Re: [Matplotlib-users] drawmapscale() and 'cyl' projection [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[<Ros...@ga...>]

-----Original Message-----
<snip>
> Maybe I'm just extra ignorant today, but why *shouldn't* a scale be drawn on a 'cyl' projection????
>
<snip>

Ross: Because a cylindrical projection isn't really a projection at all
- it's just a lat/lon coordinate system.

-Jeff

<snip>
-----Original Message-----

Hi Jeff,

Yes, surely, cylindrical isn't a real hairy-chested projection like Mercator, et al, yet I can create a map with the 'Equidistant Cylindrical Projection' and a scale has just as much meaning on a cylindrical 'projection' as any other.

That is, the semantics of the drawmapscale() method have meaning, even in cyclindrical: "draw an annotation at this point representing the scale at that other _point_".  Yes, as you move away from the point the scale annotation is representing the errors grow, but that is true of many projections. True, the errors for cylindrical projections get rather large, especially in the higher latitudes, but that just means the creator/user must understand the limitations.

Ross