[mapserver-dev] A question...

[Stephen Woodbridge]

Daniel Morissette wrote:
> kiran varma wrote:
>> In order to implement SVG functionality currently i am trying to mimic 
>> VECTOR rendering. Can someone explain the flow of control for the 
>> rendering of vector symbol? Preferably from mapfile parsing upto 
>> gd/agg rendering. This will help me understand the route that i have 
>> to take in order to render SVG symbol.
>>
> 
> 1- Parsing:
> 
> When the mapfile/symbolset is parsed, the symbol definitions is stored 
> in a symbolObj
> 
> 2- At rendering time, msDrawMap() is called, which in turn calls 
> msDrawLayer() for each layer
> 
> 3- For each shape read, msDrawShape() is called. This function contains 
> a switch/case statement based on layer type
> 
> The rest of the processing depends on the layer type and renderer. Let's 
> continue with the GD renderer:
> 
> 4a- MS_LAYER_POINT: For a shape in a point layer, msDrawMarkerSymbol() 
> (which in turn calls msDrawMarkerSymbolGD() ) is called to draw the 
> symbol at the right location on the map based on the symbolObj 
> information. The point layer case is different from the two other layer 
> types because it doesn't use the symbol cache, the symbol is drawn 
> directly on top of the output image... I'm not exactly sure why, but 
> there is a TODO comment about this in the code.
> 
> 
> 4b- MS_LAYER_LINE: For a shape in a line layer, msDrawLineSymbol() is 
> called, which in turn calls msDrawLineSymbolGD(). Then 
> searchImageCache() is used to check if the symbol is already in the 
> cache for the current size, color and angle, and if not then 
> createBrush() is used to render the symbol in a and gdImagePtr, we store 
> it in the cache using addImageCache() and finally it is used as a brush 
> to render the line with gdImageLine().
> 
> 4c - MS_LAYER_POLYGON: I leave that one to you as an exercise.
> 
> Hint: stepping through the code in GDB is an excellent way to figure the 
> flow of control of a given operation.
> 
> Daniel

Daniel, Kiran,

Is an annotation layer handled differently with respect to symbols, 
because the symbol is not draw until the labelcache is processed and 
only for those labels that actually get drawn.

-Steve W