Tutorial Polymap

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Tutorial PolyMap ® Shows Maps and Data Ambiente Informática Ltda Tutorial Polymap Contents • i ii • Contents Tutorial Polymap Contents Introductory Information 7 Introduction and Terms You Should Know ........................................................................ 7 Starting PolyMap ................................................................................................................9 Opening a Map… and Understanding it ............................................................. 10 Selecting, Deselecting, and Deleting Layers....................................................... 11 Saving Maps ....................................................................................................... 12 Miscellaneous 13 Using ZIP Code Maps......................................................................................... 13 Miles, Changing to/from..................................................................................... 13 Kilometers, Changing to/from ............................................................................ 13 Showing the ID column ...................................................................................... 14 Selecting a layer to work in ................................................................................ 14 Show information about location with left mouse button ................................... 14 The map toolbar tabs 15 Label ................................................................................................................................. 15 Label map feature ............................................................................................... 15 Show all labels.................................................................................................... 16 Select column for labeling .................................................................................. 16 Label fonts .......................................................................................................... 16 Define label background color............................................................................ 17 Showing and Formatting Labels ......................................................................... 17 Edit.................................................................................................................................... 19 Shading wizard ................................................................................................... 19 Ranges................................................................................................................. 57 Custom Shading.................................................................................................. 58 Creating and Coloring in Ranges:....................................................................... 60 Legend ................................................................................................................ 64 Manual Coloring................................................................................................. 64 Set layer transparent............................................................................................ 66 Change the size and position of the legend......................................................... 66 Custom Points..................................................................................................... 66 Select a layer/active layer ................................................................................... 72 Legends............................................................................................................... 72 Select................................................................................................................................. 73 Show information about Selected Objects.......................................................... 73 Locate an Object in the Map............................................................................... 73 Move the map within its window........................................................................ 75 Select Objects 75 Unselect .............................................................................................................. 77 View.................................................................................................................................. 77 Zooming 77 Display with radius ............................................................................................. 78 Measure Distance................................................................................................ 78 Tutorial Polymap Contents • iii The PolyMap menus 79 File .................................................................................................................................... 79 New..................................................................................................................... 79 Closing................................................................................................................ 79 Open.................................................................................................................... 79 Save, Save as....................................................................................................... 79 Importing ............................................................................................................ 79 Export.................................................................................................................. 87 Page setup ........................................................................................................... 87 Print preview 87 Printer setup ........................................................................................................ 89 Print..................................................................................................................... 89 Send .................................................................................................................... 89 Properties 89 Exit...................................................................................................................... 90 Edit.................................................................................................................................... 90 Cut....................................................................................................................... 90 Copy 90 Paste 90 Delete.................................................................................................................. 91 Insert ................................................................................................................... 91 Add columns ....................................................................................................... 91 Delete columns.................................................................................................... 91 Find ..................................................................................................................... 91 Replace................................................................................................................ 91 Goto .................................................................................................................... 91 Format ............................................................................................................................... 91 Font 91 Alignment ........................................................................................................... 92 Number ............................................................................................................... 92 Border ................................................................................................................. 93 Patterns 93 Protect cells......................................................................................................... 93 Column width...................................................................................................... 94 Row height.......................................................................................................... 94 Hide/Show Columns and Rows .......................................................................... 94 View.................................................................................................................................. 95 Zoom................................................................................................................... 95 Select the toolbars............................................................................................... 95 Map ................................................................................................................................... 95 Layers.................................................................................................................. 95 Layer control....................................................................................................... 96 Shading Wizard................................................................................................... 96 Custom Shading.................................................................................................. 96 Color Objects ...................................................................................................... 96 Line Color ........................................................................................................... 97 Clear map............................................................................................................ 98 Unselect .............................................................................................................. 98 Hide/Delete Items in the Map ............................................................................. 98 Font ................................................................................................................... 100 Labels................................................................................................................ 100 Pick label 101 Select................................................................................................................. 101 Info.................................................................................................................... 102 Show legend 102 Move legend...................................................................................................... 102 Move map ......................................................................................................... 103 iv • Contents Tutorial Polymap Map options ...................................................................................................... 103 Options............................................................................................................................ 105 Protect a sheet ................................................................................................... 105 Name................................................................................................................. 105 Calculation........................................................................................................ 106 Set the print area ............................................................................................... 106 Tutorial Polymap Contents • v Introductory Information Introduction and Terms You Should Know PolyMap is a mapping software that lets you create a visual image of your data. Regular maps have several layers, such as State counties, rivers, and highways. ZIP code maps just have one layer, for the ZIP codes. For the regular state and USA maps, you can add additional layers and use only the layers you want. The layers allow you to work with different groups of data without disrupting the information for a different part of the map. For example, in the United States map, you can color in each state based on sales, then show important cities in each state. If a particular city lags in sales, you can eliminate it, without changing the color of the map of that state. PolyMap is also useful because you can import data in the database version, to create a color-coded map of your information. This tutorial teaches you how to manipulate the layers, select objects and add labels to your map, color in your maps based on spreadsheet data, create special custom points, and import spreadsheets for the database version. Examples are given for many features to assist you. A short explanation is given first for complex topics, which may suffice if you are familiar with software packages. However, if you need more help, a more detailed explanation then follows. You should know some of the terms used in this tutorial. Some are common to all software programs and others are specific to PolyMap. Dialog box—Sometimes when you choose a function, a box appears on the screen, called the dialog box. The box may actually have several steps, each with its own box. Tutorial Polymap Introductory Information • 7 You might need to type information in, such as the name of the column you want to add. Other times you may have choices, shown in a drop down list box. Click on the down arrow to see your choices. Move the mouse over the choice you want, to highlight it, and then click down to select it. When you are finished with a dialog box, you might need to click “OK,” or it might vanish on its own. If you made a mistake, click “Cancel,” and then select the dialog box again. Drop down list boxes—In a dialog box or elsewhere, sometimes there is a list of options you can choose from, such as which layer you want to be in or the type of line you want to use. These lists are in drop down list boxes. To make a selection, click on the down arrow, go to the item you want, so it’s highlighted, and click on it. Usually in the Tutorial, these boxes are referred to by their function name, such as “Type box” or “Column box.” These names don’t refer to a new, separate dialog box, but rather a section of the current dialog box. Spreadsheet—A spreadsheet is a table of information, with columns and rows. PolyMap uses a spreadsheet for each layer of the map. The spreadsheet has a numeric listing (1, 2, 3) as the first column; an ID column that is hidden (you can unhide it by going to Properties, then Spreadsheet tab, then deselect “Hide ID column”); and then a column with the name of the category (counties in a state; states in America). You can add columns to any of the spreadsheets to add data about those locations. Menu / Toolbar —there are 3 sets of menus. One is at the top of the screen. This is for both the spreadsheet and map, as applicable. Another is on top of the map half of the screen and contains 4 tabs: Label, Edit, Select, View. The third one is on top of the spreadsheet, under the spreadsheet titlebar, and contains icons used for the spreadsheet, such as formatting the font. Object—Object refers to an item on your map, such as a county, state, city, river, or highway. Objects are in separate layers for each category, so if you’re working on the cities and want to start working on counties, you need to switch layers. Some coloring features work with polygon objects—counties and states—by coloring them in. Other coloring features work with cities by placing symbols on the cities. Layer—Each category of objects has a separate layer. There are layers for the counties, cities, highways, and railways on a map. You work with each layer separately, coloring in one layer and then going to another layer to customize it to your needs. The active layer is the layer you are working on; you can tell which layer is active by looking at the highlighted tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet or in the Select a Layer box in the Edit tab of the map. You can delete layers or hide them from view if you don’t want them cluttering up your map. You can also add layers by adding custom points to your map. 8 • Introductory Information Tutorial Polymap Mouse—Your mouse appears on the screen as an arrow, when you’re in the map, and a plus sign, when you’re in the spreadsheet. This shows you where you are. It also changes to different symbols when you’re in certain features. Click—Hit your left mouse button firmly but gently. If you double-click accidentally, you might choose something you didn’t intend to. Icon—A picture used to represent a feature of PolyMap. For example, to print, you can go to File, then Print. Or you can click on the Print icon, a picture of a printer. Titlebar—This is the top part of a screen. You click on it to select that part of the screen. It is highlighted to show that it is active. Tabs—Many dialog boxes and features have tabs. One tab is in the front, showing it is selected. If you want to see another tab, just click on it, and it will come to the front. Resize—You might want to make the legend for your map bigger or smaller. When you click on the image, small boxes appear. Move your mouse until it’s over one of the boxes; the arrow will change to a straight-line arrow. Hold down with your left mouse button and drag in the direction you want. The image will get bigger. This is called resizing. If you want to move the image, then move the mouse until it appears as a plus sign over the image, click your left mouse button and hold it down as you drag the image to its new location. Starting PolyMap If PolyMap appears as an icon, shortcut, or is on your list of programs, then select it. Otherwise, go to the drive that the Ambiente/PolyMap folder is in and open it. This is probably the C drive, unless you have more than one HDD or are installed on a network drive with additional drive letters (D,E,F, etc.). Tutorial Polymap Introductory Information • 9 Opening a Map… and Understanding it You have two choices of maps you can open: a new map or a map you saved. 1. For a new map, click on the “Open a new unformatted map” icon or go to File/New. In the “Select a File” dialog box, the left part of the box shows where the files are located—in the Ambiente folder, in the PolyMap subfolder, subfolder Maps, subfolder Base. To hide a subfolder, click on the – to make it a +. The right side shows the maps available. Select the map you want by double-clicking on it. 2. For a map you previously saved, click on the “Open a User Map File” icon or go to File/Open. Then choose the map you want by double-clicking on it. 3. Now that you have an open map, study the screen. There are 3 parts to the screen. First, there is the menu at the top of the screen. There are both icons and pull- down menus. Second, on the left part of the screen is the spreadsheet. When you click on the titlebar, it becomes highlighted, so you know the spreadsheet screen is active; that means you can’t change anything in the map right now. Third, there is the map on the right part of the screen. When the titlebar is highlighted (active), you can select from the toolbar at the top of the map screen and you an also use the Map options in the main menu. Usually, both the spreadsheet and map appear on your screen. However, if you want to work with one exclusively for a while, then click on the maximize button in the upper right hand corner (the middle button that shows a whole screen). Your entire screen will show either just the spreadsheet or just the map. When you want to return to showing both parts, hit the button again. 4. Your spreadsheet has several tabs. These correspond to the layers in PolyMap, one for each kind of location in the map—states/counties, cities, rivers, highways, and railways. You can see the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet screen. To go to a different layer, click on the appropriate tab. If you add a new layer, through Add Custom Points, then a new tab will be created in your spreadsheet. In order to color in your map based on the data you will need to add columns, and then put data in the columns. If you have the PolyMap Database version, then you can import data from a text file, spreadsheet, 10 • Introductory Information Tutorial Polymap