d.vect.thematic(1)

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

KEYWORDS
display, cartography, choropleth map, legend

SYNOPSIS
d.vect.thematic
d.vect.thematic --help
d.vect.thematic [-lnes] map=name [layer=string] column=name [breaks=string[,string,...]] [algorithm=string] [nclasses=integer] colors=string[,string,...] [where=sql_query] [boundary_width=integer] [boundary_color=name] [icon=string] [size=float] [icon_line=string] [icon_area=string] [legend_title=string] [legendfile=name] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

  Flags:

-l
    Create legend information and send to stdout

-n
    Do not draw map, only output the legend information

-e
    [DEPRECATED] When printing legend info, include extended statistical info from classification algorithm

-s
    Do not show this layer in vector legend

--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:

map=name [required]
    Name of vector map
    Or data source for direct OGR access

layer=string
    Layer number or name
    Layer number. If -1, all layers are displayed.
    Default: 1

column=name [required]
    Name of attribute column to be classified

breaks=string[,string,...]
    Class breaks, without minimum and maximum

algorithm=string
    Algorithm to use for classification
    Options: int, std, qua, equ, dis
    int: simple intervals
    std: standard deviations
    qua: quantiles
    equ: equiprobable (normal distribution)
    dis: discontinuities

nclasses=integer
    Number of classes to define

colors=string[,string,...] [required]
    Colors (one per class)

where=sql_query
    WHERE conditions of SQL statement without ’where’ keyword
    Example: income < 1000 and population >= 10000

boundary_width=integer
    Boundary width
    Default: 1

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

icon=string
    Point and centroid symbol
    Options: basic/arrow, basic/arrow1, basic/arrow2, basic/arrow3, basic/box, basic/circle, basic/cross1, basic/cross2, basic/cross3, basic/diamond, basic/hexagon, basic/marker, basic/octagon, basic/pin, basic/pin_dot, basic/point, basic/pushpin, basic/star, basic/triangle, basic/x, demo/muchomurka, demo/smrk, extra/4pt_star, extra/adcp, extra/airport, extra/alpha_flag, extra/bridge, extra/dim_arrow, extra/dive_flag, extra/fiducial, extra/fish, extra/half-box, extra/half-circle, extra/offbox_ne, extra/offbox_nw, extra/offbox_se, extra/offbox_sw, extra/pentagon, extra/ping, extra/ring, extra/simple_zia, extra/target, geology/circle_cross, geology/half-arrow_left, geology/half-arrow_right, geology/strike_box, geology/strike_circle, geology/strike_cleavage, geology/strike_half-bowtie, geology/strike_line, geology/strike_parallel, geology/strike_triangle, legend/area, legend/area_curved, legend/line, legend/line_crooked, n_arrows/basic_compass, n_arrows/fancy_compass, n_arrows/n_arrow1a, n_arrows/n_arrow1b, n_arrows/n_arrow2, n_arrows/n_arrow3, n_arrows/n_arrow4, n_arrows/n_arrow5, n_arrows/n_arrow6, n_arrows/n_arrow7a, n_arrows/n_arrow7b, n_arrows/n_arrow8a, n_arrows/n_arrow8b, n_arrows/n_arrow9
    Default: basic/x

size=float
    Symbol size
    Default: 5

icon_line=string
    Legend symbol for lines
    Options: basic/arrow, basic/arrow1, basic/arrow2, basic/arrow3, basic/box, basic/circle, basic/cross1, basic/cross2, basic/cross3, basic/diamond, basic/hexagon, basic/marker, basic/octagon, basic/pin, basic/pin_dot, basic/point, basic/pushpin, basic/star, basic/triangle, basic/x, demo/muchomurka, demo/smrk, extra/4pt_star, extra/adcp, extra/airport, extra/alpha_flag, extra/bridge, extra/dim_arrow, extra/dive_flag, extra/fiducial, extra/fish, extra/half-box, extra/half-circle, extra/offbox_ne, extra/offbox_nw, extra/offbox_se, extra/offbox_sw, extra/pentagon, extra/ping, extra/ring, extra/simple_zia, extra/target, geology/circle_cross, geology/half-arrow_left, geology/half-arrow_right, geology/strike_box, geology/strike_circle, geology/strike_cleavage, geology/strike_half-bowtie, geology/strike_line, geology/strike_parallel, geology/strike_triangle, legend/area, legend/area_curved, legend/line, legend/line_crooked, n_arrows/basic_compass, n_arrows/fancy_compass, n_arrows/n_arrow1a, n_arrows/n_arrow1b, n_arrows/n_arrow2, n_arrows/n_arrow3, n_arrows/n_arrow4, n_arrows/n_arrow5, n_arrows/n_arrow6, n_arrows/n_arrow7a, n_arrows/n_arrow7b, n_arrows/n_arrow8a, n_arrows/n_arrow8b, n_arrows/n_arrow9
    Default: legend/line

icon_area=string
    Legend symbol for areas
    Options: basic/arrow, basic/arrow1, basic/arrow2, basic/arrow3, basic/box, basic/circle, basic/cross1, basic/cross2, basic/cross3, basic/diamond, basic/hexagon, basic/marker, basic/octagon, basic/pin, basic/pin_dot, basic/point, basic/pushpin, basic/star, basic/triangle, basic/x, demo/muchomurka, demo/smrk, extra/4pt_star, extra/adcp, extra/airport, extra/alpha_flag, extra/bridge, extra/dim_arrow, extra/dive_flag, extra/fiducial, extra/fish, extra/half-box, extra/half-circle, extra/offbox_ne, extra/offbox_nw, extra/offbox_se, extra/offbox_sw, extra/pentagon, extra/ping, extra/ring, extra/simple_zia, extra/target, geology/circle_cross, geology/half-arrow_left, geology/half-arrow_right, geology/strike_box, geology/strike_circle, geology/strike_cleavage, geology/strike_half-bowtie, geology/strike_line, geology/strike_parallel, geology/strike_triangle, legend/area, legend/area_curved, legend/line, legend/line_crooked, n_arrows/basic_compass, n_arrows/fancy_compass, n_arrows/n_arrow1a, n_arrows/n_arrow1b, n_arrows/n_arrow2, n_arrows/n_arrow3, n_arrows/n_arrow4, n_arrows/n_arrow5, n_arrows/n_arrow6, n_arrows/n_arrow7a, n_arrows/n_arrow7b, n_arrows/n_arrow8a, n_arrows/n_arrow8b, n_arrows/n_arrow9
    Default: legend/area

legend_title=string
    Thematic map title

legendfile=name
    [DEPRECATED] Output legend file

DESCRIPTION
d.vect.thematic draws thematic choropleth vector maps based on an attribute column or an expression involving several columns. It takes a list of class breaks (excluding the minimum and maximum values) and a list of colors to apply to the classes (has to be the number of class breaks + 1).

Instead of a list of class breaks, the user can also chose a classification algorithm and a number of classes (nbclasses). See the v.class for more information on these different algorithms.

NOTES
The -l flag instructs the module to print legend information in vector legend format as described in d.legend.vect to standard output for further use in graphical software. When combined with the verbose flag, the legend information will be extended with some additional statistical information. If the -n flag is set, the module will only print the legend information without drawing the map.

Option legendfile, is deprecated, instead use the GRASS_LEGEND_FILE environmental variable (see d.legend.vect) to save legend into a file. Flag -e is deprecated, instead use verbose flag.

EXAMPLES

  Thematic map with classes

d.vect.thematic -l map=communes3 column=pop \
  breaks=111393.250000,222785.500000,334177.750000 \
  colors="255:0:0,0:255:0,0:0:255,0,0,0"

  Thematic map with calculated class breaks
The following example uses a calculated attribute (density = pop/area) and the standard deviation algorithm to calculate class breaks for 5 classes:

d.vect.thematic -l map=communes2 column=pop/area algorithm=std \
  nbclasses=5 colors="0:0:255,50:100:255,255:100:50,255:0:0,156:0:0"

  Thematic map with legend
Example for the North Carolina sample dataset, colorizing basin polygons by average elevation and displaying school capacity:

# create watersheds from elevation map
g.region raster=elevation
r.watershed elevation=elevation threshold=10000 basin=basins_10k
# convert raster to vector
r.to.vect input=basins_10k output=basins_10k type=area column=basin_num
# upload raster statistics to each polygon in vector map
v.rast.stats map=basins_10k raster=elevation column_prefix=elev
# open a graphical display
d.mon wx0
# draw thematic polygons and specify legend title
d.vect.thematic map=basins_10k column=elev_average algorithm=int \
  nclasses=5 colors=0:195:176,39:255:0,251:253:0,242:127:11,193:126:60 \
  legend_title="Average elevation (m)"
# draw thematic points and specify legend title
d.vect.thematic map=schools_wake@PERMANENT column=CORECAPACI algorithm=std \
  nclasses=3 colors=149:203:255,45:143:240,0:81:161 icon=basic/circle size=15 \
  legend_title="School capacity"
# and finally draw legend
d.legend.vect -b at=2,80 font=Sans symbol_size=25

Thematic map of average elevation and school capacity

SEE ALSO
v.class, d.legend.vect, d.vect, d.graph, v.univar

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

AUTHOR
Moritz Lennert

SOURCE CODE

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

Latest change: Friday Apr 17 01:04:26 2026 in commit: 32a143358df26b2e518b03c7e0d79541e8d1e5b1

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