[mapserver-users] truetype fonts vs bitmap fonts - documentation ambiguity

[Mark Volz]

Hello,



I was working on a mapfile and I wanted to add a 'halo' effect to one of my labels.  So I added OUTLINECOLOR to my label.  Nothing happened.  Eventually I was able to add a halo by switching from a bitmap font over to a truetype font.  For that reason I am under the impression that there are several label properties are not available for bitmap fonts.  I couldn't find any documentation that mentions these suspected limitations in http://www.mapserver.org/mapfile/label.html.  The only properties that I found that mention bitmap fonts are TYPE, and SIZE.



I just had a couple thoughts:

*         Should the documentation indicate what properties apply to bitmap fonts vs true type fonts?

*         SIZE for bitmap fonts can be either tiny, small. medium, large, or giant.  On the other hand SIZE for truetype fonts needs to be a double, or attribute.  I was just thinking that if a user switches a label from a bitmap font to a truetype font, then maybe Mapsever could convert between the font size name small, to a double value.  For example SMALL = 8, MEDIUM = 10 etc.

*         Even though bitmap fonts are faster, it seems all the features use truetype fonts.  Has there been any thought about changing the default from bitmap to truetype?



Thank You



Mark Volz, GISP

GIS Specialist




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