Configuring Symbology for a Line Data Layer

In this section:

Geographical line data places lines on the map layer that can be configured with a wide range of size, color, and thickness options.

The following image shows the Symbol Settings section of the ESRI Object Settings panel for a point-based data layer. Some selections may open additional options not shown in this image.

The following table summarizes the types of symbology available for a line layer. Each type of symbology is illustrated in one of the sections that follows.

Type of Symbol

(Subtype)

Description

Configuration Fields

Single

Uses a single line

Use. Selects the type of symbols, Single for this option.

Color. User selects a line color. The default is red.

Thickness. User specifies the line thickness in pixels. The default is 12 and the maximum is 99.

Style. User selects one of the following line styles:

  • Solid (default)
  • Dashes
  • Dash-dot
  • Dash-dot-dot
  • Dots
  • None

For more information, see Configuring Line Symbology Using a Single Line Symbol.

Color

User specifies a field to be used to classify line colors.

Use. Selects the type of symbols, Color for this option.

Using Field. User selects a field in the request to be used to classify the lines by color.

By. User selects from the following classification methods.

  • Natural Jenks (the default).
  • Quantile.
  • Equal Breaks.
  • Standard Deviation.
  • Geometrical Breaks.

Number of Classes. User specifies the number of color breaks. The default is 5.

Color Scheme. User selects the color palette for the lines. The default uses shades of green.

Thickness. User specifies the line thickness in pixels. The default is 1 and the maximum is 99.

For more information, see Configuring Line Symbology Using Color.

Thickness

User specifies a field to be used to classify the thickness of the lines.

Use. Selects the type of symbols, Thickness for this option.

Using Field. User selects a field in the request to be used to classify the lines by thickness.

Color. User selects a color for the lines.

Minimum. Specifies the minimum thickness. The default is 1.

Maximum. Specifies the maximum thickness. The default is 10.

For more information, see Configuring Line Symbology Using Thickness.

Dynamic

The WebFOCUS request that provides the location dimension defines the line properties.

Use. Selects the type of symbols, Dynamic for this option.

Label. User specifies a field in the request that contains the label text for the legend. The default is the AS name, title, or field name.

Color. User specifies a field in the request that defines the colors for the markers.

Size. User specifies a field in the request that defines the thickness in pixels for the lines. The default is 12 and the maximum is 99.

Style. User specifies a field in the request that contains styles for the lines.

For more information, see Configuring Dynamic Line Symbology.

Unique

User selects line properties for each value of a dimension in the request.

Use. Selects the type of symbols, Unique for this option.

Using Field. User selects an alphanumeric dimension in the request and assigns marker properties for each value.

Thickness. User specifies a thickness in pixels for the lines. The default is 12 and the maximum is 99.

Dimension Values box. A box is populated with the dimension values. The user can select values and move them to the right, then assign line properties to those selected values.

Label. User specifies text to display in the legend for each selected dimension value.

Color. The user selects a color for each selected dimension value.

Style. The user selects a line style for each selected dimension value.

For more information, see Configuring Unique Symbology for Lines.

Note: The symbol dynamically changes size with the zoom level of the map output for a single symbol, but not for a symbol that is unique, dynamic, based on thickness, or based on color.

Configuring Line Symbology Using a Single Line Symbol

The default symbol used for lines is a 12-pixel thick solid red line, as shown in the following image.

You can open a color picker dialog box by clicking the Color field, can enter a size in pixels, and select a different style (dashes, dash-dot, dash-dot-dot, or dots). The maximum size supported is 99.

Example: Configuring Line Symbology Using a Single Line Symbol

This example uses blue dashed line symbol that is three pixels thick. The following image shows the symbol settings.

The external WebFOCUS request used to provide the point data is the citibike_tripdata_line1 procedure created in Configuring a Geometry Line Data Layer. The geographic role is Geometry line, and the field that matches the role is CONNECTION_LINE_A.

Run the HTML page. The output is shown in the following image.

Configuring Line Symbology Using Color

When you select Color in the Symbol Settings Use drop-down list of the ESRI Object Settings panel, the lines are colored using a choice of color classification systems, as shown in the following image.

Using Field

Description. This is a numeric field in the request whose values will be used by the classification schema to define the class breaks.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one field. It should be a measure field or numeric.

Number of Classes

Description. This is the number of class breaks that will be rendered.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select values 2 through 9. The default is 5.

Note: The map will not render if the data cannot be divided into the number of classes selected. For example, if the data can only be divided into four classes, but five is selected, the map will not render and a message similar to the one shown in the following image will display.

By

Description. This is the classification scheme to be used for assigning the breaks and ranges.

Type of field. Drop-down list.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. Choices are:

  • Natural Jenks, a classification scheme that uses breaks inherent in the data, grouping similar values and maximizing differences between groups. This is the default choice.
  • Quantile, a classification scheme in which each class contains an equal number of points.
  • Equal Breaks, a classification scheme that breaks the data into equal ranges of values.
  • Standard Deviation, a classification scheme that defines the breaks based on the number of standard deviations from the mean.
  • Geometrical Breaks, a classification scheme that bases class breaks on intervals that have a geometrical series.
Color Scheme

Description. This lets you select an array of color values, defining the color ramp. The first color will be used to render the minimum data class, and the last color will be used to render the maximum data class.

Type of field. Drop-down list.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one color array. The default array uses shades of off-white and green.

Thickness

Description. This lets you enter a thickness in pixels for the lines. The default value is 1 and the maximum is 99.

Type of field. Text Box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User enter only an integer value from 1 to 99.

Example: Symbolizing Lines Using Color

This example symbolizes the lines using color. The external WebFOCUS request used to provide the point data is the citibike_tripdata_line1 procedure created in Configuring a Geometry Line Data Layer. The geographic role is Geometry line, and the field that matches the role is CONNECTION_LINE_A. This example uses the Natural Jenks color classification scheme based on the GENDER field, as shown in the following image. Note that the Number of classes is 3, as that is the number of values for gender in the data. Using the default number, 5, would generate an error.

Run the HTML page. The output is shown in the following image.

Configuring Unique Symbology for Lines

When you configure Unique symbology, you can display a different line style for each value of an alphanumeric dimension field in the request.

The following image shows the Symbol Settings properties for Unique symbology in the ESRI Object Settings pane.

Descriptions of the fields for unique symbology for lines follow.

Using Field

Description. Is an alphanumeric dimension field in the request whose values will determine the line style to use.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. Must be an alphanumeric dimension field in the request.

Thickness

Description. Is the thickness of a line in pixels. The default is 12 and the maximum is 99.

Type of field. Text box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. Must be a measure field in the request.

Values

Description. This is the list of values for the Using Field. You can select any value and click the arrow keys to move it between the original list box and the user-selected values list box. Any values not in the user-selected list will display with default line styles.

Type of field. List box.

Populated by. System.

User limitations. The user can select values from the system-generated list.

Label

Description. For each value selected, you can enter a label to display in the legend.

Type of field. Text box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can enter a single label for each value of the Using Field.

Color

Description. For each value selected, you can select a line color. The default is red.

Type of field. Color picker.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can select a single color for each value of the Using Field.

Style

Description. For each value selected, you can select a standard line style.

Type of field. Drop-down list.

Populated by. System defined.

User limitations. User can select a single shape for each value of the Using Field. Choices are:

  • Solid. This is the default style.
  • Dashes.
  • Dash-dot.
  • Dash-dot-dot.
  • Dots.

Example: Configuring Unique Symbology for Lines

This example configures a unique style for the lines for each gender value.

Configure the map to use the citibike_tripdata_line1 procedure and the Geometry line geographic role in the ESRI Object Settings panel. Configure the unique symbology to use the GENDER field, as shown in the following image.

Move the values of the GENDER field to the right using the > arrow, enter a label and select a color and line style for each.

The output is shown in the following image. The Legend is toggled on to show the labels, and line styles used.

Configuring Line Symbology Using Thickness

When you choose Thickness in the Symbol Settings Use box in the ESRI Object Settings panel, each line has a thickness based on a numeric field in the request. You can also select a single color for the lines, as shown in the following image.

Descriptions of the fields for unique symbology for lines follow.

Using Field

Description. Is a numeric field in the request whose values will determine the line thickness to use.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. Must be a numeric field in the request.

Color

Description. Is a line color. The default is red.

Type of field. Color picker.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can select a single color.

Minimum

Description. Is the minimum thickness to be used

Type of field. Text box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. The user can enter a value from 1 to 99. The default value is 1.

Maximum

Description. Is the maximum thickness to be used

Type of field. Text box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. The user can enter a value from 1 to 99. The default value is 10.

Example: Symbolizing Lines Using Thickness

This example uses the GENDER field to thicken the lines and green to color the lines, as shown in the following image.

The WebFOCUS request that provides the values is citibike_tripdata_line1.fex, described in Configuring a Geometry Line Data Layer. Run the HTML page. The output is shown in the following image.

Configuring Dynamic Line Symbology

When the symbology for lines is Dynamic, you can specify columns in the request that provide labels, colors, sizes, and line styles for the lines, as shown in the following image.

Descriptions of the fields available when you select Dynamic in the Symbol Settings Use drop-down list follow.

Label

Description. This column will be used to provide the text in the Legend.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one column in the layer request.

Color

Description. This column will provide a value for the color of a marker. Any valid color value is accepted for example, RGB, hex, or named. The default is red.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one alphanumeric column in the layer request. .

Size

Description. This column will provide a value for the thickness of a line in pixels. The default is 12 and the maximum is 99.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one numeric column in the layer request.

Style

Description. This column will provide a value for the style of the line. The default style is Solid.

Type of field. Combo box.

Populated by. User.

User limitations. User can only select one alphanumeric column in the layer request.

Valid values in the field have the prefix STYLE_ followed by the combination of line styles you want with no separators. For example, STYLE_LONGDASHDOT for long dashes followed by dots.

Note: You cannot type characters in the combo boxes for dynamic symbols. You can only select field names.

Example: Using Dynamic Symbols for Lines

This example uses dynamic colors, sizes, labels, and styles for lines.

You can create a request using the Report Canvas or by entering request syntax in the Text Editor. For information about creating a WebFOCUS report request using the Report Canvas, see Creating Reports in WebFOCUS App Studio.

The following WebFOCUS procedure dynamically defines fields that supply the colors, styles, and sizes for the map lines. Paste this procedure into the text editor and save it as citibike_tripdata_line2.fex. 

DEFINE FILE esri8203/201709_citibike_tripdata
COLOR/A10 = IF GENDER EQ 0 THEN 'blue'
            ELSE IF GENDER EQ 1 THEN 'red'
					       ELSE 'green';
SIZE/I2 =  IF GENDER EQ 0 THEN 2
           ELSE IF GENDER EQ 1 THEN 4
					      ELSE 6;
STYLE/A20=DECODE GENDER(0 'STYLE_DOT' 1 'STYLE_SHORTDASHDOT' 2 'STYLE_LONGDASH' ELSE 'STYLE_SOLID');

END
TABLE FILE esri8203/201709_citibike_tripdata
PRINT  BIKE_PATH_ID
BY TRIPDURATION
BY GENDER
BY START_STATION_NAME AS 'start station name'
BY END_STATION_NAME AS 'end station name'
BY CONNECTION_LINE_A
BY COLOR
BY SIZE
BY STYLE
WHERE END_STATION_LATITUDE NE 0;
WHERE END_STATION_LONGITUDE NE 0;
WHERE START_STATION_NAME EQ 'Newport Pkwy'
ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT XML
END

Add this request to the HTML page using the Requests & Data Sources panel. Then configure the ESRI Object Settings panel to use this request for the Customer layer. Configure the symbol settings by selecting the appropriate fields from the request, as shown in the following image.

The output is shown in the following image.