The cartographic purpose of this map is to configure a thematic map reflecting national weather forecasts for a specific day. It requires simultaneously expressing city names, weather conditions, and daily maximum/minimum temperatures through a label thematic map, which cannot be achieved by ordinary label thematic maps.

's "Thematic Map" tab provides matrix label thematic map creation functionality that effectively meets meteorological industry requirements. This approach organizes annotation content in matrix format within label thematic maps. Matrix label thematic maps integrate symbols, images, and text into a label matrix for object annotation.

This map uses a weather forecast matrix label thematic map to display weather conditions of national capitals and provincial capitals on a specific date (August 17, 2009). The dataset used is Capital_P from China400 data source. Required fields and their corresponding label contents are shown in the following table:

Steps

1. In the Layer Manager, select layer Capital_P;
2. From the context menu, choose "Create Thematic Map...". In the dialog window, select the "Matrix Style" template under "Label Thematic Map". The system will automatically create a default 2-column×1-row matrix label thematic map based on Capital_P layer. The new thematic map will be added to the current map window as a top-level layer, with corresponding node added in Layer Manager;
3. Design label matrix rows and columns based on required thematic information and Capital_P dataset fields:

   (1) Select the default generated label matrix and set its dimensions to 1 column×4 rows;

   (2) Click the second row matrix cell, select the drop-down button on its right, choose "Label Matrix" from the menu. The system will generate a nested 2-column×1-row label matrix by default, which meets requirements without modification.

4. Configure content for each matrix cell:

   Set First Row Matrix Cell

   Set Second Row First Column Matrix Cell

   Set Second Row Second Column Matrix Cell

   Set Third Row Matrix Cell

   Set Fourth Row Matrix Cell

5. After completing matrix cell configurations, the weather forecast matrix label thematic map will display as:
6. Right-click Capital_P matrix label thematic map in Layer Manager, select "Output Thematic Map Template" to open "Save As" dialog. Specify save path to store the configured template as *.xml file for reuse.

Notes

The pre-configured thematic map template file (WeatherMatrixLabel.xml) is stored in the installation directory\SampleData\China. Users can directly load this thematic map template to Capital_P layer to achieve the shown thematic map effect.