scale?

[Tim Schaub]

>How does one display the scale of a map? Im looking to have mapserver
(or other means?)
>produce a scale like "1:50 000", rather than the scale bar.  
	 
>Thanks 
>Jeremy

Keep in mind that the text scale (1:50 000) is only correct if the
RESOLUTION of your mapfile matches the resolution of a user's monitor.
Since the default mapfile resolution is 72 dpi, and most folks don't
change this, your text scale is likely to be wrong in the majority of
cases.  A scale bar, on the other hand, will display the correct map
distances regardless of resolution.
 
Tim