Project Layer Display Options

In CivilGEO software, the user can control how each project layer appears on the Map View through dedicated display options. Managing layer appearance is an important part of model review, data quality checking, and map production. Clear, well-organized visualizations help engineers identify modeling issues, communicate results to stakeholders, and produce professional deliverables.

Each project may include a wide variety of layer types, including model element layers (such as HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and stormwater layers), terrain and elevation data layers, GIS layers (shapefiles, raster images, LiDAR), and basemap layers. Each layer type has its own set of display options that the user can adjust independently to meet project requirements.

When a layer is selected in the Map Data Layers panel, a dedicated Display Options ribbon menu appears for that specific layer type, enabling quick and precise customization of its display properties. This article describes the display options available for each supported project layer type.

Follow the steps below to use the Display Options ribbon menu:

1. From the Map Data Layers panel, select the project layer to customize.
   
2. The Display Options ribbon menu will be displayed, as shown below.
   

The following sections describe the display options available for each project layer type.

Stormwater Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Stormwater Layer allows the user to control the visibility and labeling of stormwater model elements on the Map View. The user can show or hide elements such as subbasins, manholes, pipes, outfalls, cross sections, roadway crossings, storage areas, flow paths, and rain gages. The ribbon menu also provides label options for selecting the stormwater element type and label offset, along with label format settings such as font size, font color, border color, and label auto scaling. These options help create a cleaner and more readable stormwater model display. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about stormwater element properties.

HEC-HMS Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the HEC-HMS Layer allows the user to control the visibility and labeling of HEC-HMS model elements on the Map View. The user can show or hide elements such as drainage subbasins, routing junctions, routing reaches, cross sections, storage areas, diversions, sources, sinks, and flow paths. The ribbon menu also provides label options to adjust label size, label offset, and label auto scaling. These options help create a cleaner and more readable HEC-HMS model display. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about HEC-HMS element properties.

HEC-RAS Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the HEC-RAS Layer allows the user to control the visibility and labeling of HEC-RAS model elements and related output display items on the Map View. The user can show or hide hydraulic model elements such as river reaches, cross sections, roadway crossings, inline structures, lateral structures, 2D flow areas, storage areas, SA/2D connections, and pumps. The ribbon menu also includes display options for related output and visualization items, such as profile lines, time series nodes, and structure rendering. In addition, the ribbon menu provides label options to adjust label size, label offset, and label auto scaling. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about HEC-RAS element properties.

Default Drawing Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Drawing Layer allows the user to control how drawing elements appear on the Map View, including points, polylines, and polygons. The user can display or hide drawing points, polylines, and polygons, and define their visual properties such as point size, point symbol, border color, polyline width, polyline style, polyline color, polygon border style, polygon fill color, and transparency. These settings help create clear, visually distinct drawing annotations and markup layers for model review, engineering plan sheets, and presentation-quality maps. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about drawing layer properties.

Base Map Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Base Map Layer allows the user to select the base layer data displayed on the Map View, such as Google Hybrid, Google Street, or other available basemap options. The user can also enable transparency and adjust the transparency value to control how clearly the basemap appears behind model and drawing layers. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about base map properties.

Elevation Grid Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Elevation Grid Layer allows the user to control how elevation grid data are displayed on the Map View. The user can define elevation grid stylization options such as border color, border size, fill color, and transparency. The ribbon menu also provides elevation color fill options, including elevation color fill, elevation range, minimum and maximum elevation values, interval spacing, color scheme, color blending, hillshading, and map legend display options. These settings help improve terrain readability and provide a clearer visualization of elevation changes across the project area. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about elevation grid properties.

Flood Map Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Flood Map Layer allows the user to define how the generated flood map is displayed on the Map View. The user can control options such as map legends, contour interval, transparency, color blending, color scheme, minimum and maximum values, and color ramp intervals. For flood depth maps, these settings can include minimum and maximum depth values, while other flood map types may show different display options, such as water surface elevation or velocity-related settings. The available options will change based on the selected flood map type. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about flood map properties.

Meteorology Map Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Meteorology Map Options layer allows the user to define how the generated meteorology map is displayed on the Map View. The user can control options such as Map Data Layers legend, Map View legend, color blending, transparency, minimum and maximum precipitation or evapotranspiration values, color scheme, and color ramp intervals. The available options will change based on the selected meteorology map type, such as precipitation or evapotranspiration. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about meteorology map properties.

Infiltration Grid Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Infiltration Grid Layer allows the user to define how infiltration grid data are displayed on the Map View. The user can enable infiltration fill, adjust transparency, define border color and border size, and select the fill color for the infiltration grid. The user can also choose whether to display the infiltration grid legend in the Map Data Layers panel and/or on the Map View. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about infiltration grid properties.

Land Cover Grid Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Land Cover Grid Layer allows the user to define how land cover grid data are displayed on the Map View. The user can enable land cover fill, adjust transparency, define border color and border size, and select the fill color for the land cover grid. The user can also choose whether to display the land cover grid legend in the Map Data Layers panel and/or on the Map View. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about land cover data.

Land Use Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Land Use Layer allows the user to control how land use polygon data are displayed on the Map View. The user can enable polygon border stylization, select the border style, define the border color and width, and adjust the layer transparency. These options help make land use areas easier to distinguish and review on the map. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about land use properties.

LandXML Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the LandXML Layer allows the user to define how TIN surface data imported from LandXML files are displayed on the Map View. The user can show or hide TIN points, TIN edges, and TIN borders, and control their display properties, including edge width, edge style, edge color, border width, border style, border color, point color, and transparency. These options help the user review imported survey or design surface data and compare these data with terrain models, cross sections, and other map layers. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about LandXML properties.

LiDAR Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the LiDAR Layer allows the user to control how LiDAR elevation data are displayed on the Map View. The user can define polygon border properties, including border width, border style, border color, and transparency, as well as polygon fill color and fill transparency. The ribbon menu also provides elevation assignment options, allowing the user to assign a fixed elevation, use a height attribute, define an offset elevation, extrude walls, and use map imagery for roofs where applicable. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about LiDAR properties.

Point Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Point Layer allows the user to define how point data are displayed on the Map View. The user can control point size, point symbol, point border color, and point fill color. The ribbon menu also provides elevation display options, allowing the user to enable elevation color fill, define minimum and maximum values, select the color scheme, set color ramp intervals, and choose whether to display the legend in the Map Data Layers panel and/or on the Map View. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about point layer properties.

Raster Image Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Raster Image Layer allows the user to control how raster image data are displayed on the Map View. The user can define the raster image border size and border color, and adjust the image transparency to balance the raster display with other map layers. These options help improve map readability when using high-resolution imagery or other raster-based background data. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about raster image layer properties.

Shapefile Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Shapefile Layer allows the user to define how shapefile data are displayed on the Map View. The user can control polygon border width, border style, border color, and transparency, as well as polygon fill color and fill transparency for shapefiles. The ribbon menu also provides elevation assignment options, allowing the user to assign a fixed elevation, use an elevation attribute, or extrude walls for 3D visualization. These display options give the user flexible control over how GIS data, such as watershed boundaries, floodplain polygons, or survey points, are presented alongside model elements. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about shapefile properties.

Soils Grid Layer

The Display Options ribbon menu for the Soils Grid Layer allows the user to define how the soils grid data are displayed on the Map View. The user can enable soil fill, adjust transparency, define border color and border size, and select the fill color for the soil grid. The user can also choose whether to display the soils grid legend in the Map Data Layers panel and/or on the Map View. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about soil grid data.

Conclusion

The Display Options provide the user with a layer-specific set of controls for customizing how different data layers are presented on the Map View. By selecting a layer in the Map Data Layers panel and using its dedicated Display Options ribbon menu, the user can adjust settings such as visibility, symbology, color schemes, transparency, label display, and legend placement, where applicable.

These controls are useful throughout the modeling workflow. They help the user focus on specific model components during data entry and review, improve the readability of complex multi-layer projects, and produce clean, professional map views for reports and presentations. Because each layer type includes display options tailored to its data and purpose, the user can create clear and effective visualizations when working with multiple layers in the same project.