Syntax-based construction theory for symbols in web thematic maps

The construction for thematic map symbol is a very complex and intelligent process. This symbol can be automatically generated and easily shared on the web through the syntactic characteristics of statistical indicators and cartography visualization. This paper expounds the symbol types, inner structure and its design pattern. And a syntactic construction theory based on phoneme (thematic map primitive) — word (single thematic symbol) — sentence (combined symbols or complex symbols) structure model is put forward for automatic construction of thematic map symbol. As a result of this research, symbols can be defined using cartographic primitives which are arranged according to its syntactic principles. Its concept and schema is discussed, and some examples are presented.