Organizing representation rules with styles

This topic applies to ArcGIS for Desktop Standard and ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced only.

You can organize and share representation rules by saving them in styles. All the symbol layers, geometric effects, and property values of the rule will be saved, but any explicit field mapping will not. You can save rules from a representation into a style and load them from a style into a representation through either the Layer Properties dialog box in ArcMap or the Feature Class Representation Properties dialog box in ArcCatalog. You can modify representation rules and create new rules directly from the Style Manager dialog box.

Learn more about organizing style contents

All representation rules reside in the Representation Rules folder in a style, regardless of their geometry type. This means that you can apply any type of rule to any geometry type features, but you must ensure that the rule is consistent with the geometry of the features when you apply rules. A mismatch between geometry types will produce logic errors, indicated by a warning symbol .

For example, you might have a representation rule that symbolizes lake polygons with a fill and a complex outline. You want to use this outline to symbolize linear stream features in a different map. You save the polygon representation rule (containing fill and stroke symbol layers) into a style. Loading this rule into the streams layer triggers a geometry logic warning on the fill symbol layer indicating that there is no polygon geometry for the fill symbol layer to draw. Removing the fill symbol layer from the rule in the streams feature class representation repairs the logic and leaves the complex stroke symbol layer to symbolize the line geometry of the streams.

Learn about geometry logic errors and how to repair them

Using styles to organize representation rules

You can create new representation rules directly in a style using the Style Manager dialog box. You will be prompted to choose whether you want to create a point, line, or polygon rule. This choice sets the default geometry for the representation rule, that is, the geometry the rule is expected to symbolize. This choice also determines the type of symbol layer the new rule will initially be populated with and the style of the graphic you will see on the Style Manager dialog box.

If you modify the rule by adding symbol layers or geometric effects, you could generate geometry logic errors on some symbol layers. This means there is a mismatch between the geometry that the rule is expected to symbolize based on your initial choice and the output geometry dynamically created by the combination of symbol layers and geometric effects in the rule. Geometry logic problems are not a concern unless they appear when you apply the rule to a specific geometry type within a feature class representation.

The default category of the style refers to the geometry type that this rule symbolizes. You can accept the default category to help you organize your representation rules by geometry type, or you can change it to something that reflects the categorization of your data—by map type, for example. You can sort style items by category on the Style Manager dialog box using the details view .

Caution:

The system styles included with the software are read-only, indicated by a gray folder icon in the Style Manager dialog box. They are installed at <install drive>:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Desktop10.1\Styles. You can copy symbols and other style elements from them into writable styles to use as a starting point. Populated, writable styles have yellow folder icons; white folder icons indicate empty style folders.

How to save a representation rule from a representation in a style

1. Click the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog box and ensure that the feature class representation is active.
2. Click the representation rule that you want to save.
3. Click the Rule Options button and click Save Rule.
4. On the Save Rule to Style dialog box, rename the rule if necessary and type a new Category value if desired. The representation rule is saved in the Representation Rules folder of your personal style.

How to create a new representation rule in a style

1. Click Customize > Style Manager to open the Style Manager dialog box.
2. Expand a writable style, click the Styles button to open a style, or create a new style to contain the new representation rule.
3. Click the Representation Rules folder.
4. Right-click in the right pane and click New, then click Point Representation Rule, Line Representation Rule, or Polygon Representation Rule.
5. Modify the properties of the representation rule as necessary and click OK.
6. Rename the representation rule as desired.

How to modify a representation rule in a style

1. Click Customize > Style Manager to open the Style Manager dialog box.
2. Navigate to and expand the style containing the representation rule.
3. Click the Representation Rules folder.
4. Right-click a representation rule in the right pane and click Properties.
5. Modify the properties of the representation rule as necessary and click OK.

Importing symbols to make representation rules

Marker, line, and polygon symbols can be imported directly from a style and converted to a representation rule in a feature class representation. This is a quick way to create a representation rule from an existing symbol without applying the symbol to any data.

How to load a representation rule from a style into a representation

1. Click the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog box and ensure that the feature class representation is active.
2. Click the Rule Options button and click Load Rule.
3. Choose a rule from the Representation Rules Selector dialog box, or click the Style References button, if necessary, to reference a new style first.
4. Click OK to add the rule to the current representation.

How to convert a symbol in a style to a representation rule

1. Click the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog box and ensure that the feature class representation is active.
2. Click the Rule Options button and click Import Symbol.
3. Choose a symbol from the Symbol Selector dialog box and click OK. The symbol is converted to a new representation rule that is added to the feature class representation.

Saving representation markers in styles

Representation marker symbols can be stored in styles independent of a representation rule. They reside in the Representation Marker folder of a style.

Learn how to create a new representation marker in a style

How to save representation markers in a style

1. Click the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog box and ensure that the feature class representation is active.
2. Click the representation rule containing the representation marker that you want to save.
3. Expand a marker symbol layer by clicking its tab and click the image of the representation marker within the layer to open the Representation Marker Selector dialog box.
4. Click Save to save the representation marker in the Representation Marker folder in your personal style.

Working with representation rules directly from a feature class

You can also manage representation rules directly from the feature class they belong to by opening the properties of a feature class, clicking the Representation tab, then opening the properties of a listed representation in ArcCatalog or in the Catalog window in ArcMap.

Caution:

Representation rules cannot be modified without acquiring a schema lock. If the list of representation rules and their properties is unavailable, ensure that you are not in an edit session and that the geodatabase is not open in ArcCatalog or another ArcMap session.