topic Re: Labeling graphics in ArcGIS JavaScript Maps SDK Questions

Labeling graphics

TonyMonsour — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:06:43 GMT

I was curious if anyone has found a way to efficiently label/ annotate graphics. I understand i could create another text layer to do so and put that above the original graphic layer but I worry the extra work on the browser of placing the text every map movement and trying to control the text size based on scale or to fit a label in a polygon graphic would be highly resource intensive for the users browser.
Any ideas?

Thanks,
Tony

Re: Labeling graphics

derekswingley1 — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:39:15 GMT

How many graphics does your map have (roughly)? Have you tested this and found that the performance is unacceptable?

Re: Labeling graphics

TonyMonsour — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:52:06 GMT

For search results we create graphic layers dynamically. This allows the user to have various search results open and control them (visibility, filtering, transparency) individually. The results range from 1-1000. We also allow the user to filter the graphics being shown in the graphics layers by attributes, which would add an but more complexity to the issue. I believe this would mean I would have to double the amount of graphics layers (1 for the main layer and 1 for the text) and then manager the filtering/ rendering of both simultaneously.

Short answer is no I have not implemented it yet.

I am planning on giving it a whirl this week but I was looking to see what type of luck people have had with labeling graphics and if they had any tips/ tricks.

Re: Labeling graphics

derekswingley1 — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:02:10 GMT

Thanks. I could see the higher end of your range potentially slowing down in IE 7 and 8. My other concern would be overwhelming the user with information but it sounds like you're addressing this with additional filtering tools.

The concept of labeling graphics has been discussed here occasionally but not so much in the context of performance. I'm curious to hear what you find. Please post here again when you do some more testing.