Map View - SuperWEB2

If your table contains geographical data, then you can use Map View to display the results on a map. The Map View tab becomes enabled whenever you create a table containing a geographical field.

Create a Map

Create a table containing a geographical field. For example, using the sample Retail Banking database, create a table containing some values from the Area field.
The Map View table becomes active.
Click Map View:
SuperWEB2 starts building the map. Depending on the complexity of your table, this may take some time.

Customise the Map

Once you have generated your map, you can use the options to customise what is shown in the map and how it is displayed:

Option

Description

Example

Field

Select the field or summation option you want to visualise on the map. The options available will depend on the fields and summation options that were included in your original table.

Data Classifier

Select how you want to construct the data ranges that will be displayed on the map.

Option	Description
Natural Breaks	SuperWEB2 will calculate the ranges automatically based on natural breaks in the data. The natural breaks are calculated using the Dalenious Hodges Algorithm. This option is a good choice when your data is not evenly distributed. This algorithm groups data into classes that are themselves as separate as possible, but where the data values within each class are fairly close together. That is, it maximises the differences between the classes and minimises the differences within the classes. This classification can be used to discover spatial patterns within the data, but it can lead to some classes being populated by low numbers of observations.
Equal Distribution	Equal Distribution puts the same number of records into each class. For example a data set containing 100 records will be assigned so that approximately 20 records fall into each class of a five class classification. When using Equal Distribution it is important to watch out for any extreme data values (outliers) that might affect the thematic map. These outliers will be incorporated into a class without regard to the distribution of the remaining values in the class. This method can give the most evenly coloured map but should only be considered for data sets with a nearly even distribution.
Quantile	This option divides records into class ranges of equal spread. For example, in a field of data values ranging from 1 to 100 the records would be assigned (in the 5 class case) into the ranges 1–20, 20–40, 40–60, 60–80 and 80–100. These ranges mean 1 to less than 20, 20 to less than 40 etc., so the classes do not overlap. With this method classes with few or no data records can be created, depending on the distribution of your data. For example, the records 1, 4, 6, 10, 10, 89, 90, 92, 95, 100 (that is, highly skewed to either end of the overall data range) will cause the middle three classes to have no records. In this case only two colours will appear on the map. To produce even colour representation on the map, the data would need to contain nearly evenly distributed values.
Custom Ranges	Select this option to choose your own data ranges. Custom ranges should always be developed with reference to the distribution of the data being mapped. The Custom Range option can be particularly useful when developing a series of maps that are designed to be compared. Enter the start and end values for each range and then click Update Ranges to update the map.

Palette

Choose the colours used to highlight the different regions in the map.

Number of Ranges

Select the number of different coloured ranges you want to display on the map.

Thematic Opacity

Use the slider to control the opacity of the coloured areas on the map.

At 0% the areas highlighted on the map will be completely transparent and only the outlines will be visible.
At 100% the areas highlighted on the map will be completely solid and the map underneath will not be visible.

Zoom

Use the slider to zoom in and out of the map.

Pan

Click and drag anywhere on the map to pan around the map.

Map Type

Select an option from the drop-down list in the top right corner to change between the drawn map and the satellite view.

Edit What is Displayed in the Map

You can use these options at the top of the map to change the areas that are visualised on your map:

When you click either Single, Freehand or Rectangle, the map changes to "Edit Mode". In this mode, all the areas currently included in the map visualisation are highlighted in a single colour:

You can then select areas you want to remove from the map, as well as add new areas to the map, even if they were not included in the table (although you can only add areas to the map if there is data for those areas in the database). Adding areas to the map will also add them to the table (you can see this change if you switch back to Table View).

The three options work as follows:

Option

Description

Example

Single

Click an area that is currently highlighted in yellow to remove it from the map.
Click an area that is not currently yellow to add it to the map.

Freehand

Click and hold down the left mouse button to draw a shape on the map.

When you release the mouse button the areas underneath the shape you have drawn will be toggled.

Any areas underneath the shape that are currently included in the map will be removed.
Any areas that are not currently included will be added to the map.

Rectangle

The rectangle is similar to freehand, except that you click and drag to draw a rectangle over the areas you want to toggle, instead of a freehand shape.

When you have finished selecting regions, click Apply Changes to apply your changes and return to the map visualisation.

To exit without applying any of your changes, click whichever one of the Single, Freehand, or Rectangle buttons is currently selected. This will exit Edit Mode without applying any of your changes.

You can also modify the areas that are visualised on the map by switching back to Table View and modifying the table, then returning to Map View.

Download the Map

To download your map:

Select the download format from the drop-down list. Currently you can choose from either KMZ format (which you can use in tools such as Google Earth) or PDF.
Click Go. The map will download at the current zoom level, showing the same section of the map that is currently visible on screen.

Maps cannot be imported back into SuperWEB2. To access the same map in future sessions you need to save the table used to create the map. You can then reopen the saved table and click Map View to recreate the map.