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  1. Spatial Information Systems
  2. SIS-386

Replace DefaultEllipsoid.orthodromicDistance(…) method

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Details

    • Bug
    • Status: Closed
    • Major
    • Resolution: Fixed
    • 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8
    • 1.0
    • Referencing
    • None

    Description

      The DefaultEllipsoid.orthodromicDistance method has the following problems:

      • Could have a better name.
      • It does not converge in some situations.
      • The wraparound over some non-convergence problems is itself erroneous.

      Charles Karney kindly listed the problems on the developer mailing list. A possible action would be to deprecate orthodromicDistance, to be replaced by the same GeodeticCalculator (or any other name) class than the one proposed for SIS-385.

      Historical note: orthodromicDistance was defined in the DefaultEllipsoid class because it made easy to override the method with code optimized for the spherical case. A future version could also override the method with code for triaxial ellipsoid. But experience in the Geotk project suggest that this method is almost never used, since GeodeticCalculator is used instead.

      As an alternative to deprecate DefaultEllipsoid.orthodromicDistance, we could keep it (after renaming), fix the issues identified by Charles, and design GeodeticCalculator as a class that use DefaultEllipsoid under the hood instead than re-implementing its own algorithm.

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        Issue Links

          is a parent of

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents the functions of the product. SIS-467 Unsupported geodesics

          • Minor - Minor loss of function, or other problem where easy workaround is present.
          • Open
          is depended upon by

          New Feature - A new feature of the product, which has yet to be developed. SIS-454 Approximate geodesic path by Bézier curve

          • Major - Major loss of function.
          • Resolved
          is related to

          Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents the functions of the product. SIS-385 Inaccurate formulas in DistanceUtils

          • Major - Major loss of function.
          • Closed

          Improvement - An improvement or enhancement to an existing feature or task. SIS-465 Referencing on celestial bodies with high flattening factor

          • Major - Major loss of function.
          • Open

          Improvement - An improvement or enhancement to an existing feature or task. SIS-51 Pluggable Distance Calculation

          • Minor - Minor loss of function, or other problem where easy workaround is present.
          • Open

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              desruisseaux Martin Desruisseaux
              desruisseaux Martin Desruisseaux
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              Dates

                Created:
                Updated:
                Resolved: