File - Create - New Labels

The File - Create - New Labels dialog allows us to:

 

 

Although most often labels components in our projects will be created from an existing drawing,  we can also create new, blank labels components if we like.   We can then add labels to that labels component as shown in the Labels topic.

 

To create a new, blank labels component:

 

  1. Choose File - Create - New Labels, or right-click onto a blank location in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

  2. Specify a Name for the new labels component.

  3. The Based on box automatically will be loaded with <new drawing> to indicate a new drawing will be created.

  4. In the Text box, provide the name of the text field to be created in the new drawing's table that will host the text of the label, if some name other than the default field name of 'Text' is desired.

  5. Change the coordinate system if some projection other than the default coordinate system is desired.

  6. Press Create Labels.  A new labels component will appear in the project, along with a new, blank drawing and new table.

 

By default, new labels components are created using the EPSG:3857 Pseudo-Mercator coordinate system, as used by almost all modern web mapping data sources.

 

Adding new labels to a new, blank labels layer:

 

  1. Drag and drop the new labels component into a map that provides some reasonable background context so labels may be created in the desired locations.

  2. Choose a label creation tool, such as Create Points, and click into the map to create the anchor for the label.   The Info pane will pop open.

  3. In the Info pane Style tab, specify the text for the label.  Press Ctrl-Enter or Add Record to create the label.

  4. To change formatting from defaults, open the new labels component and then use Style to specify desired formatting.

  5. To enable individual formatting for each label, in the Style pane for the labels layer, click the New Field button to add a new field for hosting style override info and then check the Use style overrides box.   When style overrides are enabled, in addition to specifying the text for a label as it is being created we can also specify the individual style for that label such as colors, font and font size.

 

Most of the time we would like to create labels for an existing drawing, which automatically appear for objects in the drawing and which automatically take the text for the label from one of the drawing's fields:

 

Creating labels for an existing drawing:

 

  1. Right-click onto the existing drawing in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

  2. In the New Labels dialog provide the Name desired for the new labels component.

  3. The Based on box automatically will be loaded with the name of the existing drawing.

  4. In the Text box, specify the text pattern for the label, entering the names of fields within square [  ] brackets, as in [Name].

  5. Press Create Labels. A new labels component will appear in the project.

  6. Drag and drop the labels component as a layer into the same map as the drawing.

  7. To change formatting from defaults, click on the layers tab in the map and then use Style to specify desired formatting.

 

See the Label Text topic for how to specify the pattern of label text, including use of text drawn from fields or created by expressions.

 

When a label component is created based on an existing drawing it will automatically inherit the projection used by that drawing.   If desired, the New Labels dialog allows us to specify a different coordinate system.

 

When creating a new labels component from a drawing/table that is resident in an external DBMS that supports autogenerated identity fields, the New Labels dialog automatically creates an autogenerated identity field within the table.  See the Schema topic for a discussion of autogenerated identity fields.

 

Positioning:  Labels will be positioned at the location of points, aligned to and slightly offset from lines and approximately in the center of areas.   Label positioning is dynamic: if we zoom into a drawing so that only part of an area is visible, the system will attempt to position the label for that area so it is visible.

 

Creating labels for a drawing based on a query:

 

  1. Right-click onto the existing drawing in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

  2. In the New Labels dialog provide the Name desired for the new labels component.

  3. The Based on box automatically will be loaded with the name of the existing drawing.

  4. In the Text box, specify the text pattern for the label, entering the names of fields within square [  ] brackets, as in [Name].

  5. Press Create Labels. A new labels component will appear in the project.

  6. Labels created from drawings based on queries will appear only when used as a layer in a map that contains at least one other layer.

  7. To update the labels after any changes in source table data, choose View - Refresh.

 

See the Label Text topic for how to specify the pattern of label text, including use of text drawn from fields or created by expressions.

 

If the query text is changed, we must run the query at least once after changing the text, so that any future refreshes of the labels component will use the new query text.

File - Create - New Labels

 

In the main menu choose File - Create - New Labels or right-click an empty spot in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

 

Name

Name for the labels component.  "Labels" by default.  Specify a more informative name as desired.

Based on

<new drawing> by default when launched from File - Create - New Labels, or when right clicking on an empty location in the Project pane and choosing Create - New Labels.  Creates a new drawing and associated table for the labels component,  named by adding "Drawing" and "Table" to whatever is the specified Name for the labels component.    The combo box is also loaded with the names of all drawings in the project should we wish to create the labels component based on an existing drawing.

Text

The name of the text field to be created in the new drawing's table that will host the text of the label, if some name other than the default field name of 'Text' is desired.

<text type>

An option box that appears next to the Text box.  Choose the desired data type of the text field.  As a practical matter there is almost never any reason not to use nvarchar type, the default, as that allows Unicode and variable length labels text..

Coord system

The coordinate system to be utilized within the geometry field for the drawing upon which the labels are based.   The default is whatever default coordinate system has been specified in Tools - Options.

Coordinate system picker button.  Used to specify the coordinate system to be used by the drawing upon which the new labels component will be based.

Create Labels

Create the new labels component, the drawing upon which it is based and the drawing's table.

Edit Query

Launch the Command Window loaded with a query that creates the labels component, drawing and table using the given settings.

Cancel

 Exit the dialog without doing anything.

 

Create - New Labels (From a Drawing)

Right-click a table in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

 

When creating labels from a drawing, we can choose a field name from which text will be taken, or we can write a text pattern for the label.

 

 

By default, the dialog allows quick choice of a field in the Text box, since labels are often based on a single field.

 

 

Choosing (pattern) allows nearly limitless customization of the text pattern used for the label.

 

Name

Name for the labels component. Based on the table name by default.  Specify a different name as desired.

Based on

The drawing upon which the new labels component will be based.   By default, the drawing that was right-clicked.     The combo box is also loaded with the names of all drawings in the project should we wish to create the labels component based on some other drawing.

Text

Choose a field that appears in the query result from which the label text will be taken, or choose (pattern) to allow editing a free form text pattern for the label. Since labels are often based on a single field, the default of picking a field name often allows creating labels with a single click.

 

The dialog tries to load the first field shown by default based on the likelihood the field will be used for a label.  Priority order for picking the default first field shown is:  

 

  • a text field as a first choice,
  • a non-text field that does not have a unique index built on it (to deprioritize fields like MFD_ID or SHAPEID),
  • a non-text field that has a unique index built on it.

 

<text pattern>

Enabled when (pattern) is the choice in the Text box.  Enter the text pattern for the label, entering the names of fields within square [  ] brackets, as in [Name].   Enter text expressions, if desired, within double square [[  ]] brackets.  The example shown will produce a label for each object with the text State: followed by the contents of the [Name] field for that object.  See the Label Text topic.

Edit Text

Press the button to launch an expression builder dialog, similar to the query builder, which makes it easier to build expressions.

Coord system

Reports the coordinate system used by the drawing on which the labels component is based.  This same coordinate system will also be used by the new labels component.

Coordinate system picker.  Not enabled, since the coordinate system is a property of the drawing upon which the labels component is based and is inherited by the labels component.

Create Labels

Create the new labels component using the specified drawing.

Edit Query

Launch the Command Window loaded with a query that creates the labels component based on the specified drawing using the given settings.

Cancel

 Exit the dialog without doing anything.

 

Create - New Labels (From a Drawing based on a Query)

Right-click a query in the Project pane and choose Create - New Labels.

 

 

By default, the dialog allows quick choice of a field in the Text box, since labels are often based on a single field.

 

 

Choosing (pattern) allows nearly limitless customization of the text pattern used for the label.

 

Name

Name for the labels component. Based on the table name by default.  Specify a different name as desired.

Based on

The query-based drawing upon which the new labels component will be based.   By default, the drawing that was right-clicked.     The combo box is also loaded with the names of all drawings in the project should we wish to create the labels component based on some other drawing.

Text

Choose a field that appears in the query result from which the label text will be taken, or choose (pattern) to allow editing a free form text pattern for the label. Since labels are often based on a single field, the default of picking a field name often allows creating labels with a single click. The dialog tries to load the first field shown by default based on the likelihood the field will be used for a label.  Priority order is a text field as first choice, followed by a non-text field that does not have a unique index built on it (to deprioritize fields like MFD_ID or SHAPEID) followed by a non-text field that has a unique index built on it.

<text pattern>

Enabled when (pattern) is the choice in the Text box.  Enter the text pattern for the label, entering the names of fields within square [  ] brackets, as in [Name].   Enter text expressions, if desired, within double square [[  ]] brackets.  The example shown will produce a label for each object with two lines in the label.  The first line will have the text State: followed by the contents of the [Name] field for that object.  The second line will have the text Area: followed by the computed result of an SQL expression for each object that gives the area in square kilometers of the object, followed by the text sqkm   See the Label Text topic.

Edit Text

Press the button to launch an expression builder dialog, similar to the query builder, which makes it easier to build expressions.

Coord system

Reports the coordinate system used by the drawing on which the labels component is based.  This same coordinate system will also be used by the new labels component.

Coordinate system picker.  Not enabled, since the coordinate system is a property of the drawing upon which the labels component is based and is inherited by the labels component.

Create Labels

Create the new labels component using the specified drawing.

Edit Query

Launch the Command Window loaded with a query that creates the labels component based on the specified drawing using the given settings.

Cancel

 Exit the dialog without doing anything.

Videos

5 Minute Tutorial - Labels from Fields and Expressions

 

Since the videos below were created, the Style pane has acquired a label text section that gives the text pattern for creating labels.  However, all information shown in the videos below on how to format labels in terms of colors, symbology, sizes and so on are exactly the same so the videos are still a great help in learning how to format labels.

 

Manifold 9 - Style Pane Quickstart - Points - A fast and easy introduction to the new Style and formatting capabilities for Pionts in Manifold Release 9 and Viewer.  Learn how to rapidly change colors, symbology, sizes and rotations including the use of vector symbols, fonts and even bitmap images. The new system is "always on" and immediately shows changes in the main workspace for rapid, easy choice of exactly the visual effect we want.  This video gets right to the basics used every day.

 

Manifold 9 - Style Pane Quickstart - Lines - Learn how to use the spectacular new style capabilities for lines in Manifold Release 9 and Manifold Viewer to create an endless variety lines quickly and easily.  See how to add arrowheads or other symbols to the ends of lines, how to customize lines with repeating symbols, how to start lines with custom symbols and how to add accessory left and right lines for exactly the right effect.

 

Manifold 9 - Style Pane Quickstart - Areas - New area style capabilities in Release 9 and Viewer make it easy to rapidly create spectacular visuals that get the story across with clarity and compelling effect.  Learn how to use point and click controls to fill areas, control borders, draw "inner area" effects and "outer area" effects for a seeming infinite range of options, all available with a rapid click of the mouse.  Use bitmap images for area effects too!

 

Manifold 9 - Style Pane Quickstart - Labels - Recent builds of Release 9 have added extensive new style facilities for labels, making it easy to choose a wide variety of effects, including sidecar icons, box frames, drop shadows and many others. This video shows how fast and easy point-and-click dialogs make it easy to create exactly the label look you want.  Works for the free Manifold Viewer, too!

 

Manifold 9 - Bitmap Styles - A quick, first look at very extensive additions to Style, enabling use of bitmaps for styles, inner and outer area hatches, left and right line style additions and many other new features.

See Also

Labels

 

Label Text

 

Tables

 

Drawings

 

Layer Opacity

 

Style

 

Style: Drawings

 

Style: Labels

 

Info Pane

 

Layers Pane

 

Example: Add Labels to a Map - How to manually add labels to a map.

 

Example: Format the Size of City Points by Population - A common GIS task is to format the size of points in a drawing based on some value.  For example, the size of points that represent cities might be formatted based on the value of the city's population, with cities that have larger populations being marked by larger point icons.  This is an example of thematic formatting and is easy to do using the Style pane.

 

Example: Formatting Tricks - The visualization capabilities of Manifold using Style can be exploited to provide endless visual effects.   This topic provides some examples of how to use Style in unexpected ways to create a range of more elaborate effects.

 

Example: Style Overrides - Working with style overrides to individually style areas, to use or not use style overrides, to find all records using style overrides and to clear style overrides.