Mapping Tutorial: Information About the Selection
Scorecard
The map is interactive. Moving the mouse over it displays the name and mapped values for that geographic region in a pop-up box. Clicking on a territory displays an information table on the selection.
There is a third level of interactivity. Ctrl-Click on an area (census tract, county or state) will open a scorecard.
Note: Mac users use Cmd-Click.
The scorecard provides summary indicators for the selected area and the reference zone (County, State and USA).
Table About the Selection
The information table on the selection displays as soon as a selection is active. It can be temporarily hidden (top right corner), re-sized (lower right corner) or moved.
There are different ways to select geographic units:
- by clicking with the mouse on the geographic unit of interest (use the Shift key to make multiple selections)
- by using the selection tools in the toolbar or the advanced search
- by applying an overlay to select the units in a zone automatically.
The outline of the selection is displayed with a thicker red line. The table interacts with the map: moving the mouse over a line in the table highlights the corresponding geographic unit on the map, and vice versa.
The table rows list the geographic units that comprise the selection and the columns display the indicator values. By clicking on a column header you can sort the table in ascending or descending order.
Tools in the Information Table
The information table on the selection has several buttons:
Accesses a report about the selection, a series of pre-defined pages, containing synthesized tables and graphics. Click on the button to open the combined report for all the geographic units in the selection. For a report on one specific geographic unit, click on the detailed report link in the table.
Allows data exporting to a spreadsheet. Click on this button to open an index card with the data for all the indicators for the theme, for each of the geographic units selected.
Saves the selection by giving it a name. You can then retrieve this selection using the button on the main tool bar for the application.
Manages several temporary selections and combines them by intersection, union, inversion or subtraction.
Highlights the selection by means of a visual effect (outside the greyed selection) and by zooming in on the selection.
Zooms in on the selection.
Deselects and closes the table.
Accesses the synthesized values in the selected zone and in the reference territory (USA) for all the indicators for a theme.
Reports About the Selection
Reports are accessed from the information table on the selection and from the reports button in the output section (bottom right, under the navigation map).
Reports are available only for all 3 levels (State, County and Census tracts).
The report about the selection draws a portrait of the State, the County or the census tract selected and allows it to be compared to the USA.
The report provides access to a series of pre-defined pages, containing synthesized tables about the selection, and also graphics illustrating the data on the selection (pie charts, horizontal or vertical bar charts)
These pages are organized by theme and laid out for printing by page.
Before printing the report, you can type in a comment at the bottom of each page.
Tools for the Reports About the Selection
Use the menu in the report's drop-down list to choose the page to be edited in the report.
The buttons on the toolbar have the following functions:
Closes the report and returns to the map.
Allows pages to be printed, either one at a time, or as a lot. The toolbar and the drop-down list are hidden during printing.
Allows you to flip through the pages.
Erases any personal comments added by the user in the text box for comments.
Withholds certain pages in the lot prior to printing.
More Topics
See previous: « Customizing the Map
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