Skip to content

SLD REST Service

The SLD Service is a GeoServer REST service that can be used to create SLD styles on published GeoServer layers doing a classification on the layer data, following user provided directives.

The purpose of the service is to allow clients to dynamically publish data and create simple styles on it.

All the services are published under the common prefix /rest/sldservice/{layer}, where layer is the layer to classify/query.

Query Vector Data Attributes

/attributes[.<format>]

Method Action Status code Formats Default Format
GET Gets the list of attributes for the given layer (of vector type) 200 HTML, XML, JSON HTML

The service can be used to get the attributes list for the given vector layer. This can be used by a client as a prerequisite for the classify service, to get all the attributes usable for classification and let the user choose one.

Examples

Get attributes for the states layer, in XML format

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/attributes.xml

<Attributes layer="states">
  <Attribute>
    <name>P_FEMALE</name>
    <type>Double</type>
  </Attribute>
  <Attribute>
    <name>HOUSHOLD</name>
    <type>Double</type>
  </Attribute>
  <Attribute>
    <name>SERVICE</name>
    <type>Double</type>
  </Attribute>
  ...
</Attributes>

Get attributes for the states layer, in JSON format

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/attributes.json

{  
   "Attributes":{  
      "@layer":"states",
      "Attribute":[  
         {  
            "name":"P_FEMALE",
            "type":"Double"
         },
         {  
            "name":"HOUSHOLD",
            "type":"Double"
         },
         {  
            "name":"SERVICE",
            "type":"Double"
         },
         ...
      ]
   }
}

Classify Raster and Vector Data

/classify[.<format>]

Method Action Status code Formats Default Format
GET Create a set of SLD Rules for the given layer 200 HTML, XML, JSON HTML

The service can be used to create a set of SLD rules for the given vector layer, specifying the attribute used for classification, the classification type (equalInterval, uniqueInterval, quantile, jenks, equalArea, standardDeviation) and one of the predefined color ranges (red, blue, gray, jet, random, custom), together with some other optional parameters.

The same can be applied on a raster layer too, in order to classify its contents. Data from the first band is used by default, but a different one can be selected.

Using the CUSTOM ColorMap, startColor and endColor (and optionally midColor) have to be specified.

The parameters usable to customize the SLD are:

Parameter Description Values Default Value
intervals Number of intervals (rules) for the SLD integer numeric value 2
attribute (mandatory) Classification attribute For vector layers, one of the layer attribute names, for raster layers, a band number (starting from one, like in the raster symbolizer) No default for vectors, "1" for rasters
method Classification method equalInterval, uniqueInterval, quantile, jenks, equalArea, standardDeviation (intervals above and below the mean of one standard deviation, available for vectors only) equalInterval
open open or closed ranges true, false false
reverse normal or inverted ranges true, false false
normalize normalize (cast) attribute to double type (needed by some stores to handle integer types correctly) true, false false
ramp color ranges to use red, blue, gray, jet, random, custom red
startColor starting color for the custom ramp
endColor ending color for the custom ramp
midColor central color for the custom ramp
colors list of comma delimited colors for the custom ramp (use this instead of startColor, endColor and midColor to specify colors in more detail)
strokeColor color of the stroke, for points and polygons BLACK
strokeWeight weight of the stroke, for points and polygons (use a negative value to not include stroke in style) 1
pointSize size of points 15
fullSLD create a full valid SLD document, instead of the Rules fragment only true or false false
cache append caching headers to the responses expire time in seconds, use 0 to disable cache 600 (10 minutes)
viewparams allows use of parametric views view parameters in the usual format (:;...;:)
customClasses allows specifying a set of custom classes (client driven style); no classes calculation will happen (method, intervals, etc. are ignored) classes in the following format: ,,;...;,,)
bbox allows to run the classification on a specific bounding box. Recommended when the overall dataset is too big, and the classification can be performed on a smaller dataset, or to enhance the visualization of a particular subset of data same syntax as WMS/WFS, expected axis order is east/north unless the spatial reference system is explicitly provided, minx,miny,max,maxy[,srsName]
stddevs limits the data the classifier is working on to a range of "stddevs" standard deviations around the mean value. a positive floating-point number (e.g., '1', '2.5', '3').
env a list of environment variables that the underlying layer may be using to select features/rasters to be classified (e.g., by using the filter in vector and mosaic layer definitions) a semicolon separate list of name to value assignments, e.g. name1:value1;name2:value2;name3:value3;...
continuous used only for raster layers, if set to true will generate a raster palette that interpolates linearly between classified values true false
percentages allows to obtain percentages of values in each class. For raster layers they will be included in the label of the ColorMapEntry, while for vector layer they will be placed in the rule title; in both cases they will be placed at the end of the text between parentheses. true false
percentagesScale number of digits of percentages integer numeric value 1
intervalsForUnique Max number of intervals (rules or ColorMapEntry) that a uniqueIntervalClassification can produce. If the number of classes produced by the classification is greater than the number specified by this parameter, the service will return an error message. integer numeric value -1

More on unique intervals classification

The intervalsForUnique parameter allows the user to control the number of classes generated by the classification, that is important when dealing with large dataset. In this case the check on the classes' number will be made once the unique interval classification has been performed. Additionally it is possible to define a system variable named org.geoserver.sldService.maxUniqueRange to define the maximum number of values that can be collected by the classification (default value is 1024). This control is performed before the unique interval classification is performed on the data. If the number of values is found to be greater than the system variable value, the service will return an error message.

Examples

A default (equalInterval) classification on the states layer LAND_KM attribute using a red based color range.

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/classify.xml?attribute=LAND_KM&ramp=red

<Rules>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 159.1 AND &lt;= 344189.1</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>LAND_KM</PropertyName>
          <Literal>159.1</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>LAND_KM</PropertyName>
          <Literal>344189.1</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#680000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 344189.1 AND &lt;= 688219.2</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThan>
          <PropertyName>LAND_KM</PropertyName>
          <Literal>344189.1</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThan>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>LAND_KM</PropertyName>
          <Literal>688219.2</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#B20000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
</Rules>

A uniqueInterval classification on the states layer SUB_REGION attribute using a red based color range.

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/classify.xml?attribute=SUB_REGION&ramp=red&method=uniqueInterval

<Rules>
  <Rule>
    <Title>E N Cen</Title>
    <Filter>
      <PropertyIsEqualTo>
        <PropertyName>SUB_REGION</PropertyName>
        <Literal>E N Cen</Literal>
      </PropertyIsEqualTo>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#330000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title>E S Cen</Title>
    <Filter>
      <PropertyIsEqualTo>
        <PropertyName>SUB_REGION</PropertyName>
        <Literal>E S Cen</Literal>
      </PropertyIsEqualTo>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#490000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  ...
</Rules>

A uniqueInterval classification on the states layer SUB_REGION attribute using a red based color range and 3 intervals.

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/classify.xml?attribute=SUB_REGION&ramp=red&method=uniqueInterval&intervals=3

<string>Intervals: 9</string>

A quantile classification on the states layer PERSONS attribute with a custom color ramp and 3 closed intervals.

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/classify.xml?attribute=PERSONS&ramp=CUSTOM&method=quantile&intervals=3&startColor=0xFF0000&endColor=0x0000FF

<Rules>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 453588.0 AND &lt;= 2477574.0</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>453588.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualTo>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>2477574.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#FF0000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 2477574.0 AND &lt;= 4866692.0</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThan>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>2477574.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThan>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>4866692.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#AA0055</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 4866692.0 AND &lt;= 2.9760021E7</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThan>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>4866692.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThan>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>2.9760021E7</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#5500AA</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
</Rules>

A quantile classification on the states layer PERSONS attribute with a custom color ramp and 3 open intervals.

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/states/classify.xml?attribute=PERSONS&ramp=CUSTOM&method=quantile&intervals=3&startColor=0xFF0000&endColor=0x0000FF&open=true

<Rules>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &lt;= 2477574.0</Title>
    <Filter>
      <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
        <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
        <Literal>2477574.0</Literal>
      </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#FF0000</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 2477574.0 AND &lt;= 4866692.0</Title>
    <Filter>
      <And>
        <PropertyIsGreaterThan>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>2477574.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsGreaterThan>
        <PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
          <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
          <Literal>4866692.0</Literal>
        </PropertyIsLessThanOrEqualTo>
      </And>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#AA0055</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
  <Rule>
    <Title> &gt; 4866692.0</Title>
    <Filter>
      <PropertyIsGreaterThan>
        <PropertyName>PERSONS</PropertyName>
        <Literal>4866692.0</Literal>
      </PropertyIsGreaterThan>
    </Filter>
    <PolygonSymbolizer>
      <Fill>
        <CssParameter name="fill">#5500AA</CssParameter>
      </Fill>
      <Stroke/>
    </PolygonSymbolizer>
  </Rule>
</Rules>

Classify Raster Data

This resource is deprecated, as the classify endpoint can now also handle raster data

/rasterize[.<format>]

Method Action Status code Formats Default Format
GET Create a ColorMap SLD for the given layer (of coverage type) 200 HTML, XML, JSON, SLD HTML

The service can be used to create a ColorMap SLD for the given coverage, specifying the type of ColorMap (VALUES, INTERVALS, RAMP) and one of the predefined color ranges (RED, BLUE, GRAY, JET, RANDOM, CUSTOM).

Using the CUSTOM ColorMap, startColor and endColor (and optionally midColor) have to be specified.

The parameters usable to customize the ColorMap are:

Parameter Description Values Default Value
min Minimum value for classification double numeric value 0.0
max Maximum value for classification double numeric value 100.0
classes Number of classes for the created map integer numeric value 100
digits Number of fractional digits for class limits (in labels) integer numeric value 5
type ColorMap type INTERVALS, VALUES, RAMP RAMP
ramp ColorMap color ranges RED, BLUE, GRAY, JET, RANDOM, CUSTOM RED
startColor starting color for the CUSTOM ramp
endColor ending color for the CUSTOM ramp
midColor central color for the CUSTOM ramp
cache append caching headers to the responses expire time in seconds, use 0 to disable cache 600 (10 minutes)

Examples

A RED color ramp with 5 classes

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/sfdem/rasterize.sld?min=0&max=100&classes=5&type=RAMP&ramp=RED&digits=1

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sld:StyledLayerDescriptor xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/sld" xmlns:sld="http://www.opengis.net/sld" xmlns:ogc="http://www.opengis.net/ogc" xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" version="1.0.0">
    <sld:NamedLayer>
        <sld:Name>Default Styler</sld:Name>
        <sld:UserStyle>
            <sld:Name>Default Styler</sld:Name>
            <sld:FeatureTypeStyle>
                <sld:Name>name</sld:Name>
                <sld:FeatureTypeName>gray</sld:FeatureTypeName>
                <sld:Rule>
                    <sld:RasterSymbolizer>
                        <sld:ColorMap>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#000000" opacity="0" quantity="-1.0E-9" label="transparent"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#420000" opacity="1.0" quantity="0.0" label="0.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#670000" opacity="1.0" quantity="25.0" label="25.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#8B0000" opacity="1.0" quantity="50.0" label="50.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#B00000" opacity="1.0" quantity="75.0" label="75.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#D40000" opacity="1.0" quantity="100.0" label="100.0"/>
                        </sld:ColorMap>
                    </sld:RasterSymbolizer>
                </sld:Rule>
            </sld:FeatureTypeStyle>
        </sld:UserStyle>
    </sld:NamedLayer>
</sld:StyledLayerDescriptor>

A CUSTOM color ramp with 5 classes, with colors ranging from RED (0xFF0000) to BLUE (0x0000FF).

curl -v -u admin:geoserver -XGET 
  http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/sldservice/sfdem/rasterize.sld?min=0&max=100&classes=5&type=RAMP&ramp=CUSTOM&digits=1&startColor=0xFF0000&endColor=0x0000FF

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sld:StyledLayerDescriptor xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/sld" xmlns:sld="http://www.opengis.net/sld" xmlns:ogc="http://www.opengis.net/ogc" xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" version="1.0.0">
    <sld:NamedLayer>
        <sld:Name>Default Styler</sld:Name>
        <sld:UserStyle>
            <sld:Name>Default Styler</sld:Name>
            <sld:FeatureTypeStyle>
                <sld:Name>name</sld:Name>
                <sld:FeatureTypeName>gray</sld:FeatureTypeName>
                <sld:Rule>
                    <sld:RasterSymbolizer>
                        <sld:ColorMap>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#000000" opacity="0" quantity="-1.0E-9" label="transparent"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#FF0000" opacity="1.0" quantity="0.0" label="0.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#CC0033" opacity="1.0" quantity="25.0" label="25.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#990066" opacity="1.0" quantity="50.0" label="50.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#660099" opacity="1.0" quantity="75.0" label="75.0"/>
                            <sld:ColorMapEntry color="#3300CC" opacity="1.0" quantity="100.0" label="100.0"/>
                        </sld:ColorMap>
                    </sld:RasterSymbolizer>
                </sld:Rule>
            </sld:FeatureTypeStyle>
        </sld:UserStyle>
    </sld:NamedLayer>
</sld:StyledLayerDescriptor>

Capabilities

/capabilities[.<format>]

Method Action Status code Formats Default Format
GET Returns the supported classification's methods for rasters and vectors 200 JSON, XML JSON

The service can be used to retrieve the capabilities of the SldService plugin. At the time of writing the endpoint will simply return a list of supported classification's methods for both raster and vector data. It can be useful i.e. for clients who might be dealing with different GeoServer versions to know which classification methods is available to be used. Follow the service's outputs in json and xml format:

{
"capabilities": {
    "vector": {
        "classifications": [
            "quantile",
            "jenks",
            "equalArea",
            "equalInterval",
            "uniqueInterval",
            "standardDeviation"
        ]
    },
    "raster": {
        "classifications": [
            "quantile",
            "jenks",
            "equalArea",
            "equalInterval",
            "uniqueInterval"
        ]
    }
}
}

<capabilities>
  <vector>
      <classifications>quantile</classifications>
      <classifications>jenks</classifications>
      <classifications>equalArea</classifications>
      <classifications>equalInterval</classifications>
      <classifications>uniqueInterval</classifications>
      <classifications>standardDeviation</classifications>
  </vector>
  <raster>
      <classifications>quantile</classifications>
      <classifications>jenks</classifications>
      <classifications>equalArea</classifications>
      <classifications>equalInterval</classifications>
      <classifications>uniqueInterval</classifications>
  </raster>
</capabilities>