Lap #7 Map Design & Text

Stefanie Wieschalla

Geog 206

Part 1:

Chapter 7:

1. The information used for dynamic labels come from the attribute table of a specific layer.

2. The most efficient way to show only 3 city names is by using the label tool on the Draw Toolbar. This tool allows you to label features one at a time by clicking them. They can be placed wherever you want and changed individually.

3. Yes, you can manually adjust the position of dynamic labels by moving the mouse pointer over the selected text. The cursor changes to a four-headed arrow. Now you can drag the text to your convenience, releases the mouse button and click an empty are to unselect the text.

4. To adjust graphics the Select Elements tools needs to be selected.

5. There are two types of geodatabase annotation. Standard annotation is geodatabase annotation that does not have a maintained link to any features. The other type, feature-linked annotation, is a special type of geodatabase annotation that is directly linked to features and has special updating behavior when the linked features are updated.

Chapter 18:

1. It is TRUE, you can create your own ArcMap templates.

2. Yes, you can save it as an .mxd file.

3. You can access map templates by starting ArcMap, when you do so a dialog box opens up. Click to use a template option, and then click OK. A new dialog box opens. All the templates that come with ArcGIS can be found here. Another way to access map templates is by directly accessing the folder where the templates are stored. ArcMap custom templates are stored in the /Bin/Templates folder of your ArcGIS installation path.                                           

4. You can do this by right-clicking a layer in the table of contents and click properties. The layer properties dialog box opens. Click the symbology tab. In the show box, click features and then single symbol. Then click on the Symbol field and a symbol selector dialog box opens. Scroll down until you find the star symbol, click on it. Then under the options field you can further change the color to purple and the size of the star to 12. Click OK.

5. You can change the color of a graphic scale by right clicking on a layer. On the context menu, click properties. In the properties dialog box, click the Symbol tab. Click the color square. On the color palette, click the color of your choice. Then click OK and the new color is applied. Another way to simply change color is by right clicking on the symbol of the layer in the table of contents. The color palette opens and you can change the color to the color of your choice.

Chapter 19:

1. Before setting up your map layout, you should always choose the dimensions and the orientation of the map.

2. The scale is different in the data view versus the layout view because when you resize a data frame, ArcMap automatically adjusts the map extent and display scale.

3. The three customization options available for the scale bar are: Scale and Units, Numbers and Marks and Format.

4. It is important to use the 1:1 button because it forces the layout to zoom to its actual size and you can now see the map at the resolution it would have on a printed page. You can no longer see the entire layout.

5. Graphics can be placed either in layout view, along with cartographic elements such as scale bars and north arrows, or in data view so the graphics resize with your data as you change the extent of your map. When you add graphics to your data view and switch to layout view, you will always be able to see these added graphics in layout view. However, you cannot change them, for example move text around. However, when you add graphics in layout view and you then switch to data view, these newly added features will not appear, as for example the north arrow or the scale bar.

Part 2:

Q1. Choropleth maps show numerical data aggregated over predefined regions, such as countries or states, by coloring or shading these regions. Polygons are often based on politically defined feature. This will further yield a display that puts visual emphasis on the largest area units of the map.

Q2. The benefits of layer files are enormous. First of all, a layer references the data stored in geodatabases, coverages, shapefiles, rasters, and so on, rather than actually storing the geographic data. Thus, a layer always reflects the most up-to-date information in your database. A layer will not draw on your map unless you also have access to the data source on which the layer is based. Secondly, layers have a number of properties you can work with and set. You can right-click a layer in the table of contents and click Properties to view the Layer Properties dialog box, where you can set symbology, labeling, drawing rules, and other options. For example, you can specify that streams are drawn with all blue lines, parcels are drawn based on their land-use code, parks are drawn using a green pattern fill and are labeled with the park name, digital elevation is portrayed as a shaded relief, and so on. In addition, other properties include defining the scales at which they can draw, which features to draw from the data source, where that data is located in your database, attribute properties, joins, and relates for working with the tabular information. Lastly, layers can be saved to a file on disk (.lyr) so they can be shared and reused without sharing the entire map. When you save a layer to disk, you save everything about the layer, such as the symbolization and labeling. When you add a layer file to another map, it will draw exactly as it was saved. Others can drop those layers onto their maps without having to know how to access the database or classify the data; this can be helpful when sharing data stored in a multiuser geodatabase with nontechnical staff members. You can share layers over the network as well as e-mail layers, along with the data, to people or enclose the layer within the data's metadata.

Q3. Layer files (layer_name.lyr) include all map display properties for symbolization and labeling. However, layers do not usually contain the actual datasets. Instead, they typically reference a data source that resides in another location. However, a map layer and its data contents can be saved and shared using a layer package. A layer package is saved as a special file (layer_name.lpk) that contains the map layer, a copy of its data, and an XML file that has a brief description of the layer. Layer packages contain all the information necessary for users to put them to work in their own ArcGIS software installation. They are supported in ArcMap, ArcGlobe, and ArcGIS Explorer. Generally, layer packages make it easy to share your map layer display along with the underlying data with other users. For example, users of ArcGIS Explorer can add a new layer to their maps and easily begin using the information that you shared with them as a layer package.

Q4. The population of Long Beach for the year 2000 is 461522.

Q5. The population of Los Angeles for the year 2000 is 3694820.

Q6. There are three types of hyperlinks:

• Document: When you click a feature with the Hyperlink tool, a document or file will be launched using the application with which that file type is currently associated.
• URL: When you click a feature with the Hyperlink tool, a Web page will be launched in the default browser.
• Macro: Visual Basic macros are not supported in ArcReader. The macros will not be available in the published map.

Part3: