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# Symbology Examples

Author

  Jeff McKenna

Contact

  jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com

Author

  Håvard Tveite

Contact

  havard.tveite at nmbu.no

Last Updated

  2011/05/11

Table of Contents

- Symbology Examples

  - Example 1. Dashed Line

  - Example 2. TrueType font marker symbol

  - Example 3. Vector triangle marker symbol

  - Example 4. Non-contiguous vector marker symbol (Cross)

  - Example 5. Circle vector symbol

  - Example 6. Downward diagonal fill

  - Example 7. Using the Symbol Type HATCH (new in 4.6)

  - Example 8. Styled lines using GAP

## Example 1. Dashed Line

This example creates a dashed line that is 5 SIZEUNITS wide, with 10 SIZEUNITS on, 5 off, 5 on, 10 off …

    LAYER
      ...
      CLASS
        ...
        STYLE
          COLOR 0 0 0
          WIDTH 5
          LINECAP butt
          PATTERN 10 5 5 10 END
        END
      END
    END

## Example 2. TrueType font marker symbol

This example symbol is a star, used to represent the national capital, hence the name. The font name in defined in the FONTSET file. The code number “114” varies, you can use MS Windows’ character map to figure it out, or guestimate.

    SYMBOL
      NAME "natcap"
      TYPE TRUETYPE
      FONT "geo"
      FILLED true
      ANTIALIAS true  # only necessary for GD rendering
      CHARACTER "&#114;"
    END

## Example 3. Vector triangle marker symbol

This example is fairly straight forward. Note that to have 3 sides you need 4 points, hence the first and last points are identical. The triangle is not filled.

    SYMBOL
      NAME "triangle"
      TYPE vector
      POINTS
        0 4
        2 0
        4 4
        0 4
      END
    END

## Example 4. Non-contiguous vector marker symbol (Cross)

This example draws a cross, that is 2 lines (vectors) that are not connected end-to-end (Like the triangle in the previous example). The negative values separate the two.

    SYMBOL
      NAME "cross"
      TYPE vector
      POINTS
        2.0 0.0
        2.0 4.0
        -99 -99
        0.0 2.0
        4.0 2.0
      END
    END

## Example 5. Circle vector symbol

This example creates a simple filled circle. Using non-equal values for the point will give you an actual ellipse.

    SYMBOL
      NAME "circle"
      TYPE ellipse
      FILLED true
      POINTS
        1 1
      END
    END

## Example 6. Downward diagonal fill

This example creates a symbol that can be used to create a downward diagonal fill for polygons.

    SYMBOL
      NAME "downwarddiagonalfill"
      TYPE vector
      TRANSPARENT 0
      POINTS
        0 1
        1 0
      END
    END

## Example 7. Using the Symbol Type HATCH (new in 4.6)

As of MapServer 4.6, you can use the symbol type HATCH to produce hatched lines. The following will display hatched lines at a 45 degree angle, 10 SIZEUNITS apart (center to center), and 3 SIZEUNITS wide.

Symbol definition:

    SYMBOL
      NAME 'hatch-test'
      TYPE HATCH
    END

Layer definition:

    LAYER
      ...
      CLASS
        ...
        STYLE
          SYMBOL 'hatch-test'
          COLOR 255 0 0
          ANGLE 45
          SIZE 10
          WIDTH 3
        END
      END
    END

Other parameters available for HATCH are: MINSIZE, MAXSIZE, MINWIDTH, and MAXWIDTH.

## Example 8. Styled lines using GAP

This example shows how to style lines with symbols.

A 5 SIZEUNITS wide black line is decorated with ellipses that are 15 SIZEUNITS long (and 7.5 SIZEUNITS`wide). The ellipses are placed 30 `SIZEUNITS apart, and the negative GAP value ensures that the ellipses are oriented relative to the direction of the line. The ellipses are rotated 30 degrees counter clock-wise from their position along the line.

Symbol definition:

    SYMBOL
      NAME "ellipse2"
      TYPE ellipse
      FILLED true
      POINTS
        1 2
      END
    END

Layer definition:

    LAYER
      ...
      CLASS
        ...
        STYLE
          WIDTH 5
          COLOR 0 0 0
        END
        STYLE
          SYMBOL 'ellipse2'
          COLOR 0 0 0
          ANGLE 30
          SIZE 15
          GAP -30
        END
      END
    END