MapViewer Data

The data represented on a MapViewer map needs to be in column and row format. Each row is devoted to a single polygon, polyline, or point on the map. The row of data is linked to the map boundary object by its primary ID, usually found in column A. When you create a thematic map, you are prompted to choose the variable to be displayed. The columns contain the different variables, or data values, to be represented on the map.

The simple example below shows a typical layout of data that would be effective in MapViewer. Notice that row 1 contains column headings. These names are useful for identifying the data contained in each column. The variable names are displayed in the map window dialogs to assist in selecting the variable to be represented on a thematic map. If there are no text entries in row 1, the column letters (Column A, Column B, etc.) are used in the dialogs instead.

	Column A	Column B	Column C	Column D
Row 1	Primary ID	Secondary ID	Population	Sales in Dollars
Row 2	Jackson	MO	343,033	34,867
Row 3	Franklin	MO	563,198	56,798
Row 4	Adams	MO	435,667	47,653

The primary ID can be text or numbers. These primary IDs are also assigned to the polygon, polylines, or points on a map. For the example above, the primary IDs Jackson, Franklin, and Adams would be associated with areas on the map. These primary IDs link the data to the corresponding map areas.

The following example is a portion of a typical MapViewer data file where the FIPS code is used as the primary ID. This information is similar to the state data files included with MapViewer, although there are several more columns of data included in the MapViewer data files in the SAMPLES folder under the main MapViewer folder.

	Column A	Column B	Column C	Column D
Row 1	FIPS Code	Area Name	Land Area	Population
Row 2	02010	Aleutian Islands, AK	10890	8000
Row 3	02020	Anchorage, AK	1732	235000
Row 4	02050	Bethel, AK	36104	12100
Row 5	02060	Bristol Bay, AK	531	1200
Row 6	02070	Dillingham, AK	46042	5500

All the data in the same row as the primary ID are associated with the corresponding polygon, polyline, or point on the map.

Multiple Rows with the Same PID

Multi-graph maps have multiple rows with the same PID, as each object has its own XY data set. For all other map types however, when multiple rows contain the same PID only the first row (the row with the smallest Row Number) is linked to the object. Remove duplicates and other unlinked data with the Data | Edit | Delete Unlinked Data command.

These are the file formats that MapViewer can read:

DAT Files

Excel XLS Files

Microsoft SLK Files

Comma Separated Variable CSV Files

ASCII Text TXT Files

Lotus WKx Files

Atlas BNA Files

Golden Software BLN Files

Golden Software GSB Files

Golden Software GSI Files

dBase DBF Files

Access MDB Files

Paradox DB Files

LiDAR Binary LAS Files

SEG-SP1 Data Files