A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to calculate a default number of major tick marks as a function of a minimum distance between major tick marks and the length of a GUI control. A whole number of major tick marks that evenly divides a range of values to be mapped along the length of the GUI control is iteratively searched. A whole number of major tick marks is displayed along the length of the GUI control. The default number of major tick marks is the origin from which the search begins.