TextSymbol | API Reference | ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript

Text symbols are used to define the graphic for displaying labels on a FeatureLayer, CSVLayer, Sublayer, and StreamLayer in a 2D MapView. Text symbols can also be used to define the symbol property of Graphic if the geometry type is Point or Multipoint. With this class, you may alter the color, font, halo, and other properties of the label graphic.

TextSymbol may be used to label Point, Polyline, or Polygon features. The image below depicts a polygon FeatureLayer that uses a TextSymbol to label its features.

text-sample

See also

Example

let textSymbol = {
  type: "text",  // autocasts as new TextSymbol()
  color: "white",
  haloColor: "black",
  haloSize: "1px",
  text: "You are here",
  xoffset: 3,
  yoffset: 3,
  font: {  // autocasts as new Font()
    size: 12,
    family: "Josefin Slab",
    weight: "bold"
  }
};

Constructors

TextSymbol Constructor new TextSymbol(properties)

Parameter

properties Object

optional

See the properties for a list of all the properties that may be passed into the constructor.

Property Overview

Any properties can be set, retrieved or listened to. See the Watch for changes topic.

Show inherited properties

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Type	Summary	Class
Number	The angle of the text.	TextSymbol
Color\|null\|undefined	The background color of the label's bounding box.	TextSymbol
Color\|null\|undefined	The border color of the label's bounding box.	TextSymbol
Number\|null\|undefined	The border size or width of the label's bounding box.	TextSymbol
Color\|null\|undefined	The color of the symbol.	Symbol
String	The name of the class.	Accessor
Font	The Font used to style the text.	TextSymbol
Color\|null\|undefined	The color of the text symbol's halo.	TextSymbol
Number\|null\|undefined	The size in points of the text symbol's halo.	TextSymbol
String	Adjusts the horizontal alignment of the text in multi-lines.	TextSymbol
Boolean	Determines whether to adjust the spacing between characters in the text string.	TextSymbol
Number	The height of the space between each line of text.	TextSymbol
Number	The maximum length in points for each line of text.	TextSymbol
Boolean	Determines whether every character in the text string is rotated.	TextSymbol
String	The text string to display in the view.	TextSymbol
String	For TextSymbol the type is always "text".	TextSymbol
String	Adjusts the vertical alignment of the text.	TextSymbol
Number	The offset on the x-axis in points.	TextSymbol
Number	The offset on the y-axis in points.	TextSymbol

Property Details

angle Property angle Number

The angle of the text. 0 is horizontal and the angle moves clockwise.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported in 3D SceneViews.

Default Value:0

Example

const textSymbol = {
  type: "text", // autocasts as new TextSymbol()
  angle: 90,
  color: "green",
  font: {
    // autocast as new Font()
    family: "Just Another Hand",
    size: 12
  },
  haloColor: "black",
  haloSize: 1,
  horizontalAlignment: "right",
  verticalAlignment: "bottom"
};

backgroundColor Property backgroundColor Color |null |undefinedautocast

The background color of the label's bounding box.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported when labelling a FeatureLayer polyline with a "curved" labelPosition.

See also

Sample: MapImageLayer - label sublayer features

borderLineColor Property borderLineColor Color |null |undefinedautocast

The border color of the label's bounding box.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported when labelling a FeatureLayer polyline with a "curved" labelPosition.

See also

Sample: MapImageLayer - label sublayer features

borderLineSize Property borderLineSize Number |null |undefined

The border size or width of the label's bounding box.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported when labelling a FeatureLayer polyline with a "curved" labelPosition.

See also

Sample: MapImageLayer - label sublayer features

color Inherited Property color Color |null |undefinedautocast Inherited from Symbol

The color of the symbol. This can be autocast with an array of rgb(a) values, named string, hex string or an hsl(a) string, an object with r, g, b, and a properties, or a Color object.

Default Value:"black"

Examples

// CSS color string
symbol.color = "dodgerblue";

// HEX string
symbol.color = "#33cc33";

// array of RGBA values
symbol.color = [51, 204, 51, 0.3];

// object with rgba properties
symbol.color = {
  r: 51,
  g: 51,
  b: 204,
  a: 0.7
};

declaredClass Inherited Property declaredClass Stringreadonly Inherited from Accessor Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.7 Accessor since 4.0, declaredClass added at 4.7.

The name of the class. The declared class name is formatted as esri.folder.className.

font Property font Fontautocast

The Font used to style the text. This property allows the developer to set the font's family, decoration, size, style, and weight properties.

See the Labeling guide page for more information and known limitations.

Known Limitations

The available Font.family property values depend on whether you are working with a 2D MapView or a 3D SceneView.

See also

Labeling Guide

Example

let textSymbol = {
  type: "text",  // autocasts as new TextSymbol()
  text: "Science of Where",
  font: {  // autocasts as new Font()
    family: "Merriweather",
    size: 12,
    style: "italic",
    weight: "bold"
  }
};

haloColor Property haloColor Color |null |undefinedautocast Autocasts from Object|number []|string

The color of the text symbol's halo. To include a halo in the TextSymbol, you must also set the size of the halo in haloSize.

Known Limitations

Sub-pixel halo (i.e. fractional size such as 1.25px) renders inconsistently in various browsers.

Examples

// CSS color string
symbol.haloColor = "dodgerblue";

// HEX string
symbol.haloColor = "#33cc33";

// array of RGBA values
symbol.haloColor = [51, 204, 51, 0.3];

// object with rgba properties
symbol.haloColor = {
  r: 51,
  g: 51,
  b: 204,
  a: 0.7
};

haloSize Property haloSize Number |null |undefinedautocast Autocasts from Number|String

The size in points of the text symbol's halo. This value may be autocast with a string expressing size in points or pixels (e.g. 12px). To include a halo in the TextSymbol, you must also set the color of the halo in haloColor.

Known Limitations

Sub-pixel halo (i.e. fractional size such as 1.25px) renders inconsistently in various browsers.
Halo size should not be 1/4 larger than the text size. For example, if your text size is 12, the halo size should not be larger than 3.

Examples

// haloSize in points
symbol.haloSize = 1;

// haloSize in pixels
symbol.haloSize = "2px";

// haloSize in points
symbol.haloSize = "1pt";

horizontalAlignment Property horizontalAlignment String

Adjusts the horizontal alignment of the text in multi-lines.

Known Limitations

This property only applies when TextSymbol is not used for labeling purposes. The horizontalAlignment for labels is inferred from the labelPlacement value.

Possible Values:"left" |"right" |"center"

Default Value:"center"

kerning Property kerning Boolean

Determines whether to adjust the spacing between characters in the text string.

Default Value:true

lineHeight Property lineHeight Number Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.15 TextSymbol since 4.0, lineHeight added at 4.15.

The height of the space between each line of text. Only applies to multiline text.

This property can be considered as a multiplier of the default value of 1.0 (e.g. a value of 2.0 will be two times the height of the default height). The range of possible values is: 0.1 - 4.0. If a value of 0 is specified, the default value of 1.0 will be used.

Default Value:1.0

Example

const textSymbol = {
  type: "text", // autocasts as new TextSymbol()
  color: "blue",
  haloColor: "white",
  haloSize: 1,
  lineHeight: 1.5
};

lineWidth Property lineWidth Numberautocast Autocasts from Number|String Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.15 TextSymbol since 4.0, lineWidth added at 4.15.

The maximum length in points for each line of text. This value may be autocast with a string expressing size in points or pixels (e.g. 72px).

The default value is 192 points. The range of possible values is: 32px - 512px.

If text extends farther than the lineWidth value, then the line will break at the whitespace before the text that extends past the limit if possible, and a new line will be created.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported in 3D SceneViews.
The default value is subject to change in future releases.

Default Value:192

Example

const textSymbol = {
  type: "text", // autocasts as new TextSymbol()
  color: "blue",
  haloColor: "white",
  haloSize: 1,
  lineWidth: 200
};

rotated Property rotated Boolean

Determines whether every character in the text string is rotated.

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported in 3D SceneViews.

Default Value:false

text Property text String

The text string to display in the view. Long text strings will be split into multiple lines. The length of the line is controlled by the lineWidth property. To manually create a new line, use the \n escape character.

Known Limitations

This property only applies when TextSymbol is used to define the symbol property of a Graphic, and not for labeling purposes.

See also

lineWidth

Examples

symbol.text = "You are here";

symbol.text = "Wish you were \n here";

type Property type Stringreadonly

For TextSymbol the type is always "text".

verticalAlignment Property verticalAlignment String

Adjusts the vertical alignment of the text.

Known Limitations

This property only applies when TextSymbol is not used for labeling purposes. The verticalAlignment for labels is inferred from the labelPlacement value.

Possible Values:"baseline" |"top" |"middle" |"bottom"

Default Value:"baseline"

xoffset Property xoffset Numberautocast Autocasts from Number|String

The offset on the x-axis in points. This value may be autocast with a string expressing size in points or pixels (e.g. 12px).

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported in 3D SceneViews.

Default Value:0

Examples

// xoffset in points
symbol.xoffset = 3;

// xoffset in pixels
symbol.xoffset = "6px";

// xoffset in points
symbol.xoffset = "3pt";

yoffset Property yoffset Numberautocast Autocasts from Number|String

The offset on the y-axis in points. This value may be autocast with a string expressing size in points or pixels (e.g. 12px).

Known Limitations

This property is currently not supported in 3D SceneViews.

Default Value:0

Examples

// yoffset in points
symbol.yoffset = 3;

// yoffset in pixels
symbol.yoffset = "6px";

// yoffset in points
symbol.yoffset = "3pt";

Method Overview

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Return Type	Summary	Class
	Adds one or more handles which are to be tied to the lifecycle of the object.	Accessor
TextSymbol	Creates a deep clone of the symbol.	TextSymbol
*\|null\|undefined	Creates a new instance of this class and initializes it with values from a JSON object generated from an ArcGIS product.	Symbol
Boolean	Returns true if a named group of handles exist.	Accessor
	Removes a group of handles owned by the object.	Accessor
Object	Converts an instance of this class to its ArcGIS portal JSON representation.	Symbol

Method Details

addHandles Inherited Method addHandles(handleOrHandles, groupKey) Inherited from Accessor Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.25 Accessor since 4.0, addHandles added at 4.25.

Adds one or more handles which are to be tied to the lifecycle of the object. The handles will be removed when the object is destroyed.

// Manually manage handles
const handle = reactiveUtils.when(
  () => !view.updating,
  () => {
    wkidSelect.disabled = false;
  },
  { once: true }
);

this.addHandles(handle);

// Destroy the object
this.destroy();

Parameters

handleOrHandles WatchHandle|WatchHandle []

Handles marked for removal once the object is destroyed.

groupKey *

optional

Key identifying the group to which the handles should be added. All the handles in the group can later be removed with Accessor.removeHandles(). If no key is provided the handles are added to a default group.

clone Method clone(){TextSymbol}

Creates a deep clone of the symbol.

Returns

Type	Description
TextSymbol	A deep clone of the object that invoked this method.

Example

// Creates a deep clone of the graphic's symbol
let symLyr = graphic.symbol.clone();

fromJSON Inherited Method fromJSON(json){* |null |undefined}static

Creates a new instance of this class and initializes it with values from a JSON object generated from an ArcGIS product. The object passed into the input json parameter often comes from a response to a query operation in the REST API or a toJSON() method from another ArcGIS product. See the Using fromJSON() topic in the Guide for details and examples of when and how to use this function.

Parameter

json Object

A JSON representation of the instance in the ArcGIS format. See the ArcGIS REST API documentation for examples of the structure of various input JSON objects.

Returns

Type	Description
* \| null \| undefined	Returns a new instance of this class.

hasHandles Inherited Method hasHandles(groupKey){Boolean} Inherited from Accessor Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.25 Accessor since 4.0, hasHandles added at 4.25.

Returns true if a named group of handles exist.

Parameter

groupKey *

optional

A group key.

Returns

Type	Description
Boolean	Returns `true` if a named group of handles exist.

Example

// Remove a named group of handles if they exist.
if (obj.hasHandles("watch-view-updates")) {
  obj.removeHandles("watch-view-updates");
}

removeHandles Inherited Method removeHandles(groupKey) Inherited from Accessor Since: ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript 4.25 Accessor since 4.0, removeHandles added at 4.25.

Removes a group of handles owned by the object.

Parameter

groupKey *

optional

A group key or an array or collection of group keys to remove.

Example

obj.removeHandles(); // removes handles from default group

obj.removeHandles("handle-group");
obj.removeHandles("other-handle-group");

toJSON Inherited Method toJSON(){Object} Inherited from Symbol

Converts an instance of this class to its ArcGIS portal JSON representation. See the Using fromJSON() guide topic for more information.

Returns

Type	Description
Object	The ArcGIS portal JSON representation of an instance of this class.