Toggling Placemarks

Vector Placemarks

When GeoServer generates KML for a vector dataset, it attaches information from the data to each feature that is created. When clicking on a vector feature, a pop-up window is displayed. This is called a placemark. By default this is a simple list which displays attribute data, although this information can be customized using Freemarker templates.

If you would like this information not to be shown when a feature is clicked (either for security reasons, or simply to have a cleaner user interface), it is possible to disable this functionality. To do so, use the kmattr parameter in a KML request to turn off attribution.

The syntax for kmattr is as follows:

format_options=kmattr:[true|false]

Note that kmattr is a "format option", so the syntax is slightly different from the usual key-value pair. For example:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/wms/kml?layers=topp:states&format_options=kmattr:false

Raster Placemarks

Unlike vector features, where the placemark is enabled by default, placemarks are disabled by default with raster images of features. To enable this feature, you can use the kmplacemark format option in your KML request. The syntax is similar to the kmattr format option specified above:

format_options=kmplacemark:[true|false]

For example, using the KML reflector, the syntax would be:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/wms/kml?layers=topp:states&format_options=kmplacemark:true