Line decorations

There are two different types of decorated lines. Lines decorated with text (quoted lines) and lines decorated with symbols. This second category is still subdivided in two algorithms. They are all specified by a keyword (decorated) and a named tuple.

decorated=(dist=..., symbol=..., pen=..., quoted=true, etc)

Front lines

• dist=xx or distance=xx
  Distance gap between symbols and symbol size. If xx is a two elements array or tuple the first element is gap and second the size. However, size may be ommited (defaulting to 30% of the gap) and in this case xx may be a scalar or a string.

• number=xx
  Instead of the above, use this option to set the number of symbols along the front instead, but in this case xx must be a two elements array or tuple with the number and size.

• left=true
  Plot symbols on the left side of the front

• right=true
  Plot symbols on the right side of the front

• side=left|right
  Alternative to the above left or right keywords.

• len=xx or length=xx
  Length of the vector head. xx may be numeric, a string with the length and the units attached (as in len="2c") or a tuple with length and units as in len=(2,:centimeters)

• pen=pen
  Use an alternate pen. The pen value may contain any of valid ways of specifying pens.

• noline=true
  Make the main front line invisible.

• symbol= – Specify which symbol to plot:

  • symbol=:box

  • symbol=:circle

  • symbol=:fault

  • symbol=:triangle

  • symbol=:slip – Left-lateral or right-lateral strike-slip arrows.

  • symbol=:arcuate – Draws arcuate arrow heads

• offset=xx – Offset the first symbol from the beginning of the front by that amount [0].

Decorated lines

To select this type the dec2=true keyword/value must be present in the decorated args. The required setting controls the placement of symbols along the quoted lines. Choose among the controlling algorithms.

Placement methods

• dist=xx or distance=xx
  Give distances between symbols on the plot in your preferred measurement unit. xx may be a scalar or a string. Use strings when appending the units c (cm), i (inch), or p (points).

• distmap=xx
  Like above but specify distances in map units and append the unit; choose among e (m), k (km), n (nautical mile), and d (arc degree), m (arc minute), or s (arc second).

• locations="fname" or locations=array
  Read the text file "file.txt" and place symbols at locations in the file that matches locations along the decorated lines. Optionally, passa a Mx2 array (or GMTdataset) with the symbols location. Symbols will only be placed if the coordinates match the line coordinates to within a distance of slop (append desired unit or we use PROJLENGTHUNIT). The default slop is zero, meaning only exact coordinate matches will do.

• line=xx
  Give the coordinates of the end points for one or more straight line segments. Symbols will be placed where these lines intersect the decorated lines. xx format is a Mx4 array with the coordinates of the line's end points. The format of each line specification is [startx starty stopx stopy]. These can be replaced by either a 2-character key that uses the justification format employed in text to indicate a point on the frame or center of the map, given as [LCR][BMT] or their explicit versions (for example line=(:TopLeft,:BottomRight)). In addition, you can use min, max to mean the global minimum and maximum locations in the grid (i.e. line=(:min,:max)).

• Line=xx
  Like line But will interpret the point pairs as defining great circles.

• n_labels=xx or :n_symbols=xx
  Specifies the number of equidistant labels for quoted lines [1].

• N_labels=xx or :N_symbols=xx
  Same as above but starts labeling exactly at the start of the line [Default centers them along the line]. Optionally, append /min_dist[c|i|p] to enforce that a minimum distance separation between successive labels is enforced. In this case xx must obviously be a string.

Symbol formatting

• marker=symb or symbol=symb
  Selects the decorating symbol symb. See the Symbols for the list of symbols available. Custom symbols may be set with (for example, but unit can be drop) symbol=(custom="arrow", size=0.3, unit=:c)

• size=xx or markersize or ms or symbolsize
  Use any of these to set the symbol size. Sizes can be scalars, strings or tuples if a unit is used.

• angle=xx
  For symbols at a fixed angle.

• debug=true
  Turns on debug which will draw helper points and lines to illustrate the workings of the decorated line setup.

• fill=color
  Sets the symbol fill. The color is a Setting color element.

• pen=pen
  Draws the outline of symbols; optionally specify pen for outline [Default is width = 0.25p, color = black, style = solid]. The pen value may contain any of valid ways of specifying pens.

• nudge=xx
  Nudges the placement of symbols by the specified amount. xx may be a scalar, a 2 elements array (to separate x and y nudges) or a string. Must use a string if units are used.

• n_data=xx
  Specifies how many (x,y) points will be used to estimate symbol angles [Default is 10].

Quoted lines

To select this type the quoted=true keyword/value must be present in the decorated args. Lines with annotations such as contours. The required setting controls the placement of labels along the quoted lines. Choose among the controlling algorithms.

Placement methods

• dist=xx or distance=xx
  Give distances between symbols on the plot in your preferred measurement unit. xx may be a scalar or a string. Use strings when appending the units c (cm), i (inch), or p (points).

• distmap=xx
  Similar to above but specify distances in map units and append the unit; choose among e (m), f (foot), k (km), M (mile), n (nautical mile) or u (US survey foot), and d (arc degree), m (arc minute), or s (arc second).

• locations="fname" or locations=array
  Read the text file "file.txt" and place symbols at locations in the file that matches locations along the decorated lines. Optionally, passa a Mx2 array (or GMTdataset) with the symbols location. Symbols will only be placed if the coordinates match the line coordinates to within a distance of slop (append desired unit or we use PROJLENGTHUNIT). The default slop is zero, meaning only exact coordinate matches will do.

• line=xx
  Give the coordinates of the end points for one or more straight line segments. Symbols will be placed where these lines intersect the quoted lines. xx format is a Mx4 array with the coordinates of the line's end points. The format of each line specification is [startx starty stopx stopy]. These can be replaced by a 2-character key that uses the justification format employed in text to indicate a point on the frame or center of the map, given as [LCR][BMT].

• Line=xx
  Like line But will interpret the point pairs as defining great circles.

• n_labels=xx or :n_symbols=xx
  Specifies the number of equidistant labels for quoted lines [1].

• N_labels=xx or :N_symbols=xx
  Same as above but starts labeling exactly at the start of the line [Default centers them along the line]. Optionally, append /min_dist[c|i|p] to enforce that a minimum distance separation between successive labels is enforced. In this case xx must obviously be a string.

Label formatting

• angle=xx
  For symbols at a fixed angle.

• clearance=xx
  Sets the clearance between label and optional text box. xx may be a scalar, a 2 elements array (to separate x and y clearances) or a string. Must use a string if units are used. Use % to indicate a percentage of the label font size [15%].

• color=color
  Selects opaque text boxes [Default is transparent]; optionally specify the color [Default is PS_PAGE_COLOR]. The color is a Setting color element.

• const_label="xx"
  Sets the constant label text.

• curved=true
  Specifies curved labels following the path [Default is straight labels].

• debug=true
  Turns on debug which will draw helper points and lines to illustrate the workings of the decorated line setup.

• delay=true
  Delay the plotting of the text. This is used to build a clip path based on the text, then lay down other overlays while that clip path is in effect, then turning of clipping with clip -Cs which finally plots the original text.

• font=xx
  Sets the desired font [Default FONTANNOTPRIMARY with its size changed to 9p]. xx is a Setting fonts element.

• justify=xx
  Sets label justification [Default is MC]. xx is a two char justification code (see Justify).

• label=xx
  Sets the label text according to the specified option. Where xx may be a symbol or a tuple:

  • label=:header – Take the label from the current segment header

  • label=:input – Use text after the 2nd column in the fixed label location file as the label. Requires the fixed label location setting.

  • label=(:plot_dist,"unit") – Take the Cartesian plot distances along the line as the label. Use any of c|i|p as the unit.

  • label=(:map_dist,"unit") – Calculate actual map distances. Use any of d|e|f|k|n|M|n|s as the unit.

• min_rad=xx
  Do not place labels where the line’s radius of curvature is less than min_rad [Default is 0].

• nudge=xx
  Nudges the placement of symbols by the specified amount. xx may be a scalar, a 2 elements array (to separate x and y nudges) or a string. Must use a string if units are used.

• n_data=xx
  Specifies how many (x,y) points will be used to estimate symbol angles [Default is 10].

• pen=pen
  Draws the outline of text boxes; optionally specify pen for outline [Default is width = 0.25p, color = black, style = solid]. The pen value may contain any of valid ways of specifying pens.

• prefix=xx
  Prepends prefix (xx is a string) to all line labels. If prefix starts with a leading hyphen (-) then there will be no space between label value and the prefix.

• rounded=true
  Selects rounded rectangular text box [Default is rectangular].

• suffices="first,last"
  Append the suffices first and last to the corresponding labels. Used to annotate the start and end of a line [Default just adds a prime to the second label].

• unit=xx
  Appends unit (xx is a string) to all line labels. If unit starts with a leading hyphen (-) then there will be no space between label value and the unit. [Default is no unit].