The General page is located in the Property Manager when a thematic map is selected for the active layer. Information about the map's data file can be viewed and changed in the General page. The Contour and Prism map options for switching to a base map are also available on the General page.
Change or save the map data file, specify the PID
and Variable columns, and set data limits on the
General page of the Property Manager.
The Data File property shows
the current loaded data file for the map. Load a new data file into the
map with the open 
button.
Save changes to the data file with the save 
button.
The properties in the Data Columns section specify which data columns contain the map object PIDs and variable.
PID column indicates the location of the primary ID in the data. The data primary ID must match the primary IDs used on the boundaries.
Variable column indicates the data column for use in the map. The variable must contain numeric data to create the map.
The Data Limits section contains properties for specifying linked, global, or user defined data limits, and if absolute values are used for negative numbers.
When the Use global data check box is clicked, the data limits are the minimum and maximum values in the Variable column, including unlinked data values.
Clicking the Use user-defined limits check box allows editing in the Min limits and Max limits cells. Type numeric values into Min limits and Max limits to set your own data limits.
If neither the Use global data or Use user-defined limits boxes are selected, the data limits are the minimum and maximum linked values in the Variable column.
Clicking the Use absolute data value check box treats negative numbers in the Variable column as positive numbers for mapping.
Contour and Prism maps have the After Switching To Base Map section of the General page. The After Switching To Base Map properties involve retaining map features after changing the map to a base map with the Map | Create Map | Base command.
Keep image of map and Move image to back properties affect a prism map when the Map | Create Map | Base command is clicked. Click the check box next to Keep image of map to generate an image of the prism map before switching the map back to a base map. The image can be edited with the Draw | Image commands, but prism map properties, prism height for example, cannot be changed. Click the check box next to Move image to back to send the image to the back of the layer objects.
The Retain contours property saves the contour fill and generates polylines representing the contours when switching a contour map to a base map. Click the check box next to Retain contours before clicking Map | Create Map | Base to keep the contours visible on the base map.
See Also