|
Q: What do I need to do
before I enter the Political-Settings?
A: There are a few things you will
want to do to prepare you data prior to entering your
Political Settings.
They are grouped below by the tab they correspond to.
Map Tab
-
Create a base map
for Political Maptitude. The base map should include the
most recent geography for the area you are running in. To
make it easier to get started, we have designed a base map that
uses many of the geographic layers that are on the Customized
Political Maptitude Data CD. You can find it at
http://www.caliper.com/Political/basemap.htm.
(For more information about creating maps, see Chapter 3,
Creating Maps, in the Maptitude User’s Guide.)
-
The Map Layouts
section allows you to identify the layouts for PM. They are
located in the Political directory where PM is installed.
The landscape layout is named Precinct_Landscape.lay; the portrait
layout is named Precinct_Portrait.lay. You should open the layouts
and change their properties to reflect the printer you will be
using.
Streets Tab
-
Choose the street
file for geocoding your voters. It can be the file we
provided (ccstreet.cdf) or any street file that conforms to the
guidelines set forth in the “Using a Different Street Layer”
section of Chapter 12 in your Maptitude User's Guide.
If you are using your own street layer, make sure it is in
the Compact Streets File format. If it is not, you can
create a Compact Streets File by choosing Tools-Export
and changing the To drop-down list to Compact Street File.
See the section “Converting between Standard and Compact
Geographic File Formats” in Chapter 18 of your Maptitude User’s
Guide for more information.
Voters Tab
-
The voter file
requires an integer field that contains a unique record ID.
-
The voter file
also requires an integer field that indicates whether an address
has been geocoded. Political Maptitude puts a “1” in the field for
each record it successfully locates. We suggest naming this field
“Located.”
Voter Counts Tab
- Each
layer in your base map must contain an integer field with the same
name to store the counts. For example,
you could add the field “Reg. Voters” to each layer.
For more information on adding a field to a layer, see
“Modifying the Structure of a Table” in Chapter 9, Managing
Data Tables, in the Maptitude User’s Guide.
Supporters Tab
You can identify your supporters in two ways: 1) by choosing
a file which contains a listing of your supporters, or 2) asking
Political Maptitude to create an empty list that you will fill in
over time. If you would like PM to create your supporters
file, no preparation is necessary. However, if you would like
to use and existing file of supporters:
-
The supporter
file requires an integer field that contains a unique record ID.
-
The supporter
file also requires an integer field that indicates whether an
address has been geocoded. Political Maptitude puts a “1” in the
field for each record it successfully locates. We suggest naming
this field “Located.”
Events Tab
You can identify your events in two ways: 1) by choosing a
file which contains a listing of your events, or 2) asking Political
Maptitude to create an empty list that you will fill in over time.
If you would like PM to create your events file, no preparation is
necessary. However, if you would like to use and existing file
of events:
-
The events file
requires an integer field that contains a unique record ID.
-
The events file
also requires an integer field that indicates whether an address
has been geocoded. Political Maptitude puts a “1” in the field for
each record it successfully locates. We suggest naming this field
“Located.”
Polling Places Tab
You can identify your polling places in three ways: 1) by
choosing a file which contains a listing of polling places, or 2)
asking Political Maptitude to create an empty list that you will
fill in over time, or 3) importing a geographic file [made by some
other GIS software] of polling places. If you would like PM to
create your polling places file, no preparation is necessary.
However, if you would like to use and existing file of supporters:
-
The polling
places file requires an integer field that contains a unique
record ID.
-
The polling
places file also requires an integer field that indicates whether
an address has been geocoded. Political Maptitude puts a “1” in
the field for each record it successfully locates. We suggest
naming this field “Located.”
Alternately, you can import a geographic file containing the
polling places made by another GIS. For detailed information
about importing geographic files, see “Importing Geographic Files”
in Chapter 19, Managing Geographic Files, in the Maptitude
User’s Guide.
Yard Signs Tab
You can identify your yard signs in two ways: 1) by choosing
a file which contains a listing of your yard signs, or 2) asking
Political Maptitude to create an empty list that you will fill in
over time. If you would like PM to create your yard signs
file, no preparation is necessary. However, if you would like
to use and existing file of yard signs:
-
The yard signs
file requires an integer field that contains a unique record ID.
-
The yard signs
file also requires an integer field that indicates whether an
address has been geocoded. Political Maptitude puts a “1” in the
field for each record it successfully locates. We suggest naming
this field “Located.”
Back to Tech Corner
|
