Glossary
The words Magic Lane Studio uses, in alphabetical order, each with the page that covers it.
.style file
The file your app loads with a Magic Lane Maps SDK. Download it with Style file for apps; it holds one theme. See Download and use in your app.
Available Layers The upper panel of the Layers screen: map data, your own data sources and In-App Layers, ready to drag into Selected Layers. See The layer list.
Basemap The map data Magic Lane serves, such as roads, water and place names, which every style can draw. It covers the whole world. Listed under DEFAULT in Available Layers.
Component A part of the map as a person names it, such as Water, Roads or Place labels, with the layers that draw it. Components are worked out from the layers; they are not stored in the style. See The Components screen.
Data source Where a layer's features come from: the basemap, or your own data, uploaded or drawn, which is saved to your account. Messages sometimes write "datasource" or "dataset". See Data sources.
Draft A data source that has never been saved: it exists only in this browser tab until you click Save, and its panel reads "Delete draft" instead of Discard. The save state in the top bar also calls the saved style a draft, because it is updated with every change. See Data sources and Saving.
Drawer The panel that opens at the right of the map for Sources, Settings or History.
Easing How a value moves from one zoom stop to the next: linear, or one of 21 easing curves. Chosen under "Between stops". See The Properties column.
Feature One item in a data source: a point, line or area with properties such as a name. See Features and their properties.
Font (style font) The style's own font for its labels: TTF or OTF files for its regular, bold and italic faces, stored in the style and set in Settings › Typography. One font for the whole style; a face it does not have is drawn in the map's built-in font. See The style's font.
Group A named folder of layers in the layer list. Hiding a group hides its layers; otherwise groups do not change the map. See The layer list.
In-App Layers Layers that style what an app draws at run time, such as routes, traffic and markers. See The layer list.
Layer One entry of the style: data from one source, drawn as one type (line, area, symbol, label…), with properties such as colour, width and opacity. The top of the layer list is drawn last. See The Properties column and Layer types reference.
Layer list The style's layers and groups in drawing order, under Selected Layers. See The layer list.
Map key The API key of your portal account. The map draws without one, but place search and route previews need it. Create keys in the portal. See Errors and troubleshooting.
Mark A name you give a point in History, so you can go back to it in one click. See The map, settings and history.
Named colour An entry in the Shared colours list: one colour, with a name such as "label/halo" and the layers that use it. The part before the slash is its family. See Shared colours.
Notice A message card at the bottom right of the map, such as "Style file built". It disappears after a while.
Palette Up to 24 quick colours offered under every colour property. Editing the palette never changes a layer. See Shared colours.
Portal The Magic Lane developer portal, where your account, styles, data and keys are, and where a style is created from a template. Studio uses your portal sign-in. See Create a style.
Private data source A data source whose tiles are served only to API keys from your account. Its layers draw in your own apps and are empty in anyone else's. See Public and private.
Properties column The column between the layer list and the map, where the selected layer is edited. See The Properties column.
Rail The narrow column at the far left that switches between the Layers, Components, Shared colours and Images screens.
Shared colour A colour used by several layers, changed once to change them all. See Shared colours.
Style What Studio edits: the layers, groups, images and colours that make up a map's look. See Studio overview.
Style JSON The style as a JSON file, from Style (JSON) in the Download dialog. Keep it as a copy or upload it to the portal. See Download and use in your app.
Style zoom The zoom the map is at. The map can sit between whole levels, such as 9.85 in the address bar; the chip at the top left of the map rounds it to a whole number. Zoom stops and zoom ranges use whole levels from 0 to 17. See The map, settings and history.
Swatch One colour in the palette. Also the small colour chips on layer rows and in colour fields.
Theme A colour version of the style, such as Day or Night, that you switch to in Studio to compare. A style used in an app has one set of colours, so each theme is downloaded as its own file. See Themes.
Tiling What the server does after you save a data source: it cuts the data into tiles, small pieces the map draws from. A layer can draw your data only once tiling has finished ("✔ Tiled"). See Data sources.
Zoom range The zoom levels, within 0 to 17, at which a layer is drawn. See The Properties column.
Zoom stop A zoom level and a property's value at it. With several stops, the value changes from one to the next as you zoom, shown as a zoom curve. See The Properties column.