Thanks for that insight Tarquin I have intuitively followed the principles you set out, for the most part, but not entirely, and I would not have thought that setting a symbol-set would override symbol-show -hide statements. I had written a few words about this some years ago here https://therion.speleo.sk/wiki/bds?s[]=order#order_of_layout_functions_called but I see that it is not quite best practice. I will rewrite it soon. I think I have always got away with less than perfect layout statement ordering, because I tend to have layouts that are tightly constrained to particular topics. ie scales, statistics, northarrows or whatever. Anyway, symbol-set, symbol-assign, symbol redefinitions, then specific symbol-hide or -show with layout file copys somewhere in the middle seems like a sensible rule of thumb. Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Therion <therion-bounces@speleo.sk> On Behalf Of Tarquin Wilton-Jones via Therion Sent: Wednesday, 1 July 2020 08:40 To: therion@speleo.sk Cc: Tarquin Wilton-Jones <tarquin.wilton-jones@ntlworld.com> Subject: Re: [Therion] symbol-hide doesn't work Your problem is the order of your statements: layout local symbol-hide group centerline symbol-set UIS These directives are processed in order, so if the second one overrides the symbol hiding, it will win. "symbol-set UIS" includes centreline symbols defined as a line. It is defined second, so it overrides the line before it. You need to swap the lines around: layout local symbol-set UIS #overall symbol set symbol-hide group centerline #override specifics In the same way, your .thconfig file's "layout local" says "copy LayoutScalebar1". I guess that is defined in: F:\Omri\Therion\Layout\StdFiles\LayoutStandards.thc You did not share that file, so I cannot be certain if it also could cause problems. You copy that layout *after* you set the symbol-hide. If LayoutScalebar1 overrides the symbol hiding, it will win. This is risky: layout local symbol-hide group centerline ... copy LayoutScalebar1 This is better: layout local copy LayoutScalebar1 symbol-hide group centerline This is probably not causing problems in your particular case, but this is why I always do my "copy" statements first, then the local layout settings afterwards, so I never bump into this kind of hidden problem. Hope this helps. Tarquin _______________________________________________ Therion mailing list Therion@speleo.sk https://mailman.speleo.sk/listinfo/therion