Plot Zone Coloured Symbols

A very effective presentation method, particularly for geochemical data, is to plot zone coloured symbols on a map. The COLSYMB GX enables you to create fixed-size colour symbols or symbols that are sized in proportion to data (Z) values.

To generate the coloured symbols, the database must have X and Y channels.

Use the Map Tools > Symbols > Zone Coloured menu option (COLSYMB GX) to place coloured symbols on your map. Symbols can be fixed in size, or sized in proportion to data values. You have the option to specify sizing and colour symbol plotting parameters.

The option is also available with the Grav/Mag Interpretation extension under the menu Euler 3D > Plot Solution Symbols.

Zone Coloured dialog options

Data channel

Select the channel name used for the colour zone.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.CHANNEL

Mask channel

Select a mask channel from the dropdown list. If the use of the mask channel is enabled, and set to this channel, only those data values whose corresponding mask channel value is not a dummy will be plotted or exported. Channels must have their CLASS attribute set to MASK to appear as selections in the drop-down list. If the mask channel does not exist, it will be created with its CLASS attribute set to MASK.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.ZONE

Colour table

Select the colour scheme for rendering the coloured symbols. If you mouse over the Colour table, a tooltip will display the name of the colour table. To modify the selection, click on the colour entry and then navigate through the scheme categories.

If the colour scheme is a Zone file or an Index Transform File, the colour breaks will be placed at the values specified in the file, otherwise the Normal distribution method is applied to determine the colour breaks.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.ZONE

Symbol

Select the symbol. It should be noted that many symbols consist entirely of "edge", so varying the fill colour alone may have no effect.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.SYMBOL

Sizing preference (Fixed or Proportioned)

Specify the sizing preference (fixed = 1; proportioned = 0).

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.SIZEPREF

Size of fixed symbols (mm)

Specify the size of fixed symbols in mm.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.SIZE

Proportioned symbol base Z value

Specify the base Z value to subtract from proportioned symbols.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.BASE

Proportioned scaling (units/mm)

Specify the proportioned symbol scaling in data units per mm.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.SCALE

Fill colour option?

For symbols that can be filled (circles for example), the fill colour can be fixed or variable according to the data zoning. If you choose "Fixed fill colour", set the fill colour to be the value specified under "Fixed fill colour".

It should be noted that many symbols consist entirely of "edge", so varying the fill colour alone may have no effect.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.FIXFILL (0:No, 1:Yes, default "0")

Fixed fill colour

The colour of the symbol fill if the fill colour is not varied in accordance with the data values. By default, no fill colour is used (i.e. it will be transparent).

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.FILLCOLOUR (Default "N" – none)

Edge colour option?

Symbol edge colours may be fixed or variable according to the data zoning. If you choose "Fixed edge colour", set the edge colour to be the value specified under "Fixed fill colour".

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.FIXEDGE (0:No, 1:Yes, default "1")

Fixed edge colour

The colour of the symbol edge if the edge colour is not varied in accordance with the data values.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.EDGECOLOUR (Default "K" – black)

Edge font weight

Select the symbol edge font weight.

Script Parameter: COLSYMB.WEIGHT

Application Notes

Symbols will be sized in proportion to their Z values if the Sizing preference parameter is set to 0 (proportioned symbols).

  • The Proportioned symbol base Z value and Proportioned scaling parameter will only be used if the Sizing preference option is Proportioned.

  • The Proportioned scaling value indicates how many Z data units are represented by a 1 mm wide symbol. For example, if you specify that the scale is 10000, then a symbol which has a Z value of 20000 will be plotted 2 mm wide.

If Sizing preference parameter is set to 1 (Fixed option), the symbol sizes are fixed according to the Size of Fixed symbols parameter.

Symbols have fill and edge colours. Colours can be based on a variety of colour files, including zone (*.ZON), aggregate (*.AGG), table (*.TBL) or image transform (*.ITR) files. These colours may relate to the Z data and zone file (variable colour), or they may be a specific unchanging colour. The fill and edge colours are independent, so they can be set to different values.

For batch processing, choose Fixed fill colour and one of the Fixed edge colour values from the list below:

Value

Colour

K

black

N

none

R

red

G

green

B

blue

C

cyan

M

magenta

Y

yellow

K127

grey

K63

light grey

R127

light red

G127

light green

B127

light blue

C127

light cyan

M127

light magenta

Y127

light yellow

K0

white

Plotted data is masked to the current data view’s clip region. Data outside the clip region is still written to the map, but is not visible. To see this data, uncheck the "Masked to view" box in the Map Manager tool.

If you are plotting symbols to a data view that is not oriented in 3D, the current X, Y channels must be set in the database.
If you are plotting symbols to a 3D oriented view, the current X, Y and Z channels must be set in the database. Symbols plotted to a 3D oriented view are projected to the section plane irrespective of the section thickness.