Leaflet.VectorGrid

Display gridded vector data (sliced GeoJSON, TopoJSON or protobuf vector tiles) in Leaflet 1.0.0

Why

Because neither Leaflet.MapboxVectorTile nor Hoverboard will work on Leaflet 1.

Demo

With sliced GeoJSON: http://ivansanchez.github.io/Leaflet.VectorGrid/dist/demo/demo-geojson.html

With sliced TopoJSON: http://ivansanchez.github.io/Leaflet.VectorGrid/dist/demo/demo-topojson.html (sorry for the antimeridian mess, topojson-to-geojson seems to not handle it properly)

With protobuf VectorTiles: http://ivansanchez.github.io/Leaflet.VectorGrid/dist/demo/demo-vectortiles.html

Using

Install through npm with npm install leaflet.vectorgrid.

This will make available some browser-ready files, which include the bundled dependencies:

• geojson-vt (Under ISC license)
• pbf (Under BSD license)
• topojson (Under BSD license)
• vector-tile (Under BSD license)

Use the file dist/Leaflet.VectorGrid.js if you are adding these dependencies yourself, or dist/Leaflet.VectorGrid.bundled.js for minimal fuss.

Docs

This plugin exposes two new classes:

L.VectorGrid.Slicer

Slices some GeoJSON data into tiles, via geojson-vt.

Instantiate through the factory method:

var layer = L.vectorGrid.slicer(geojson, options);

Any options to geojson-vt can be passed in options.

Styling-wise, this will create an internal vector tile layer named sliced. This can be overridden with the vectorTileLayerName option.

The slicer also accepts TopoJSON transparently:

var layer = L.vectorGrid.slicer(topojson, options);

The TopoJSON format implicitly groups features into "objects". These will be transformed into vector tile layer names when styling (the vectorTileLayerName option is ignored when using TopoJSON).

L.VectorGrid.Protobuf

Reads vector tiles in Protobuf (.pbf) format from the network.

Instantiate through the factory method:

var layer = L.vectorGrid.protobuf(url, options);

url is a URL template for .pbf vector tiles, e.g.:

var url = 'https://{s}.tiles.mapbox.com/v4/mapbox.mapbox-streets-v6/{z}/{x}/{y}.vector.pbf';
var layer = L.vectorGrid.protobuf(url, options);

Styling

Vector tiles have a concept of "layer" different from the Leaflet concept of "layer".

In Leaflet, a "layer" is something that can be atomically added or removed from the map. In vector tiles, a "layer" is a named set of features (points, lines or polygons) which share a common theme.

A vector tile layer¹ can have several layers². In the mapbox-streets-v6 vector tiles layer¹ above, there are named layers² like admin, water or roads.

• ¹ In leaflet
• ² Groups of themed features

Styling is done via per-layer² sets of L.Path options in the vectorTileLayerStyles layer¹ option:

var vectorTileOptions = {
	vectorTileLayerStyles: {

		water: {
			weight: 0,
			fillColor: '#9bc2c4',
			fillOpacity: 1,
			fill: true
		},

		admin: function(properties, zoom) {
			var level = properties.admin_level;
			var weight = 1;
			if (level == 2) {weight = 4;}
			return {
				weight: weight,
				color: '#cf52d3',
				dashArray: '2, 6',
				fillOpacity: 0
			}
		},

		road: []
	}
};

At this time, only polylines and polygons can be styled. There is no support (yet) for symbolizing points.


var pbfLayer = L.vectorGrid.protobuf(url, vectorTileOptions).addTo(map);

A layer² style can be either:

• A set of L.Path options
• An array of sets of L.Path options
• A function that returns a set of L.Path options
• A function that returns an array of sets of L.Path options

Layers² with no style specified will use the default L.Path options.

SVG vs <canvas>

Leaflet.VectorGrid is able to render vector tiles with both SVG and <canvas>, in the same way that vanilla Leaflet can use SVG and <canvas> to draw lines and polygons.

To switch between the two, use the rendererFactory option for any L.VectorGrid layer, e.g.:

var sliced = L.vectorGrid.slicer(geojson, {
	rendererFactory: L.svg.tile,
	attribution: 'Something',
	vectorTileLayerStyles: { ... }
});

var pbf = L.vectorGrid.protobuf(url, {
	rendererFactory: L.canvas.tile,
	attribution: 'Something',
	vectorTileLayerStyles: { ... }
});

Internally, Leaflet.VectorGrid uses two classes named L.SVG.Tile and L.Canvas.Tile, with factory methods L.svg.tile and L.canvas.tile - a L.VectorGrid needs to be passed one of those factory methods.

Dependencies

L.VectorGrid.Slicer requires geojson-vt: the global variable geojsonvt must exist. If topojson data is used, then the topojson global variable must also exist.

L.VectorGrid.Protobuf requires vector-tile and pbf: the global variables VectorTile and Pbf must exist.

Developing

Run npm install, then run the aux/browserify-dependencies.sh script. The dependencies do not provide browser-ready packages, see for example mapbox/geojson-vt#52.

TODO

• Sub-panes for the tile renderers (to set the "z-index" of layers/features)
• More <g>roups in SVG
• Offscreen <canvas>es in Canvas
• getBounds() support for the slicer (inherit/extrapolate from geojson data)
• Symbolize points somehow

Legalese

"THE BEER-WARE LICENSE": [email protected] wrote this file. As long as you retain this notice you can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return.