Labeling text with special characters in ArcMap?

Question

I am trying to display some bird data in ArcMap in the format/notation that it is recorded in the field. The notation is made up of the one/two letter species code followed by a description of the activity underneath (see image below).

I do not want to create symbology because I have 500+ species and six possible activities, so I have decided to use labelling in ArcMap rather than symbology. I am able to present data with a circle and underlined but I am struggling with displaying the data that has a double underline or asterix underneath. Therefore, I was wondering if anybody would be able to offer me any help - how do I include these characters in a label? I am running ArcMap 9.3.

Many thanks

Mark

Answer 1

Creating an asterix underneath is fairly simple. In the labels screen, click "expression", then on that page tick the "Advanced" checkbox. In here you can enter:

Function FindLabel ( [Input_FID] )
  FindLabel = [Input_FID] + vbNewLine + "*"
End Function

(where [Input_FID] is whatever the field is called). This gives the below by adding a return character:

The double underline is trickier and requires a bit of a "hack". From the "Labels" page click -> Symbol -> Properties -> Advanced Text -> Check "Text Background" -> Properties

Make sure "Type" is "Marker Text Background". Click "Symbol" -> Properties. Find a nice horizontal BAR from Type "Character Marker Symbol" or alternately squish a "Simple Marker Symbol" square into a bar. I have something like this:

Then just press "ok" a lot to get back to the layer properties. Tick "underline" and there you have it, two underlines. (I did say it was hacky :-) ). But you can create just about any sort of labelling/symbology you like using this method.