How Do I Create a Formula Field and Add It to My Summary Fields?

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To add custom formula fields to your plans, you can add your formula fields to the maps your plans are based on (typically Block-VTD-County.Map or Block-Block Group-Tract-County.Map).

You can follow the steps below to add custom formula fields to a map.

    1. Open the map you want to add a formula field to by doing File>Open, selecting Map, Workspace as the file type, and browsing for your map.
    2. Create a new table via File>New>Table and choose Fixed-format binary as the file format.
    3. Check Add Records
    4. Select the Add matching records radio button with Census Block in the Dataview dropdown, All Features in the Set dropdown, Block in the Join Field, and click OK.
    5. Add fields to the table using the Add Field button and be sure change the name and type of each new field. 
    6. Click OK and save the newly created table.
    7. Scroll to the right of the newly created Dataview to find your custom fields.
    8. Right click on the column containing the new field’s, select Fill>Formula, and type in your formula.
    9. Close the joined Dataview window.
    10. Use File>Open and select Fixed-format binary as the file type to open the table you created in step 6.
    11. Select your map as the active window by clicking on it.
    12. Follow steps 6 to 15 in the “How Do I Incorporate Block Level Data into Other Layers?” article.
    13. Create or open a plan that is based off of the map you just attached political data to.
    14. Add your formula fields as summary fields via Redistricting>Settings>Plan Settings>Summary Fields>Change and specify the appropriate denominator fields.
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