[mapserver-users] Scale

[Stephen Lime]

A scale value of 24000 equates to 1:24000. So it's the demominator of standard
scale calculations (i.e.  map distance/ground distance). MapServer forces maps
to have square cells so scale is constant in both x and y. Ground distance is easy,
map distance is dependent heavily on the type of monitor and the resolution it's
displaying information at. There is no perfect value which is why I tend to use scalebars
instead of scale values. Map distances are computed using a constant value of 72
ppi which seems to be a nice moderate value given the range of displays out there.

Steve

Stephen Lime
Internet Applications Analyst

Minnesota DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-297-2937

>>> Richard Greenwood <Rich at GreenwoodMap.com> 06/02/01 12:41PM >>>
Can anyone tell me what the value of SCALE represents? In other words, if I 
have a scale of 72103.66, what does 72103.66 represent? My best guess was 
that it is the hypotenuse of the map window, but that doesn't seem right.

Thanks,
Rich


Richard W. Greenwood, PLS
Greenwood Mapping, Inc.
Rich at GreenwoodMap.com 
(307) 733-0203
http://www.GreenwoodMap.com