[OSRS-PROJ] Proj.4 vs Geotrans

Gerald I. Evenden gerald.evenden at verizon.net
Sat Mar 29 22:18:57 EST 2003


Anything I say here is going to be interpreted as being catty but
I can't help it.  Also it is only from a projection standpoint
and with no concern for datums.  Also, it is a programmer's view.

I dragged down a copy of Geotrans to take a look at it.

1) it looks like it was written by a COBOL instructor. VERY
	verbose and full of VERY long identifiers.
	For the Mercator projection Geotrans took 373 lines while
	PJ_merc.c takes 80.
2) coding is not written by a math programmer
	For example: has no idea about nested polynomials among
	other things.
3) on plus side there is a transverse equal area cylindrical
	for the ellipse that I have not heard of.
	But I have not heard of anyone who needs one either.
4) not very many projections
5) usage from a programmers stand point is messy and complex
	with far too many globals.  Very difficult to read.

I would translate the teac into libproj but I don't know if I
can figure out the code.  As I say, it is VERY unreadable and
that is from someone used to writing inscrutable code.

>From a user's view it may be OK but from my viewpoint I would
only rate it 1.5 stars out of 5.

Anyway, meow.

On Sat, 2003-03-29 at 19:57, Jesus Angel del Pozo wrote:
> Hello.
> 
> What are the main advantages of Proj.4 vs Geotrans?
> 
> I think Geotrans has a more complete doc. Does exist a up to date doc of
> Proj.4?
> 
> I'll use the conversion routines in a GUI program (not in a script).
> 
> Thanks.

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