Custom Symbols

Spectrum Spatial supports both font and image based symbols which can be used to style layers. A wide range of image based symbols are available by default called custom symbols. You can also add your own custom symbols to Spectrum. These will be shown in the Spectrum Spatial Manager symbol picker dialog as “Uploaded Symbols”. To use your own custom symbols, you must first make them available to Spectrum Spatial.

The first time you add custom symbols to Spectrum Spatial:

  1. Create a folder called SpatialSymbols outside the Spectrum installation directory (<Spectrum_Directory>).

    The SpatialSymbols folder where you will keep your custom symbols. We recommend creating this folder outside of the <Spectrum_Directory> folder to avoid losing the SpatialSymbols folder when upgrading Spectrum.

  2. Open the classpath.ext file in a text editor and add the file path to the SpatialSymbols folder, which is located at <Spectrum_Directory>/server/modules/spatial.
  3. Save the classpath.ext file.
  4. Restart Spectrum Spatial from the Settings menu in Spectrum Spatial Manager, so that the SpatialSymbols folder is visible to Spectrum Spatial.

When you copy a new symbol image file into the SpatialSymbols folder, it is immediately available for use (there is no need to restart Spectrum). You can create sub-folders under the SpatialSymbols folder to organize symbols. Supported image types are GIF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, and BMP.

You can upload a symbol in Spectrum Spatial Manager and use it for an existing named layer or when creating a named layer. When setting a named layer's display style, choose Define Style Override and then select a symbol for the point style. This opens the Select a symbol dialog. To upload a new symbol, select Uploaded Symbols as the symbol family and then click the Add button. The new symbol is then available for selection and use in layers.

Note: When replacing an existing symbol file, by uploading a new version with the same name, a Spatial Remote component restart is required to clear the symbol cache.

Organizing custom symbols into subfolders

You can store and organize custom symbol image files in subfolders under the SpatialSymbols folder.

As an example, if the SpatialSymbols folder is on the D drive, then the path set in the classpath.ext file is:

D:\SpatialData\SpatialSymbols

Subfolders are added under the SpatialSymbols folder as shown below:

D:\SpatialData\SpatialSymbols\Corporate\Logo.png

D:\SpatialData\SpatialSymbols\Environmental\LampPost.png

D:\SpatialData\SpatialSymbols\Environmental\Hydrant.png

D:\SpatialData\SpatialSymbols\Stores.png

Working with custom symbols

To include the custom symbol in a layer in Spectrum Spatial Manager:

  1. Create a new layer or edit an existing layer.
  2. Select the Define Style Override display style.
  3. Click Select a Symbol from the drop-down list and then click Font Name.
    There might be multiple folders that start with Uploaded Symbols depending on how symbols are organized under the SpatialSymbols folder. All custom symbols save to folders that start with Uploaded Symbols.
    Note: The folder named Uploaded Symbols is the same as the SpatialSymbols folder that you created in the previous section.
  4. Select your custom symbol from Font Name and save your changes.

Your custom symbol now displays in the layer preview.

Note: Subfolders under SpatialSymbols that contain .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .bmp, or .gif files display in the list. All other subfolders under SpatialSymbols do not display in the font and character picker.

Using symbols from MapInfo Pro

The standard sets of symbols deployed with MapInfo Pro are also deployed with Spectrum. However, you can add your own custom symbols to use in MapInfo Pro. When you upload tables or layers (that are part of a style override) from MapInfo Pro to Spectrum Spatial using the Map Upload Utility, those tables and layers could reference custom symbols that are not in Spectrum Spatial.

When you render a map or layer (or render a legend for them) and the symbol they reference is not in Spectrum Spatial, an error displays stating the symbol file could not be found.

To add custom symbols to Spectrum Spatial, you must copy them into the SpatialSymbols folder that you created using the previous steps. Do not place custom symbols in subfolders under SpatialSymbols because the Map Upload Utility does not add subfolders when referencing symbol names in layers.