Draw ellipse passing through 3 points

Question

I have next task - draw ellipe trough 3 points (like in the picture). .
User can drag theese points that to change ellipse size. Two of points placed on edges of great axis. In my solution I use GDI throug Graphics class. Now my solution is calculate rectangle corresponding to an ellipse and use DrawEllipse method and rotate transform (if it's need). But this solution has many mathematical calculation. Maybe there is the simplest approach to solve this task?

Answer 1

Here is how to use the DrawEllipse method from a rotation, the minor axis and two vertices.

First we calculate the Size of the bounding Rectangle:

Given the Points A and B sitting on the short sides of length smallSize we get the long side with a little Pythagoras:

int longSide = (int)(Math.Sqrt((A.Y - B.Y) * (A.Y - B.Y) + (B.X - A.X) * (B.X - A.X)));

So :

Size size = new System.Drawing.Size(longSide, smallSize);

Next we need the rotation angle:

float angle = -(float)(Math.Atan2(A.Y - B.Y, B.X - A.X) * 180f / Math.PI);

And it will make things easier to also get the center Point C:

Point C = new Point((A.X + B.X)/ 2, (A.Y + B.Y)/ 2);

The last thing we want is a routine that draws an ellipse of a given Size, rotated around C at an angle:

void DrawEllipse(Graphics G, Pen pen, Point center, Size size, float angle)
{
    int h2 = size.Height / 2;
    int w2 = size.Width / 2;
    Rectangle rect = new Rectangle( new Point(center.X - w2, center.Y - h2), size );

    G.TranslateTransform(center.X, center.Y);
    G.RotateTransform(angle);
    G.TranslateTransform(-center.X, -center.Y);
    G.DrawEllipse(pen, rect);
    G.ResetTransform();
}

[![enter image description here][1]][1]

Here is a little testbed that brings it all together:

Point A = new Point(200, 200); // *
Point B = new Point(500, 250);
int smallSize = 50;


void doTheDraw(PictureBox pb)
{
    Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(pb.Width, pb.Height);

    float angle = -(float)(Math.Atan2(A.Y - B.Y, B.X - A.X) * 180f / Math.PI);
    int longSide = (int)(Math.Sqrt((A.Y - B.Y) * (A.Y - B.Y) + (B.X - A.X) * (B.X - A.X)));
    Point C = new Point((A.X + B.X) / 2, (A.Y + B.Y) / 2);
    Size size = new System.Drawing.Size((int)longSide, smallSize);

    using (Pen pen = new Pen(Color.Orange, 3f))
    using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bmp))
    {
        // a nice background grid (optional):
        DrawGrid(g, 0, 0, 100, 50, 10,
            Color.LightSlateGray, Color.DarkGray, Color.Gainsboro);

        // show the points we use (optional):
        g.FillEllipse(Brushes.Red, A.X - 4, A.Y - 4, 8, 8);
        g.FillRectangle(Brushes.Red, B.X - 3, B.Y - 3, 7, 7);
        g.FillEllipse(Brushes.Red, C.X - 5, C.Y - 5, 11, 11);

        // show the connection line (optional):
        g.DrawLine(Pens.Orange, A, B);

        // here comes the ellipse:
        DrawEllipse(g, pen, C, size, angle);
    }
    pb.Image = bmp;
}

The grid is a nice helper:

void DrawGrid(Graphics G, int ox, int oy, 
              int major, int medium, int minor, Color c1, Color c2, Color c3)
{
    using (Pen pen1 = new Pen(c1, 1f))
    using (Pen pen2 = new Pen(c2, 1f))
    using (Pen pen3 = new Pen(c3, 1f))
    {
        pen2.DashStyle = DashStyle.Dash;
        pen3.DashStyle = DashStyle.Dot;
        for (int x = ox; x < G.VisibleClipBounds.Width; x += major)
            G.DrawLine(pen1, x, 0, x, G.VisibleClipBounds.Height);
        for (int y = oy; y < G.VisibleClipBounds.Height; y += major)
            G.DrawLine(pen1, 0, y, G.VisibleClipBounds.Width, y);

        for (int x = ox; x < G.VisibleClipBounds.Width; x += medium)
            G.DrawLine(pen2, x, 0, x, G.VisibleClipBounds.Height);
        for (int y = oy; y < G.VisibleClipBounds.Height; y += medium)
            G.DrawLine(pen2, 0, y, G.VisibleClipBounds.Width, y); 

        for (int x = ox; x < G.VisibleClipBounds.Width; x += minor)
            G.DrawLine(pen3, x, 0, x, G.VisibleClipBounds.Height);
        for (int y = oy; y < G.VisibleClipBounds.Height; y += minor)
            G.DrawLine(pen3, 0, y, G.VisibleClipBounds.Width, y);
    }
}

Note that I made A, B, smallSide class level variables so I can modify them during my tests, (and I did *)..

As you can see I have added a TrackBar to make the smallside dynamic; for even more fun I have added this MouseClick event:

private void pictureBox1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Button.HasFlag(MouseButtons.Left)) A = e.Location;
    else B = e.Location;
    doTheDraw(pictureBox1);
}

I hope some of my logic can help you out on what you're trying to achieve. Next question you make try to add more info and be less generic.