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Generate Display pages automatically from with symbols or map markers positioned at the coordinates of your GIS or CAD files — GeoJSON, Shapefile, KML/KMZ, DXF, DWGfeatures.

Reference → Solution → Designer → Settings and Tools → Import Tags → GIS/CAD Display

Version 10.1.5+

Supported

Input Formats

Accepts every format supported by the two companion tag importers:

GIS: GeoJSON (

Format	Extensions	Default Mode
GeoJSON

.geojson, .json

), Shapefile (

	Map
Esri Shapefile	.shp, .zip

),

	Map
KML / KMZ

(

.kml, .kmz

).

CAD: DXF (.dxf), DWG (.dwg).

See GIS File Tag Importer and AutoCAD File Tag Importer for format-specific details on how features and attributes are extracted.

	Map
AutoCAD DXF	.dxf	Canvas
AutoCAD DWG	.dwg	Canvas

The wizard auto-detects the mode from the extension in Step 2 and keeps the auto-default until you change the Display Mode combo. After an explicit choice, the wizard remembers the choice across Back and Next.

Modes

Canvas mode

Draws a Canvas-type Display page with one symbol per feature. Coordinates are projected to page pixels using a relative bounding box so the symbols fit the page regardless of input units. Best for small to medium datasets (up to a few thousand features), for CAD drawings, and for layouts where absolute geographic accuracy is not required (tank farms, building floor plans, one-line diagrams).

Canvas mode supports per-layer symbol overrides, page width and height, margin, engine choice (Portable, WPF, HTML5), and Group By Layer to produce one page per layer.

Map mode

Draws a single-element Display page containing a full-page TMapsOSM control and generates code-behind that calls AddMarker per feature on display open. Markers are bound to @Tag.<markerName>, so tooltip and runtime data flow through the tag system. Best for GIS input where geographic context matters.

Map mode uses the OpenStreetMap basemap by default. The view zooms to the bounding box of all markers on first open. Each display holds up to 10,000 markers. Larger datasets are truncated to the first 10,000 with the remainder counted as skipped.

Import Process

Open Solution → Import Tags → GIS/CAD Display. The wizard has three steps.

Step 1. File Select

1. Click Browse. The filter accepts .geojson, .json, .shp, .zip, .kml, .kmz, .dxf, .dwg.
2. The wizard runs a metadata scan and shows the feature count, layers, and attributes.

Step 2. Config

1. Pick the Display Mode from the combo at the top. The default is set from the input file type.
2. Set the Display Name Pattern.
3. For Canvas mode: set the default Symbol, any per-layer overrides, Symbol Width, Symbol Height, Page Width, Page Height, Margin, and Engine. Map mode hides these fields.
4. For Map mode: set the Marker Color. Canvas-only fields (Symbol, Symbol Label, Symbol Size, Margin, Engine) are hidden.
5. Set the Tag Name Pattern used to bind each feature to a tag.
6. Set Label Property (Canvas mode only). Default is Tag.
7. Set Group By Layer to produce one display per layer, or clear it for one display that holds every feature.
8. Optionally set Included Layers to whitelist specific layers.

Step 3. Generate

Click Start. The wizard routes to the Canvas pipeline or the Map pipeline based on the mode. Progress shows current display, features consumed, symbols placed (Canvas) or markers placed (Map), and features skipped. Display writes are serialised on the UI thread.

Configuration Reference

Generation Wizard

Step 1 — File Select

Browse for a GIS or CAD file. The wizard auto-detects the format and shows feature count, layer list, and attribute list.

Step 2 — Display Configuration

Step 3 — Generate

Progress bar with counters for displays created and symbols placed. Features without valid coordinates, or features on layers with no symbol assigned, are skipped with a log entry.

How Coordinates Become Positions

For GIS inputs (lat/lon): the wizard computes a bounding box from all imported features, then projects each feature's latitude/longitude onto the canvas so the full extent fits inside the page margins. Latitude is inverted (higher latitude = smaller Y) so north appears up on the display.

Coordinate Handling

Canvas mode

Features are projected to canvas pixels by a relative bounding-box transform. The top-left of the used area is the northwest corner of the bounding box, shifted in by the Margin. Latitude is inverted so higher latitudes sit higher on the page. If every feature shares the same coordinates, the range collapses and the wizard substitutes a minimum of 0.01 so the single symbol lands at the page centre.

Map mode

Markers are added with map.AddMarker(lat, lon, name, color, shape, "@Tag." + name) on the OnDisplayOpening event. Marker data is embedded in the generated code-behind as a compact comma-separated block and parsed at runtime. The view runs ZoomToCoordinates on first open so the initial viewport fits all markers.

Coordinates must be WGS84 latitude and longitude. Non-WGS84 input is placed at the raw numeric location, which produces incorrect positions on the basemap. CAD inputs are not supported in Map mode in 10.1.5.

Tutorial

Produce a Map-mode display from a GeoJSON file and verify it at runtime.

1. Run the GIS File Tag Importer first to create tags for each feature.
2. Choose Solution → Import Tags → GIS/CAD Display.
3. Browse to the same .geojson and click Next.
4. Confirm Display Mode is Map. Set Display Name Pattern to PlantOverview. Set Tag Name Pattern to match what the tag importer produced. Pick a Marker Color. Click Next.
5. Click Start. Wait for the marker counter to match the feature count.
6. Open the new display. The basemap loads, the view zooms to the markers, and each marker tooltip shows the feature name.
7. Run the solution. Set a live value on one of the bound tags. The marker's tooltip updates at runtime.

Edge Cases and Limitations

• Existing display name. If a display with the target name already exists, the wizard loads the existing page and adds elements to it. Pre-existing elements are preserved unless they share the generated Uid. Rename the target or delete the old display if you want a clean page.
• Null-island guard. Features at exactly (0,0) latitude and longitude are skipped by both pipelines.
• Missing symbol (Canvas). Features on a layer with no matching symbol are skipped and logged.
• Zero-area bounding box. When every feature shares the same coordinates, the projection substitutes a minimum range so the single feature lands at the page or map centre.
• Map mode marker cap. Each generated display holds up to 10,000 markers. Inputs above the cap are truncated and counted as skipped. Split the input by layer or by region to work around this.
• Map mode for CAD. DXF and DWG files use abstract X/Y units that are not latitude and longitude, so Map mode is not supported for CAD input in 10.1.5. Use Canvas mode.
• Tags not pre-created. The wizard does not create tags. Run the tag importer first, or set the Tag Name Pattern to match tags you plan to create. Bindings to missing tags resolve only after the tags exist.
• Line and polygon geometry. Lines and polygons are reduced to a centroid. A polyline or polygon render is not available in 10.1.5.
• KPI badges, marker clustering, and viewport-based dynamic loading. Planned for a later release. Not available in 10.1.5.

Related Pages

• GIS File Tag Importer
• AutoCAD File Tag Importer
• CSV files Tag Importer

In this section...

For CAD inputs (raw X/Y): the same bounding-box projection applies. Drawing units are preserved as relative positions.

When all features share the same coordinates (zero-area bounding box), a fallback range ensures the symbol still renders visibly at the canvas centre.

Example — Water Treatment Plant Overview

A KML file with four Folder layers (Intake, Treatment, Chemicals, Output), each containing Placemarks for process equipment. With Group By Layer checked, the wizard produces four Display pages — one per process area.

Suggested configuration

Result: four new display pages in the Displays list, each with symbols positioned by latitude/longitude and bound to the corresponding tag names.

Notes and Limitations

• This wizard does not create tags. Symbols bind to tag names via the Tag Name Pattern, but the tags must exist (or be imported separately using the GIS File Tag Importer or AutoCAD File Tag Importer). At runtime, bindings to non-existent tags show no value — no error at import time.
• Line and polygon geometries are centroid-reduced to a single symbol position.
• Recommended dataset size: Canvas mode works well up to ~5,000 symbols per page. Larger datasets make the display editor sluggish.
• Re-running against an existing display name loads the existing display and adds new symbols. Existing elements are not removed.
• Engine choice is final at generation time.

See Also

• GIS File Tag Importer — create tags from the same files.
• AutoCAD File Tag Importer — create tags from DXF/DWG.

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