# Documentation of mu_coast

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## Function Synopsis

    [ncst,Area,k]=mu_coast(optn,varargin);

## Help text

     MU_COAST Add a coastline to a given map.
             MU_COAST draw a coastline as either filled patches (slow) or
             lines (fast) on a given projection. It uses a coastline database with
             a resolution of about 1/4 degree.

             It is not meant to be called directly by the user, instead it contains
             code common to various functions in the m_map directory.

             Calling sequence is MU_COAST(option,arguments) where

             Option string
               c,l,i,h,f :  Accesses various GSHHS databases. Next argument is
                            GSHHS filename.

               u[ser] :   Accesses user-specified coastline file (a mat-file of
                          data saved from a previous MU_COAST call). Next argument
                          is filename

               v[ector] : Uses input vector of data. Next argument is the
                         data in the form of a nx2 matrix of [longitude latitude].
                         Patches must have first and last points the same. In a vector,
                         different patches can be separated by NaN.

               d[efault] :  Accesses default coastline.

             The arguments given above are then followed by (optional) arguments
             specifying lines or patches, in the form:

              optional arguments:  <line property/value pairs>, or
                                   'line',<line property/value pairs>.
                                   'patch',<patch property/value pairs>.

             If no or one output arguments are specified then the coastline is drawn, with
             patch handles returned.
             If 3 output arguments are specified in the calling sequence, then no drawing
             is done. This can be used to save subsampled coastlines for future use
             with the 'u' option, for fast drawing of multiple instances of a particular
             coastal region.

             See also M_PROJ, M_GRID

## Cross-Reference Information

This function calls | This function is called by
--- | ---
m_ll2xy m_proj mp_conic mp_cyl mp_tmerc mu_util | m_coast m_gshhs_c m_gshhs_f m_gshhs_h m_gshhs_i m_gshhs_l m_patch m_usercoast

Pierre-Michel THEVENY <theveny@dt.insu.cnrs.fr>