ie US Dataplot - User's Manual
 Used
on Hands on the Land's environmental monitoring web site, this Flash latitude
and longitude data
mapping tool is available for free. Please contact Interactive
Earth for a customized version or implementation consultation.
System Requirements
The free Macromedia Flash Player version 6.0 or greater is required for
the use of this tool.
Features
National Atlas Map Boundary
Vector-based boundaries for the US states was provided by the National
Atlas.
Easy Pan and Zoom
In addition to the + and - zoom buttons, zooming is performed by a
single click on the map. Click, hold and drag to pan the map in any
direction. Viewers with machines that have slow processors may receive
a 'choppy' pan. A drop-down menu is also available to move users directly
to Alaska and Hawaii.
Four Levels of Data
Plotted data may contain four levels of information: dot size, dot
color, mouse-over text and an optional link. In the Impact Crater example
provided, dot size represents relative crater size, dot color refers
to crater age, and by placing the cursor over a dot, users receive the
crater name and exact diameter. Although hyperlinked dots are available
in this free tool, there is no link associated with the dots in the
Impact Crater example.
Customizable Labels and Plot Colors
Dot color, legend information, map title and the explanatory paragraph
may also be modified.
Extendable City Database
The city database provided with this tool contains US cities with populations
greater than 100k and at least one well-known city from each state.
This database is extendable through the cities.txt file (see Using the
Tool below). Cities are shown on the map relative to population size
and zoom level—i.e., cities with fewer inhabitants are displayed
when the zoom level increases.
Source Files
The source files must be placed in the
same folder as the HTML file containing the slide show object code. Files
include: ie_dataplot.swf, map_data.txt and cities.txt. map_data.txt will
need to be customized (see Using the Tool below).
Using the Tool
Place ie_dataplot.swf in the same folder as the HTML viewing file which
contains the source code below. The two additional files, map_data.txt
and cities.txt, must also be placed in the same folder as the HTML viewing
file. It is recommended that all files be placed together.
This source code must be placed in the HTML viewing file:
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/
flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="534"
height="450">
<param name="movie" value="ie_dataplot.swf">
<param name="quality" value="high"><param
name="SCALE"
value="exactfit">
<embed src="ie_dataplot.swf" width="534"
height="450" quality="high"
pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
scale="exactfit">
</embed>
</object>
Your map data will be stored in the file map_data.txt. The content of
this file must be in the standard MIME format application/x-www-form-urlencoded
(a standard format used by CGI scripts). The text of the file should be
structured as in the Impact Craters example:
title="Impact" Craters (From Earth Impact Database)&datafile=64|0xFF00DF|Ames,
32 km diameter |36.25|98.2|na^48|0x2CAAD3|Avak, 24 km diameter |71.25|156.63|na&legend=Crater
Age&color1=0xFF00DF&label1=>450 MYA&color2=0xFF0000&label2=450-300
MYA&color3=0xE0891F&label3=300-200 MYA&color4=0xF2F202&label4=200-150
MYA&color5=0x00FF20&label5=150-100 MYA&color6=0x2CAAD3&label6=100-50
MYA&color7=0x0000FF&label7=50-1 MYA&color8=0x000000&label8=<1
MYA&main_label=Place your cursor over the dots for more info. Dot
size represents relative crater size. Zoom in by clicking the map. To
move the map, click, hold and drag.
This example plots only two dots from the Impact Craters example. Copy
the text above, modify the variables and save this file as map_data.txt
in the folder that contains ie_dataplot.swf. Individual variables are
delineated by an "&" and are outlined below:
title=Title of Map
datafile=dot size [numeric]|0xRRGGBB [Enter a hexadecimal value following
"0x" for each plotted dot.] | Information for dot |latitude
[decimal] |longitude [decimal]|http:// or na [Hyperlink for dot. If
none, enter "na"] ^...[Each additional dots are delineated
by a "^".]
legend=Legend Title
color1=0xRRGGBB [For legend dots, enter a hexadecimal value following
"0x".]
label1=Label for legend dot
colorN... [A total of eight dots are available. For dots that are
blank enter "0xFFFFFF"]
labelN...[A total of eight dot labels are available.]
main_label=Place your cursor over the dots for more info. Dot size
represents relative crater size. Zoom in by clicking the map. To move
the map, click, hold and drag.
Do not use these characters in your code: &, |, ^. They are used
as variables delineators.
Additionally, ie_dataplot.swf must be accompanied by cities.txt. This
file is the city database. Use the file associated with the example to
map cities with populations greater than 100k and well-known cities in
states with no populous city. The cities.txt database should be formatted
as follows:
cities=population [numeric] or "na"|state|city name |latitude
[numeric]|longitude [numeric]^...
|
