Determine

Determine is one of those terms that can have very different, almost opposite meanings.

I can determine what happened, or I can determine what happens. In the first case, I discover; in the second, I enact or cause.

I am a technical writer by trade and I'm working on the documentation for a new sorter. Sorters receive boxes or other containers from a conveyor in a warehouse and then divert them to other conveyors to go where they need to go.

I came across this sentence in a document I'm working on: "...this photoeye determines the position of the package in relation to the slats and which slat shoes to divert."

This sentence seems to use a single instance of determine both ways. I don't know if this sentence originated from another technical writer, from an engineer, or if it was something I even wrote unwittingly years ago when documenting a predecessor to the current sorter.

I was inclined to change this, and I probably should for the sake of clarity. But I'm fascinated, so for now I'm leaving it.