I'm fine with FACTOR.

Can we drop the STROKE? The variable name is very long and will look ugly if used in command with the -- mechanism. And many may think the symbol had and hart attack 😄

Can we drop the STROKE? The variable name is very long and will look ugly if used in command with the -- mechanism. And many may think the symbol had and hart attack 😄

It surely is long, give you that. @remkos used to be the master of brevity. Anything shorter, Remko?

Can we drop the STROKE? The variable name is very long and will look ugly if used in command with the -- mechanism. And many may think the symbol had and hart attack 😄

It's true that this would be getting long. But MAP_SYMBOL_FACTOR is not very clear, is it? It would suggest some dependent scaling of the whole symbol. If you want to avoid STROKE, it ought probably be MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_FACTOR.
But in that case, I start to feel with @PaulWessel that it should be MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_SCALE.

Look @joa-quim : I just saved 3 characters 😄. It is shorter than many of the others that we have, e.g.: MAP_GRID_CROSS_SIZE_SECONDARY

I prefer MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_SCALE to MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_FACTOR, and I definitely prefer PEN to STROKE and not because it's 3 chars shorter but because the meaning is much more clear (no coronaries involved).

Do we really need the new default MAP_SYMBOL_STROKE_FACTOR? It's easy to change the scale via the -W option so I feel the new default will be rarely used.

@seisman : You can set the pen width with -W, but that would then apply to any symbol size. The thing is that Paul wanted to ensure that if someone did not supply -W, some pen width would be set automatically. For example -Sx30p -Gred should automatically result in -Sx20p -Gred -W3p, assuming a scale factor of 0.15 (15%).

But in any case you are correct: it would be a barely used setting.

I aded WIP until we have a solution. Just so we are on the same page. Unless MAP_SYMBOL_STROKE_FACTOR is set to 0, we do

GMT->current.setting.map_stroke_width * S.size_x * PSL_POINTS_PER_INCH

So the pen thickness does not enter I think, @seisman ? The whole point was to scale the pen to a fraction of symbol size. Adding -W4p makes all symbols fat.

The whole point was to scale the pen to a fraction of symbol size. Adding -W4p makes all symbols fat.

That makes sense to me now.

If you want to avoid STROKE, it ought probably be MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_FACTOR

My first impression about MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_FACTOR is that it is applied to all symbols like circles.

Must say MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_SCALE is not bad: Avoids cardiac arrests and shaves a few letters.

My first impression about MAP_SYMBOL_PEN_FACTOR is that it is applied to all symbols like circles.

Well, I think this obscure default [15%] wont confuse people if they read the documentation about it and why it is there. I have a linear size -> pen thickness scheme but am I convinced there will be some users who thinks the 15% is too big or too small. Those guys can use the setting rather than "it cannot be done". The docs list the four symbols that this default pertains to: x, y, +, -.

I agree: RTFM.