there is a good explaination for the atan2d() function
If v1 = [x1,y1] and v2 = [x2,y2] are the components of two vectors, then
a = atan2d(x1*y2-y1*x2,x1*x2+y1*y2);
gives the angle in degrees between the vectors as measured in a counterclockwise direction from v1 to v2.
If that angle would exceed 180 degrees, then the angle is measured in the clockwise direction but given a negative value.
In other words, the output of 'atan2d' always ranges from -180 to +180 degrees.
One further observation: Besides the greater range of 'atan2d' as compared with 'acosd', the former does not suffer the inaccuracies that occur with 'acosd' for angles near zero and 180 degrees.