (size * Math.cos(0), size * Math.sin(0));          
    for (var i = 1; i <= sideCount;i += 1) {
        ctx.lineTo (size * Math.cos(i * 2 * Math.PI / sideCount), size * Math.sin(i * 2 * Math.PI / sideCount));
    }
    ctx.closePath();
    ctx.fillStyle=fillColor;
    ctx.strokeStyle = strokeColor;
    ctx.lineWidth = strokeWidth;
    ctx.stroke();
    ctx.fill();
    ctx.rotate(-radians);
    ctx.translate(-centerX,-centerY);    }

<canvas id="canvas" width=512 height=512></canvas>

<canvas id="canvas" width=512 height=512></canvas>

Answer 2

Please look at this fiddle. You can send the orientation as an optional paramenter. It accepts 'east', 'west', 'north','south'. Please validate.

` function drawTriangle(PosX, PosY, SideLength, Orientation) {

if (!Orientation) {
   Orientation = 'east';
}

context.beginPath();

var sides = 3;

var a = ((Math.PI * 2) / sides);
// the components have negative contributions
if (Orientation === 'west' || Orientation === 'north') {
    SideLength *= -1;
}

if (Orientation === 'east' || Orientation === 'west') {
    context.moveTo(PosX + SideLength, PosY);

    for (var i = 1; i < sides + 1; i++) {
        context.lineTo(PosX + SideLength * Math.cos(a*i), PosY + SideLength * Math.sin(a*i));
    }
}
else if (Orientation === 'south' || Orientation === 'north') {
    context.moveTo(PosY, PosX + SideLength);

    for (var i = 1; i < sides + 1; i++) {
        context.lineTo(PosY + SideLength * Math.sin(a*i), PosX + SideLength * Math.cos(a*i));
    }
}
context.stroke();
context.closePath();

}`