Re: [matplotlib-devel] Inches?

Coincidentally, I was just thinking about this a couple days ago, when 
reviewing the units kwarg of the colorbar.  I decided then that adding a 
cm option just wasn't worth even the small amount of extra code; inches 
are fairly deeply embedded, as witness the standard "dpi" way of 
specifying pixel size on output devices.

I do understand the rationale; many of us in the US would have preferred 
if the US had continued with the transition to metric units instead of 
backing off.  For mpl right now, however, I don't think it is worthwhile 
to add the extra complexity, no matter how small it may seem, of a 
general cm option, or a great number of docstring additions saying 
"There are 2.54 cm per inch."

Somewhere along the line, it may make sense to support the metric system 
better in mpl.

Eric

Olivier Verdier wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> 
> I really enjoy using matplotlib but something is strange with the units 
> used for the figure size. It seems that it must be in inches? (I'm 
> thinking of the figure.figsize value in matplotlibrc, for instance).
> 
> 
> Of course if one knows how long an inch is (apparently 2.5 cm) it's not 
> difficult to convert a value in mm or cm to inches but most people 
> around here (Europe) have never used inches in their life.
> 
> 
> I believe that centimetres (or millimetres) should be the default unit 
> for all lengths because it is familiar to everybody... as far as I know.
> 
> 
> Then you might also allow the customary local units of various 
> countries. If you really want to only use inches then i think that you 
> should specify that an inch corresponds to 2.5 cm wherever a value in 
> inches is needed. Most users of matplotlib have no clue as to how long 
> an inch is.
> 
> 
> I'd be willing to help on that matter if you all agree that such a 
> change would be a good idea.
> 
> 
> Thanks!!
> 
> 
> == Olivier
> 
> 
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