Research on GIS Map Symbol Library Exchange Format
L. Qingyuan
Chinese Academy of Surveying & Mapping
S. Deguo
Chinese Academy of Surveying & Mapping
要旨
This paper discusses necessity, possibility and technique path of exchanging symbolic library data in different GIS platforms. First, the paper reviews the history of map symbol presentation in GIS, which has evolved from early "function method" to current "symbol library method". Then, the paper analyzes characters of symbol library drawing procedure, which can be classed into three types --- point symbol, line symbol and area symbol, the every type is consisted of these nine simple graph elements --- isolated point, line string, spline curve, circle, ellipse, arch, rectangle, round rectangle and image. These are the theory bases of sharing symbol library in different GIS platform. A draft of XML schema of symbolic library exchange format is given in the paper. The authors have a dream that one day, people can exchange map symbol library data, just like today exchange spatial data in different GIS platforms.