Map Editor window

This window appears when you click Insert > Map, the Insert Map button on the Insert toolbar, or right-click a map and select Format Map from the shortcut menu. It helps you to insert a map into a report, or to edit an existing map. See the window.

The following are details about options in the window:

File menu

• Open
  Specifies to import a .shp or .xml file which has been defined with some area information to the map object.
• Save
  Accepts and saves the changes on the map object.
• Save As
  Saves the map object to an .xml file with the name you specify.
• Canvas Setup
  Opens the Map Canvas Setup dialog to change the width and height of the map object.
• Close
  Closes the window.

Edit menu

• Undo
  Reverses a previous action.
• Redo
  The counter-operation of Undo.
• Cut
  Erases an object and places it in the clipboard.
• Copy
  Copies an object and places it in the clipboard.
• Paste
  Takes an object from the clipboard and places it into the report.
• Delete
  Deletes a selected object.
• Insert Mode
  If checked, the window is in insert mode, and you can add areas into the map manually; if unchecked, the window is in edit mode, and you can edit areas as required.
• Reset All
  Resets all the labels and summary fields in the map area to global settings.
• Hide Duplicate Labels
  If clicked, for map areas with the same name, only the label and summary field for the biggest area will be shown.

View menu

• Show Area Inspector
  Specifies whether or not to show the Map Area Inspector panel in the Map Editor window.
• Show Area Labels
  Specifies whether or not to show labels and summary fields in map areas in the Map Editor window.

Insert menu

• Background Image
  Specifies to select an image as background of the map.
• Match Background Image
  Resizes the map object to make it match the size of the background image. Activated only when the size of the background image is not the same as that of the map object.
• Label
  Inserts a label to the map object.
• Line
  Inserts a line to the map object.
• Bind Data
  Opens the Map Data Binding Wizard to bind data to the map object.

Format menu

• Conditional Formatting
  Opens the Map Area Conditional Formatting dialog to add some conditional formats to the map areas.
• Align
  • Left
    Aligns the content in the selected object to the left boundary of the object.
  • Center
    Aligns the content in the selected object to the center of the object.
  • Right
    Aligns the content in the selected object to the right boundary of the object.
  • Justify
    Adjusts horizontal spacing so that the content is aligned evenly along both the left and right margins in the selected object.
• Text Style
  • Bold
    Specifies whether or not to bold the text in the selected object.
  • Italic
    Specifies whether or not to italicize the text in the selected object.
  • Underline
    Specifies whether or not to underline the text in the selected object.

Help menu

• Help
  Displays this help document.

Toolbar

The following are commands on the toolbar:

• Open
  Specifies to import a .shp or .xml file which has been defined with some area information to the map object.
• Save
  Saves the current map object to an .xml file.
• Canvas Setup
  Opens the Map Canvas Setup dialog to change the width and height of the map object.
• Cut
  Erases an object and places it on the clipboard.
• Copy
  Copies an object and places it on the clipboard.
• Paste
  Takes an object from the clipboard and places it into the map object.
• Delete
  Deletes a selected map area.
• Undo
  Reverses a previous action.
• Redo
  The counter-operation of Undo.
• Insert Mode
  If pressed, the window is in insert mode, and you can insert areas into the map; otherwise, the window is in edit mode, and you can edit the map areas.
• Line
  Inserts a line into the map object.
• Bind Data
  Opens the Map Data Binding Wizard to bind data to the map areas.
• Conditional Formatting
  Opens the Map Area Conditional Formatting dialog to add some conditional formats to the map areas.
• Font Face Box
  Specifies the font face of the text in the selected object.
• Font Size Box
  Specifies the font size of the text in the selected object.
• Bold
  Specifies whether or not to bold the text in the selected object.
• Italic
  Specifies whether or not to italicize the text in the selected object.
• Underline
  Specifies whether or not to underline the text in the selected object.
• Justify
  Adjusts horizontal spacing so that the content is aligned evenly along both the left and right margins in the selected object.
• Left
  Aligns the content in the selected object to the left boundary of the object.
• Center
  Aligns the content in the selected object to the center of the object.
• Right
  Aligns the content in the selected object to the right boundary of the object.
• Background Color
  Specifies the background color of the selected object.
• Foreground Color
  Specifies the foreground color of the selected object.

Map Area Inspector

On the right part of the Map Editor window, there is a Map Area Inspector panel, where you can control properties of any area, label, summary field and line in the map object.

Related topics

• Inserting a map