Discussion: fence map symbol: on which side should the dash be

mappers: i got a question for you. When drawing a fence around a pool, on which side should the 45 degree slanted dash be? chose your pick here.

The side that makes it the easiest to read.

Agreed, the side that makes it easier to read.
But generally when a fence is enclosing an area a competitor can't or won't (likely) be going through I put the dash on the inside. Why have the dash cover something the competitor might run through when you don't need to?

Why have the dash cover something the competitor might run through when you don't need to?

^ This. If they're not going to go in there, then readability is much less of a concern. The boundary is the important bit.

When I started orienteering, the fence symbol was almost drawn as a perspective or isometric drawing of a fence (full disclosure: this was not a very good orienteering map):



But now, fences are divorced from that realistic depiction and instead are just an abstract symbol:

Yes well I generally put it on the inside anyway but in other cases it depends on readability.

For the specific question - a fence around a pool - the tags probably should be inside and it doesn't matter whether they are on the long or short sides of the pool. However, it depends on the size of the pool relative to map scale. For a small pool on a 1:15000 map the tags might be better on the outside. For a sprint map, both the fence and the pool border should be impassable, so is there room to draw a 0.18 line around the pool AND a 0.4 line with tags around that, with some space in between, and especially sufficient space for the tags, a further 0.75? If not I'd suggest draw the pool with a single thick 0.4 line border without fence tags.

If there is no water in the pool, you really should put a control in it and knock the fence down.

No matter which side you choose to put the tags you should still 'place' the tags so they don't hit other black objects or obscure any detail. Like all symbols with tags or dashes you can (and should) manipulate the placement with the dash point tool. In cedarcreek's second example there are several places where the fence tags should be better positioned to avoid buildings, vegetation boundaries, etc.

As usual good legibility is not just about having the right size symbols, or generalisations (like tags inside or outside), it is about intelligent drawing, finesse and attention to detail.

Inside. And please use corner points wisely if you're drawing a rectangular fence in OCAD!

@robplow: I did notice that section of map could use some clean-up. That area is usually covered with out-of-bounds striping, so we rarely see it.

Cedar, most symbols are divorced from "reality" even on maps used by the wider community. Do tracks have gaps every few metres, heh heh.

I never pictured the fence tags as being representative of the posts. If anything, I pictured them as representing barbed wire.