scaleruler
Add or modify graphic scale on map axes
Syntax
scaleruler
scaleruler on
scaleruler off
scaleruler(property
,value,...)
h = scaleruler(...)
Description
scaleruler
toggles the display
of a graphic scale. If no graphic scale is currently displayed in
the current map axes, one is added. If any graphic scales are currently
displayed, they are removed.
scaleruler on
adds a graphic
scale to the current map axes. Multiple graphic scales can be added
to the same map axes.
scaleruler off
removes any
currently displayed graphic scales.
scaleruler(
adds a graphic scale and sets the properties to the values specified. You can display a
list of graphic scale properties using the command property
,value,...)setm(h)
, where
h
is the handle to a graphic scale object. The current values for
a displayed graphic scale object can be retrieved using getm
. The
properties of a displayed graphic scale object can be modified using
setm
.
h = scaleruler(...)
returns
the hggroup
handle to the graphic
scale object.
Background
Cartographers often add graphic elements to the map to indicate its scale. Perhaps the most commonly used is the graphic scale, a ruler-like object that shows distances on the ground at the correct size for the projection.
Examples
Object Properties
Properties That Control Appearance
Color
ColorSpec {no default}
Color of the displayed graphic scale — Controls the color of the graphic scale lines and text. You can specify a color using a vector of RGB values or one of the MATLAB® predefined names. By default, the graphic scale is displayed in black (
[0 0 0]
).FontAngle
{normal} | italic | oblique
Angle of the graphic scale label text — Controls the appearance of the graphic scale text components. Use any MATLAB font angles.
FontName
courier | {helvetica} | symbol | times
Font family name for all graphic scale labels — Sets the font for all displayed graphic scale labels. To display and print properly
FontName
must be a font that your system supports.FontSize
scalar in units specified in FontUnits {9}
Font size — Specifies the font size to use for all displayed graphic scale labels, in units specified by the
FontUnits
property. The default point size is 9.FontUnits
inches | centimeters | normalized | {points} | pixels
Units used to interpret the FontSize property — When set to normalized, the toolbox interprets the value of
FontSize
as a fraction of the height of the axes. For example, a normalizedFontSize
of 0.16 sets the text characters to a font whose height is one-tenth of the axes' height. The default units, points, are equal to 1/72 of an inch.FontWeight
light | {normal} | demi | bold
Select bold or normal font — The character weight for all displayed graphic scale labels.
Label
character vector
Label text for the graphic scale — Contains a character vector used to label the graphic scale. The text is displayed centered on the scale. The label is often used to indicate the scale of the map, for example “1:50,000,000.”
LineWidth
scalar {0.5}
Graphic scale line width — Sets the line width of the displayed scale. The value is a scalar representing points, which is 0.5 by default.
MajorTick
vector
Graphic scale major tick locations — Sets the major tick locations for the graphic scale. The default values are chosen to give a reasonably sized scale. You can specify the locations of the tick marks by providing a vector of locations. These are usually equally spaced values as generated by
start:step:end
. The values are distances in the units of theUnits
property.MajorTickLabel
Cell array of character vectors
Graphic scale major tick labels — Sets the text labels associated with the major tick locations. By default, the labels are identical to the major tick locations. You can override these by providing a cell array of character vectors. There must be as many character vectors as tick locations.
MajorTickLength
scalar
Length of the major tick lines — Controls the length of the major tick lines. The length is a distance in the units of the
Units
property.MinorTick
vector
Graphic scale minor tick locations — Sets the minor tick locations for the graphic scale. The default values are chosen to give a reasonably sized scale. You can specify the locations of the tick marks by providing a vector of locations. These are usually equally spaced values as generated by
start:step:end
. The values are distances in the units of theUnits
property.MinorTickLabel
character vectors
Graphic scale minor tick labels — Sets the text labels associated with the minor tick locations. By default, the label is identical to the last minor tick location. You can override this by providing a character vector label.
MinorTickLength
scalar
Length of the minor tick lines — Controls the length of the minor tick lines. The length is a distance in the units of the
Units
property.RulerStyle
{ruler} | lines | patches
Style of the graphic scale — Selects among three different kinds of graphic scale displays. The default
ruler
style looks like n axes' x-axis. Thelines
style has three horizontal lines across the tick marks. This type of graphic scale is often used on maps from the U.S. Geological Survey. Thepatches
style has alternating black and white rectangles in place of lines and tick marks.TickDir
{up} | down
Direction of the tick marks and text — Controls the direction in which the tick marks and text labels are drawn. In the default up direction, the tick marks and text labels are placed above the baseline, which is placed at the location given in the
XLoc
property. In the down position, the tick marks and labels are drawn below the baseline.TickMode
{auto} | manual
Tick locations mode — Controls whether the tick locations and labels are computed automatically or are user-specified. Explicitly setting the tick labels or locations results in a
'manual'
tick mode. Setting any of the tick labels or locations to an empty matrix resets the tick mode to'auto'
. Setting the tick mode to'auto'
clears any explicitly specified tick locations and labels, which are then replaced by default values.XLoc
scalar
X-location of the graphic scale — Controls the horizontal location of the graphic scale within the axes. The location is specified in the axes Cartesian projected coordinates. Use
showaxes
to make the Cartesian grid labels visible. You can also move the graphic scale by dragging the baseline with the mouse.YLoc
scalar
Y-location of the graphic scale — Controls the vertical location of the graphic scale within the axes. The location is specified in the axes Cartesian projected coordinates. Use
showaxes
to make the Cartesian grid labels visible. You can also move the graphic scale by dragging the baseline with the mouse.
Properties That Control Scaling
Azimuth
scalar
Azimuth of scale computation — The scale of a map varies, within the projection, with geographic location and azimuth. This property controls the azimuth along which the scaling between geographic and projected coordinates is computed. The azimuth is given in the current angle units of the map axes. The default azimuth is 0.
Lat
scalar
Latitude of scale computation — The scale of a map varies, within the projection, with geographic location and azimuth. This property controls the geographic location at which the scaling between geographic and projected coordinates is computed. The latitude is given in the current angle units of the map axes. The default location is the center of the displayed map.
Long
scalar
Longitude of scale computation — The scale of a map varies, within the projection, with geographic location and azimuth. This property controls the geographic location at which the scaling between geographic and projected coordinates is computed. The longitude is given in the current angle units of the map axes. The default location is the center of the displayed map.
Radius
Name or radius of reference sphere
Reference sphere name or radius — The
radius
property controls the scaling between angular and surface distances.radius
can be one of the character vectors supported bykm2deg
, or it can be the (numerical) radius of the desired sphere in the same units as theUnits
property. The default is'earth'
.Units
(valid distance unit)
Surface distance units — Defines the distance units displayed in the graphic scale.
Units
can be any distance unit recognized byunitsratio
. The distance character vector is also used in the last graphic scale text label.
Other Properties
Children
(read-only)
Name of graphic scale elements — Contains the tag assigned to the graphic elements that compose the graphic scale. All elements of the graphic scale have hidden handles except the baseline. You do not normally need to access the elements directly.
Tips
You can reposition graphic scale objects by dragging them with
the mouse. You can also change their positions by modifying the XLoc
and YLoc
properties
using setm
.
Use scaleruler off
, clmo scaleruler
,
or clmo scalerulerN
to remove the scale rulers.
You can also remove a graphic scale object with delete(h)
,
or delete(handlem(`scalerulerN'))
, where N
is
the corresponding integer.
Version History
See Also
distance
| surfdist
| axesscale
| paperscale
| mdistort
| distortcalc