Natural features can be mapped to enhance the visual appearance of the app and to help give the driver visual clues of their location. Natural Feature is the parent category and the subcategories are- Canal, Dam, Farm, Forest / Grove, Island, River / Stream, Sea / Lake / Pond, and Swamp / Marsh
Client rendering
An important consideration when mapping natural features as area places is how the objects will render in the app. When adding any area place such as Forest / Grove, Farm, or Island in WME it could potentially cover up the native water layer which is undesirable. If an area place is added that will cover the native water layer in the app then the appropriate water feature will also need to be mapped in WME.
The live map and the app have different native layers and different object layer ordering so it is imperative to check the app not the live map to see what is currently mapped versus what should be added. Native layers that are visible in the live map may not be visible in the app.
Object colors
Area places add shading to the map, Natural Features have three shades
- Blue for water bodies- Canal, Dam, River/Stream, Sea/Lake/Pond
- Green- Forest / Grove, Farm
- White- Island
- Natural feature(parent) ????
Layer order
In the app the layers added in WME are ordered from top(always visible) to bottom(covered by other layers)
- Water
- Island
- Forest / Grove, and Farm
- Native app layer
Where to map
Dam
Dam area places are shaded blue in the app so it may be necessary to use a different primary category that will shade the dam area place dark grey.
Farm
Farm should be mapped as a point place. If it is mapped as an area place the same considerations as Forest / Grove will apply
Forest / Grove
Use area place to map any forested area.
Island
Use area place to map any island or land that either
- Isn’t on the native land layer or
- Is on the native land layer but
- Would otherwise be covered by another area place (park, forest, or otherwise) or
- Is so significant that the name should be shown in the app.
Canal, River / Stream, Sea / Lake / Pond, Swamp / Marsh
Use area place to map the appropriate water feature that either
- Isn’t on the native water layer or
- Is on the native water layer but
- Would otherwise be covered by another area place (park, forest, large campus, or otherwise) or
- Is so significant that the name should be shown in the app.
This section for temporary reference for the table in Places. This section will be removed.
| Parent | Category | Type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Feature | Canal | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Dam | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Farm | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Forest / Grove | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Island | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | River / Stream | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Sea / Lake / Pond | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |
| Natural Feature | Swamp / Marsh | Info here | Natural Feature detailed guidance |