SHP Configuration Panel
The Shapefile Configuration Panel allows the user to access database information provided as an inherent part of Shapefile data.
Database information can be used in the following ways:
- To subclass features from the theme. Two levels of subclassing are currently provided. These may incorporate class breaks if required.
- To take the feature class of each primitive from a field in the database. This is useful if the data is not provided in a themed format.
- To create text primitives (with positioning information) from values stored in the database.
- To attach a name to each primitive with a value from the database.
The fields present in the database are shown in the list. If the panel has been invoked for a single piece of Data, the fields listed are those present in the database. If the panel has been invoked for a dataset, the fields shown are those that are common to all data in the dataset. Unique values can be obtained by pressing Unique Values.
To open the Shapefile Configuration Panel
- With a piece of Shapefile Data selected, use Data | Format Configuration…
- With a Shapefile Dataset selected, use Dataset | Format Configuration…
To subclass features from the theme
- In the panel, select the field that is to provide the first level of subclassing from the Level 1 list
- Tick the Subclass Features from Theme check box
- If a second level of subclassing is required, select the field that is to provide it from the Level 2 list
- Press OK
- The Data or Dataset affected will be re-catalogued to obtain the new feature code set according to the new settings
To apply class breaks to a feature subclass
- In the Feature Code Configuration panel, press Ranges by the appropriate feature subclass level
- Enter the number of break points required.
- Press By Range or By Distribution. The break point details will be updated automatically.
- You may edit the break points by hand. Press Refresh to update the details.
- Press Accept to apply the changes
To take the feature class of each feature from a single field
- In the panel, select the field that is to provide the feature code from the Level 1 list
- Press OK
- The Data or Dataset affected will be re-catalogued to obtain the new feature code set according to the new settings
To create text primitives from the database
- In the panel, select the field that is to provide the text to be displayed from the Text Attribute Field list
- Select the fields containing text positional information (if required) from the Text Attribute X Field and Text Attribute Y Field
- Defined the size of the text to be created in the Text Attribute size box. Since the text has no size associated with it (unlike text primitives defined in the .mif file), a size needs to be defined. A size will be suggested based upon the extent of the current Dataset. The size provided must be defined in the input coordinate system.
- Define any X shift required in terms of input coordinate system units in the Text X Shift box. This is useful when creating labels for point objects so that the text can be shifted away from the symbol.
- Define the minimum line length to be considered for text placement in the Minimum line length box. This is useful when there are short polylines that are too small to have text placed along them.
- Press OK
- The Data or Dataset affected will be re-catalogued to obtain the new primitive counts according to the new settings.
To attach a name to each primitive from a field in the database
- In the panel, select the field that contains the name to be attached from the Name Field list
- Press OK
- The Data or Dataset affected will not be re-catalogued, as no new primitives or feature code will be created.
To collect attributes of features from the data for runtime queries
It is possible to import attribute data, for example the name of roads, into the map data. This can then be queried by runtime applications, for example to display information in a pop-up or tool-tip window when the curser is hovered or clicked over the map.
Links:
