Location files contain Location IDs and XY coordinates for pin positioning. Location files contain a column of data that matches a column of data in the file used to create the pin map. When you choose US 5-Digit ZIP Code on the pin map General page, the EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV location file is automatically loaded for you. If you select Other Location File as the pin map Locating method, you must specify the Location ID column from your original data file. The location ID is the link between your data file and the location file. The location ID can be the same as the primary ID.
Example
The first file shown is a data file containing a number of customers, but no location data. You might want to place a pin on your map at the location of each customer. In this case, you have the ZIP code for each customer but need the XY coordinates for the ZIP code locations. By specifying US 5-Digit ZIP Code for the Locating method in the Pin Map dialog, you can link this data file to the EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV location file and thereby locate the pins on the map. If you use the ZIP code column in this location file for the Pin Map Location ID variable, you can link your customers to the Longitude and Latitude columns in the EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV file.
Here is an example of the data file for the pin map. Notice that there are no XY coordinates in this file.
Name |
Customer No. |
Time |
ZIP Code |
Joe Foonman |
Customer 1 |
5 years |
"47881" |
John Doe |
Customer 2 |
7 years |
"47882" |
Jane Smith |
Customer 3 |
4 years |
"47901" |
Jack Donnely |
Customer 4 |
3 years |
"47885" |
Below is a short portion of the EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV location file included with MapViewer. The ZIP CODE column contains the link (the Location ID) between this file and the customer file above. MapViewer uses the longitude and latitude values from the EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV location file to position the pins on the map. The ZIP code column is located in column A in EXTENDEDZIP5.CSV.
ZIP Code |
Longitude (X) |
Latitude (Y) |
47881 |
-87.1253 |
39.5163 |
47882 |
-87.4349 |
39.104 |
47885 |
-87.4761 |
39.5109 |
47901 |
-86.8904 |
40.4179 |
You can create your own location files based on any coordinates. The only requirement is that you have matching Location IDs in both the original data file and the location file.
Using Your Own Location File
You can create your own pin map location file in MapViewer. If the location file contains XY coordinates, such as latitude and longitude coordinates, and data then you can use Coordinate as the Locating method. Sometimes, the XY coordinates are not in the same file as the data to be mapped. This is useful when you use the same XY location each time but may have different data files to map over time. If this is the case, use Other Location File as your Locating method.
To use your own locating file:
1. Select Map | Pin Map.
2. Select your data file in the Open Data File dialog.
3. In the Pin Map dialog, choose Other Location File for the Locating method.
4. Set options on the General, Labels, and Classes pages if you like.
5. Click the OK button in the Pin Map dialog.
6. After you click the OK button, select a location file in the Open Location File dialog. The location file must contain Location ID, X coordinates, and Y coordinates columns.
7. After the location file is chosen, select the columns containing Location ID, X coordinates, and Y coordinates. A pin map is created with your location IDs.
See Also