d.legend.vect(1)

NAME
d.legend.vect - Displays a vector legend in the active graphics frame.

KEYWORDS
display, cartography, vector, legend

SYNOPSIS
d.legend.vect
d.legend.vect --help
d.legend.vect [-b] [at=left,top] [columns=integer] [title=string] [symbol_size=integer] [border_color=name] [bgcolor=name] [border_width=integer] [font=string] [fontsize=float] [title_font=string] [title_fontsize=float] [sub_font=string] [sub_fontsize=float] [fontcolor=name] [separator=character] [input=name] [output=name] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

  Flags:

-b
    Display legend background

--overwrite
    Allow output files to overwrite existing files

--help
    Print usage summary

--verbose
    Verbose module output

--quiet
    Quiet module output

--ui
    Force launching GUI dialog

  Parameters:

at=left,top
    Screen position of legend to be drawn (percentage, [0,0] is lower left)
    Options: 0-100
    Default: 10,40

columns=integer
    Number of legend columns
    Default: 1

title=string
    Legend title

symbol_size=integer
    Symbol size
    Default: 20

border_color=name
    Border color
    Either a standard color name, R:G:B triplet, or "none"
    Default: black

bgcolor=name
    Background color
    Either a standard color name, R:G:B triplet, or "none"
    Default: white

border_width=integer
    Background border width
    Default: 2

font=string
    Font name

fontsize=float
    Font size
    Default: 12
    Options: 1-360

title_font=string
    Title font name

title_fontsize=float
    Title font size
    Default: 18
    Options: 1-360

sub_font=string
    Subtitle font name

sub_fontsize=float
    Subtitle font size
    Default: 14
    Options: 1-360

fontcolor=name
    Font color
    Either a standard color name or R:G:B triplet
    Default: black

separator=character
    Field separator for input file
    Special characters: pipe, comma, space, tab, newline
    Default: pipe

input=name
    Input legend file
    Path to legend file

output=name
    Output csv file
    Path to output file or ’-’ for standard output

DESCRIPTION
d.legend.vect draws vector legend of currently displayed vector maps.

Parameter at defines the screen position of upper-left legend corner. Parameter columns defines the number of legend columns. User can specify a title of the legend using parameter title. The font of the title can be changed with title_font, title_fontsize. Flag -b is used to draw background of specified color (bgcolor), border color and border width (border_color and border_width). Parameter symbol_size defines the size of line and area symbols. The size of point symbols is based on currently set symbology of vector maps using d.vect or d.vect.thematic.

Module d.vect.legend supports subtitles (see section Notes). Their font and font size can be set using parameters sub_font and sub_fontsize.

  Changing legend symbols and labels
Symbols for vector areas and lines, and labels for individual vector labels can be changed in the symbology setting of each vector map in d.vect or d.vect.thematic module (in Legend tab). Use its parameters icon_area and icon_line to pick from available symbols. By using parameter legend_label of d.vect module, users can change the default label, which is the map name.

  Modifying the order of legend entries and omitting certain vector maps
from legend Modules d.vect and d.vect.thematic have a flag -s which removes the particular vector or thematic vector from vector legend.

The order of entries is defined by the order in Layer Manager (if used in GRASS GUI). If that’s not desired, one can export the legend file into a text file using parameter output, change the order of entries (see section Notes for format description) and then upload the modified file with parameter input. Parameter output defines path to the file where the internal legend file will be saved to, input defines the input file which the vector legend will be based on (input file must have correct format).

NOTES
Module d.legend.vect draws vector legend based on legend file defined in shell environment variable GRASS_LEGEND_FILE. This file is automatically created and updated whenever d.vect command is used. User can create custom legend file and then use export GRASS_LEGEND_FILE=path/to/file in shell. GRASS GUI and MONITORS create the legend file automatically. By default the legend file is stored in grassdata/project/mapset/.tmp/user directory (in case of d.mon deeper in /monitor_name directory).

Legend file has this format:

label|symbol_name|size|color_type|feature_color|fill_color|line_width|geometry_type|feature_count

Color type can be ’lf’ or ’ps’. Based on color type color columns are interpreted as line color and fill colors (lf), or primary and secondary colors (ps). Module d.vect always uses ’lf’ and d.vect.thematic ’ps’. Here is an example of legend file with subtitles:

Infrastructure||||||||
major roads|legend/line|5|lf|black|200:200:200|2|line|355
bridges|extra/bridge|15|lf|black|black|1|point|10938
Hydrology||||||||
streams|legend/line_crooked|5|lf|30:144:255|200:200:200|3|line|8554
water bodies|legend/area_curved|5|lf|none|30:144:255|1|area|27764

EXAMPLES
Open cairo monitor to render to file:

g.region vector=nc_state
d.mon cairo
d.vect map=nc_state color=26:26:26 fill_color=229:229:229 width=2 legend_label="state boundaries"
d.vect map=urbanarea color=none fill_color=127:127:127 width=1 legend_label="urban areas"
d.vect map=railroads color=red width=1
d.vect map=hospitals color=77:77:77 fill_color=0:187:0 width=1 icon=basic/cross3 size=10
d.legend.vect -b at=2,40 title="Hospitals in North Carolina" symbol_size=26 fontsize=16 title_fontsize=20

SEE ALSO
d.vect, d.vect.thematic, d.legend

Check also Python module from AddOns: d.vect.thematic2

AUTHORS
Adam Laza, during GSoC 2016 Mentors: Anna Petrasova, Vaclav Petras, Martin Landa

SOURCE CODE

Available at: d.legend.vect source code (history)

Accessed: Monday May 11 17:53:53 2026

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