When using the SymbolSubstitutionIndividualSubordinate or SymbolSubstitutionIndividualDominant substitution types this collection defines which symbols in the symbol collection are substituted and what their substitute values are.

The symbol substitution properties allow the users to swap out symbols/colors of annotation stored in the geodatabase at the layer level. This allows annotation to be re-purposed in maps without duplicating the annotation. The classic case for this behavior is when a user wishes to utilize black text generated for standard parcel maps on top of a map with raster imagery. By substituting the color or symbol collection of the annotation the user is allowed to change the appearance for this one map without a large performance or data management overhead.

One complex aspect of symbol substitution is how overrides are treated when it is enabled. When this feature was originally added some wanted overrides to be respected and others did not, so options were added for this (dominant and subordinate substitution types). When the dominant type is chosen overrides are ignored. When the subordinate type is chosen overrides are applied on top of the new symbols.

Target Platforms: Windows 11, Windows 10

Reference

CIMAnnotationLayer Class
CIMAnnotationLayer Members