How to symbolize data in the map
- Tore Sannes (Unlicensed)
The layers in the data frame can be symbolized and presented in different ways according to the geometry type. Lines can be symbolized as lines only, polygons (areas) as closed lines and colourfill/hatching, points with symbols and labels. Rasters (grids and images) has another type of symbology. Some labels in the map will contain symbols which represents the point position, and a text numeric label which should be annotated close to the symbol. The simplest is to import the information from an ascii file, and the best way to import the information is from a semi-colon separated file with file type .csv. The coordinate system can be in geographic or in a projection. The .csv file must have a header row for specifying the columns, for instance "Latitude; Longitude; Label": The data points can be imported to the map document by the Make XY Event Layer tool. Find the new layer and open the Properties dialog for the layer. In the Layer Properties dialog, click the Symbology tab and click the Symbol icon. In the Symbol Selector dialog, click Edit Symbol to open the Symbol Property Editor. In the Symbol Property Editor the properties type should be Character Marker Symbol. In the Character Marker tab below there are a lot of ESRI font sets. Some useful symbols can be found in the ESRI Default Marker font set (for instance the symbol P). Many hydrographic symbols can be found in the font set ESRI NIMA DNC PT (digital nautical chart, points). Another useful font set is ESRI Geometric Symbols. It is possible to create a new symbol by combining two or more symbols from different font sets. When clicking Apply in the Layer Properties dialog, the symbol plotting will start. In the Layer Properties dialog, click the Labels tab. In the Text String box, set the Label Field to the name from the third column in the input file: Label. In the Text Symbol box, set the font type, font style, color and size. Click the Placement Properties button and open the dialog. In the Placement tab, select the option Offset label horizontally around the point. This will plot the label with the on the specified side of the point's position. Click the Change Location button to change the labels' position around the points. In the Conflict Detection tab the parameters for overplot removal can be adjusted. Check the Label weight and the Feature weight options. Click OK to close the Placement Properties dialog. In the Labels tab in the Layer Properties dialog, check the box ahead of Label Features in this layer. When clicking Apply or OK the label plotting will start. Note: If the Placement Properties dialog has more the two tabs, we have to change the settings for the data frame. Enter the properties for the data frame and click the General tab. In the lower part there is a selection of Label Engine. Select the Standard Label Engine and not the Maplex Label Engine. Add the Surfacepoints dataset from the geodatabase to the active data frame. The default symbolization is a coloured filled point symbol with outline with size 4 points. Open the Surfacepoint's Layer Properties dialog (double-click or right-click and select Properties). Click the Symbology tab and then double-click on the symbol. In the Symbol Selector dialog, select the symbol named Circle 1, and set the Color to No Color. Click OK to finish the dialog. Click the Labels tab and do the following: In the lower part, click the Load button. Browse to the file Hydrographic_Z_labels_0_21_31.lxp and click open. The file contains this expression: The expression can be modified and saved to a new file by the Save button. Note that the font type and font size is defined in the expression. The font is Arial and the size is 7. The lowered decimal is printed as a subscript font, but with size 9 pts to make it not too small. Click OK to finish the Label Expression dialog. Plotting Hydrographic symbols can defined by opening the Properties dialog for the layer. For example the buoy symbol IHO_Q5_B can be set up by combining two symbols (fonts). In the Layer Properties dialog, click the Symbology tab and then click the Symbol icon. In the Symbol Selector dialog, click Edit Symbol to open the Symbol Property Editor. In the Symbol Property Editor the properties type should be Character Marker Symbol. In the Character Marker tab below select the font ESRI NIMA DNC PT (fonts for Digital Nautical Chart, points). Select the isymbol and then add the s symbol. By combining the size and offset of the two fonts, the result can be the hydrographic symbol When clicking Apply or OK in the Symbol Property Editor, the Symbol Selector dialog, and then the Layer Properties dialog, the symbol plotting will start. To save the symbol for use on other data sets later, close the Layer Properties dialog and right-click the layer (data set) name and select Save As Layer File. This will save the layer definition and not the data as a .lyr file. In the Save Layer dialog enter the file name, for instance buoys_IHO_Q5_B.lyr, and browse to a folder where to save the definitions. Next time the same symbol is to be used for a data set (layer), open the Layer Properties dialog, and click the Symbology tab. To re-use the symbol, click the Import button up to the right. Click the browse button and add the saved .lyr file to the Layer pulldown menu. Click OK to select the symbol definition. Use the same method for all other point, lines and polygons symbology. Note that labels will not be set from the layer definition. Enter the Labels tab to define the label style. To create the contour annotation and the gap in the contour lines, we will use the Contour Annotation tool. If you have more than one data frame in your map document, check which data frame is active, if it is the Index map or the main map. The tool is opened from the ArcToolbox window: Cartography Tools > Annotation > Contour Annotation The menu will have these input fields: Input Features: Contours (when copied from the file geodatabase) Output Geodatabase: C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myChart.gdb Contour Label Field: Z Reference Scale: 1000 (the scale for the plot) Output Layer Name: Contours_layer Contour and Label color: BLACK Contour Type Field (optional): (no value) Contour Alignment (optional): PAGE (or UPHILL) Enable Laddering (optional): Yes (Check this box) Click OK to create the contour annotation features into the map document. Use List By Drawing Order A new group layer, Contours_layer, is created containing these feature layers: The drawing order must be changed to: The font style for the annotation labels is changed with the Editor tool. The Editor should not be active before starting. From the Contour_FeaturesAnno layer, right-click and select Selection > Select All. Then locate the Editor toolbar and click the menu arrow and select Editing Windows > Attributes. The attributes window appears on the right side of ArcMap. The attributes window contains the name of the layer, Contour_FeaturesAnno, and the list of the annotation labels. To change the style for all labels, mark the top text (Contour_FeaturesAnno). Click the Annotation tab below, and in the lower part the font style can be changed. Click Apply to set the new style. When finished, locate the Editor toolbar, click the menu arrow and select Stop Editing. Confirm that the editing is saved. If the Editor toolbar is not visible, click Customize > Toolbars, and check the box for the Editor toolbar. Data sets of type Lines and Polygons can change symbology by opening the Properties dialog form the data layer. Lines can be symbolized by the line color, thickness and pattern. Polygons can be symbolized with different types of fill patterns and colors, and with or without the outline. Raster data s can change the symbology by opening the Properties dialog from the data layer. As default the raster is displayed using a greyscale color table. A change of the color table can be done by double-clicking the table in the Table Of Contents. Then, in the Select Color Ramp dialog the color table can be changed. To do some more detailed changes, open the Layer Properties dialog. First, open the Display tab. Change the option "Resample during display using:" from Nearest Neighbor to Bilinear Interpolation (or Cubic Convolution). This will make the color coding smoother for continuous data. Also check that the option "Display Quality:" is set to Normal. Then, open the Symbology tab. The default display method is Stretched. If that is ok, the color table (Color Ramp) can be changed also here. To make color levels with fixed increment, change the Show method from Stretched to Classified. First time the Compute Histogram dialog appears. Click the Yes button to compute the histogram. By default 5 classes are created. Click the Classify… button. In the Classification dialog, change the Classification Method to Defined Interval. Enter the interval size (increment) to (for instance) 1 m. On the right hand side of the histogram the break values appear. Click the OK button when they seems correct. Back in the Symbology tab in the Layer Properties the color legend is shown. In the Label part the text for the labels in the color table can be edited. The colors are changed when changing the color ramp (color table), and the can also be changed individually by double-clicking the colored rectangle. Click Apply to see the changes in the Table Of Contents and to see the color code raster. If the message "Classification failed. Please choose different data or classification method" appears, the problem is that the difference between the minimum and maximum value is too small for the default settings. If 1 meter interval size do not work, try 0,5 m. To force the classification to be with the correct number of intervals, select the method Equal Interval, for instance 2. In the list of the break values, change the values to be the exact level for the color change. If the depth values in the raster are from 10,03 meters to 11,86 meters, change the break values to be 11 and 12. Click OK in the Classification dialog and see the color table in the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties. Check the color symbols and labels before clicking Apply or OK in the Layer Properties dialog. Creating new datasets based on other geographic element can be done using the Geoprocessing tools. For instance, to create a circle around a given position, use the Buffer tool. As an example a circle with radius 50m should be created around the point "54.38161998, 18.65444449". The coordinates are given in WGS84 as longitude/latitude, while the map projection is WGS84, UTM Zone 34N. To import the circle center, create a .csv file named circle_point.csv: Verify that the correct data frame is active, and use the Make XY Event Layer tool to import the data and create a new layer named circle_point in the map. To run the Geoprocessing tool, the circle_point must be converted to a Feature Class in by exporting the data from the layer to a geodatabase: From the new circle_point layer in the map document, right-click and select Data > Export Data… In the Export Data dialog set "Use the same coordinate system as: this layer's source data. Set Output feature class to, for instance: C:\ArcGIS\MyChartmyGeodatabase.gdb\circle_point and click OK. Now the feature class circle_point is created in the database. Say yes to create a layer in the map document. To create the circle around the point, click Geoprocessing and then Buffer tool: The menu will have these input fields: Input Features: C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myGeodatabase.gdb\circle_point Output Feature Class: C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myGeodatabase.gdb\ circle_buffer Distance [value or field]: Use Linear unit , 50 meters. Side Type (optional) End Type (optional) Method: PLANAR (option GEODESIC for very large radius only) Dissolve Type (optional): NONE Dissolve Field(s) (optional) Click OK to create the circle and save the circle_buffer in the file geodatabase myGeodatabase.gdb. In the map document also the layer circle_buffer is created. Open the Layer Properties to set and change the symbolization fir this circle. The coordinates of the circle_point above are Geographic (WGS84). To transform to a new feature class in WGS84, UTM Zone 34N, we can use the tool Project: The tool is opened from the ArcToolbox window: Data Management Tools > Projections and Tranformations > Project The menu will have these input fields: Input Dataset or Feature Class: C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myGeodatabase.gdb\circle_point Input Coordinate System (optional) (Use the information from the dataset) Output Dataset or Feature Class: C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myGeodatabase.gdb\circle_point_utm34n Output Coordinate System: WGS_1984_UTM_Zone_34N (use the browse button) Geographic Transfomation (optional) Click OK to create the new feature class. In the database C:\ArcGIS\MyChart\myGeodatabase.gdb, locate the feature class circle_point_utm34n, right-click and select Properties. In the Feature Class Properties dialog, select the Feature Extent tab. Since the feature class contains one point only, the extent will be equal to the coordinates of the point: X: 347673.2274, Y: 6028517.4613. Before starting digitizing new data into the map and a file geodatabase a new feature class must be created. Locate the actual database in the Catalog window, for instance the myGeodatabase.gdb. Right-click and select New > Feature Class… In the New Feature Class wizard, specify the Name: new_line_feature (as an example) Alias: (leave empty) Type: Line Features (if the feature class should be a line) Geomentry properties: (use default) Click the Next> button : The wizard continues with the coordinate system for the feature class. Set for instance the same as the map projection, for instance WGS84, UTM Zone 34N. Note that the Layers folder in the wizard shows the coordinate systems for the layer in the map document. Click the Next> button : Verify the XY Tolerance. Click the Next> button : Verify the database storage configuration. Click the Next> button : Verify the database attribute table. Click the Finish button. The layer new_line_feature is created as an empty layer in the document and also as a feature class in the database. For instance, to create a line showing the diameter in the circle created above, we need to digitize one point on the circle circumference on each side of the circle center with coordinates X=347673.23, Y=6028517.46. The new points should be: 1) X=347623.23, Y=6028517.46 2) X=347723.23, Y=6028517.46. Locate the new_line_feature in the map document layers, right-click and select Edit Features > Start Editing… Often a dialog with an error message appears, just click the Continue button. Then the Create Features window appears to the right of the graphics window. (Or locate the Editor toolbar and click the menu arrow and select Editing Windows > Create Features.) Select the new_line_feature in the table of features, and then, under the Construction Tools, select the Line tool. When moving the cursor to the graphics window, the cursor changes to a cross for digitizing mode. Using the leftmost mouse button the coordinates can be taken from the mouse position. When right-clicking the coordinate can be snapped to another element or the absolute X,Y coordinate. Select Absolute X,Y… and the Absolute X, Y window opens with the coordinates from the cursor. Enter the coordinates (X: 347623,23, Y: 6028517,46) and click the Enter key on the keyboard. Again, select Absolute X,Y… and the Absolute X, Y window opens with the coordinates from the cursor. Enter the coordinates (X: 347723,23, Y: 6028517,46) and click the Enter key on the keyboard. (Note: It is also possible to use Delta X,Y values from the first point instead of absolute X,Y). To end the digitizing session, right-click and select Finish Part. Then a new line can be created. To finish all the digitizing, right-click and select Finish Sketch. Then locate the Editor toolbar and click the menu arrow and select Stop Editing, and verify that the Edits should be saved. Now the digitized coordinates are saved in the file geodatabase. The symbolization of the layer in the map document can be changed in the Layer Properties dialogue.Points with symbols and text labels
Latitude; Longitude; Label
54.38228614; 18.65559966; 1
54.38222022; 18.65523383; 3
54.38215409; 18.65486909; 5
54.38208797; 18.65449803; 7
54.38202205; 18.65413099; 9 1. Apply a symbol
2. Apply the Label
Some optional locations:
Hydrographic Depth Annotation
Note: If the Placement Properties dialog has more the two tabs we have to change the settings for the data frame. Enter the properties for the data frame and click the General tab. In the lower part there is a selection of Label Engine. Select the Standard Label Engine and not the Maplex Label Engine.Function FindLabel ( [Z] )
' Generate depth labels according to IHO CHART SPECIFICATIONS,
' Edition 4.4.0 – September 2013:
' Soundings must be rounded down, if necessary. The rounding should be:
' · to the nearest decimetre between 0,1 and 21m,
' · to the nearest half metre from 21 to 31m and,
' · thereafter, to the nearest metre.
dim decimeters
dim meters
dim decimal
decimeters = int( [Z] * 10 )
meters = int( decimeters / 10 )
' ** Deeper than 31 meters, label the meter values only **
If meters >= 31 Then
FindLabel = meters
' ** Generate label with meters only **
FindLabel ="<FNT name = 'Arial' size = '7' > " & meters & " </FNT>"
Else
' ** Between 21 and 31 meters, cut decimal to 0.5 meter, shallower **
' ** Between 0 and 21 meters, cut decimal to 0.1 meter, shallower **
decimal = int ( decimeters - meters*10 )
If meters >= 21 Then
If decimal>=5 Then
decimal = 5
Else
decimal = 0
End If
End If
' ** Generate label with meters and decimals. If decimal is zero it shall not be shown
If decimal > 0 Then
FindLabel ="<FNT name ='Arial' size = '7'> " & meters & "</FNT><FNT name ='Arial' size = '9'><SUB>" & decimal & "</SUB></FNT>"
Else
FindLabel ="<FNT name ='Arial' size = '7' > " & meters & " </FNT>"
End If
End If
End Function
Points with Hydrographic Symbols
The dotted cross in the preview shows where the position of the symbol will be.Save and re-use a symbology
Contours
1. Create contour annotation with the Contour Annotation tool
2. Set drawing properties on contours and annotation
in the table of contents to author the contents of your map, such as to change the display order of layers on the map, rename or remove layers, and create or manage group layers.
Note: This dataset is not saved in the output geodatabase. Can be saved by right-clicking, select Data > Export Data… Click the browse button to select which folder or file geodatabase to save the data layer, and specify the name.3. Change font size for annotation labels
Then again from the Contour_FeaturesAnno layer, right-click and select Edit Features > Start Editing. Often a dialog with an error message appears, just click the Continue button.Lines and polygons
Rasters (surfaces)
Create circles in the map
Latitude; Longitude
54.38161998; 18.65444449 Transform a point from geographic to a projection
Digitize new lines in the map