Setting up an object's direction

Questions
1

Hey guys, so I have a ball and a direction set up depending on where you touch the screen but I don’t know how to set up the direction with the object on the screen. Here’s the code:

-- Lines1
displayMode(FULLSCREEN)
-- Use this function to perform your initial setup
function setup()
    held=false
    directionx=0
    directiony=0
    speedx=WIDTH/2
    speedy=HEIGHT/2
end

-- This function gets called once every frame
function draw()
    -- This sets a dark background color 
    background(95, 112, 115, 255)
    fill(255, 255, 255, 255)
    -- This sets the line thickness
    strokeWidth(5)

    -- Do your drawing here
    ellipse(ballx,bally,40)
    if held == true then
        line(ballx,bally,CurrentTouch.x,CurrentTouch.y)
    end
end

function touched(touch)
    if touch.state == BEGAN then
        held=true
        direction=vec2(touch.prevX,touch.prevY)
    end
    if touch.state == ENDED then
        held=false
        directionx=touch.prevX
        directiony=touch.prevY
    end
end

Any help is much appreciated!

2

I suggest you separate speed and direction, then you can calculate the direction from your current position to the touch like this

speed=10 --10 pixels per draw cycle
--i suggest you store current position in a vec2 like this
position=vec2(100,200) --how you set the initial position
direction=vec2(0,0) --no initial direction
--after a user touch, recalculate direction
direction=(vec2(touch.x,touch.y)-position):normalize()
--to move the user
position=position+direction*speed

and here is your amended program. If anything isn’t clear,ask.

-- Lines1
displayMode(FULLSCREEN)
-- Use this function to perform your initial setup
function setup()
    held=false
    direction=vec2(0,0)
    speed=3
    position=vec2(WIDTH/2,HEIGHT/2)
end

-- This function gets called once every frame
function draw()
    -- This sets a dark background color 
    background(95, 112, 115, 255)
    fill(255, 255, 255, 255)
    -- This sets the line thickness
    strokeWidth(5)

    -- Do your drawing here
    position=position+direction*speed
    ellipse(position.x,position.y,40)
    if held == true then
        line(position.x,position.y,CurrentTouch.x,CurrentTouch.y)
    end
end

function touched(touch)
    if touch.state == BEGAN then
        held=true
    end
    if touch.state == ENDED then
        held=false
        direction=(vec2(touch.x,touch.y)-position):normalize()
    end
end
3

Thanks @Ignatz!