Command: markerstyle

Syntax

markerstyle <name> {,<image>}

or

markerstyle <name> = <ident>

Description

Create or redefine a markerstyle identifier.

Parameters

• <name>
  The name of the markerstyle identifier.

• <image>
  The name of an image file providing the marker graphics. If this is omitted the marker will be drawn using vector strokes, either a system marker or from a supplied scalable font (via the -fo switch).

• <ident>
  Copy the attributes of an existing markerstyle identifier into the new markerstyle identifier. All command switches are ignored.

Switches

• -ch=<char>
  The marker index in character form. When used in conjunction with a font (-fo) the ascii value of <char> (e.g. ’A’ is 65) is the index of a character in that font. When no font is specified, this switch is ignored. This switch is ignored for an image marker.

• -col=<color>
  The color component of the markerstyle. If this is omitted, then a default foreground color (usually black) is used at display time. For image markers, this supplies a change of foreground color for monochrome pixels.

• -fil=<color>
  A fill color to be used to fill closed vector loops in the markerstyle. If this is omitted, or if there are no closed vector loops, then no filling is performed. This switch is ignored for an image marker.

• -fo=<font>
  The font where the marker index can be found. This must be a scalable font. If this is omitted, then no font is used and a system marker is drawn. This switch is ignored for an image marker.

• -hot=<x,y>
  Specifies a hot spot for the image marker, which positions it at draw time. If omitted, the hot spot in the image file is used. x and y are 2 numeric values, or a 2-dimensional array, and are in image co-ordinate space with (0,0) at the top left corner of the image. Do not use point (-1,-1) because this is used internally to indicate use of the the hot spot in the image file. This switch is ignored for a vector stroke marker.

• -i=<num>
  The marker index. When used in conjunction with a font (-fo) this is the index of a character in that font. When no font is specified, this is the system marker index. This switch is ignored for an image marker.

• -ms=<markerstyles>
  Create the markerstyle as a composite of other markerstyles, usually vector markerstyles. A maximum of 4 sub-styles is permitted. All other switches are ignored when this switch is present.

• -out=<num>
  Whether the marker is to be drawn in outline. This switch has relevance for all markerstyles except those displaying color images. A non-zero value will draw the marker outlined in one of the following ways:

• 1 - draw the marker in white outlined by the entity color

• 2 - draw the marker in black outlined by the entity color

• 3 - draw the marker in its entity color outlined in white

• 4 - draw the marker in its entity color outlined in black

• 5 - draw the outline in the entity color with a transparent interior

• -su=<text>
  The units in which the height or size of the marker is measured. Possible values can be found here. If omitted, the default for vector markers is M, and for image markers is P.

• -th=<num>
  The thickness of the vector strokes of the markerstyle. If this is omitted, one is used. This switch is ignored for an image marker.

• -trans
  Specifies that the image marker is transparent. This is the default behavior. Use -no_trans to make the image opaque at draw time. This switch is ignored for a vector stroke marker.

Notes

Markerstyle identifiers can have global or application scope, but cannot have local scope. When local markerstyle identifiers are required, string identifiers should be used to reference the markerstyles by name.

Examples

Create a system vector stroke marker.

markerstyle mkstar,-i=7,-col=green

Create a vector stroke marker from a scalable font.

markerstyle lettera, -i=65, -fo=stdfont

Create a copy of another marker.

markerstyle letterb = lettera

Create an image marker.

markerstyle turtle,$MXIMAGES/donatello.xpm, -hot=<15,15>

Create a composite markerstyle.

markerstyle mkcircle,-i=14,-col=brown,-fil=yellow
markerstyle mkstar,-i=7,-col=green
markerstyle cross_circ,-ms=<mkcircle,mkstar>

See Also