A symbol file for INT1 and CARIS portrayals contains:
• Point features: Symbols, such as picnic tables, marshes, telephone poles, survey monuments, or manholes.
• Fonts: Characters sets. CARIS has a number of predefined fonts. User-defined fonts extend the capability of the system by allowing foreign and special purpose character sets.
• Composite symbols: Symbols can be combined to make a composite symbol.
Symbols are described in the master file but the symbol coordinates are stored in the symbol file.
The symbol file is in two formats:
• An ASCII source version, with extension .dat (ih_symbol.dat).
• A compiled binary version, with extension .bin (ih_symbol.bin).
An example of the text symbol file is shown below.
You can access the .dat file, but the .bin file is used by CARIS modules.
To edit a symbol or add a new one, use the Symbol Editor application. The Symbol Editor is a separate application that is available for download.