Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/scaleruler.m
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/scaleruler.m	(revision 21724)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/src/m/plot/scaleruler.m	(revision 21725)
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@
 %If only one tick, just draw a rectangle
 if numberofticks==1,
-	text(x0+lengthscale/2,y0+2*widthscale,2,[num2str(lengthscale*unitscale/1000) ' km'],...
+	t=text(x0+lengthscale/2,y0+2*widthscale,2,[num2str(lengthscale*unitscale/1000) ' km'],...
 		'FontSize',fontsize,'FontWeight',fontweight,'Color',fontcolor,'HorizontalAlignment','center','VerticalAlignment','baseline');
-	patch([x0 x0+lengthscale x0+lengthscale x0],[y0 y0 y0+widthscale y0+widthscale],2*ones(1,4),fontcolor,'Edgecolor',fontcolor);
+	if ~verLessThan('matlab', '8.3')
+		set(t,'Layer','front');
+	end
+	p=patch([x0 x0+lengthscale x0+lengthscale x0],[y0 y0 y0+widthscale y0+widthscale],2*ones(1,4),fontcolor,'Edgecolor',fontcolor);
 else
 	%initialize some coordinates