d.vect.thematic - GRASS GIS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: d.vect.thematic: Displays a thematic vector map in the active graphics frame.
Keywords: display, cartography, choropleth map, legend

## 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)
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)

Accessed: Monday Jul 13 00:50:44 2026

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© 2003-2023 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 7.8.8 Reference Manual