Series in the product library

Series contain maps or charts that can relate to a specific region of the world or theme. There can be several map or chart series within a single product class, depending on the size of the region and the number of areas of interest.

Series properties

There are two sections of properties associated with a map or chart series when you create them from the New Series dialog box: General and Series. The General section contains properties such as the name, alias, description, and current state of the series. The Series section contains information regarding the names of the solution and product class, the series type, and the template document used for the entire map or chart series.

When you are creating a map or chart series, the General properties must be defined. You can optionally change the name of the template .mxd file and specify the series type.

General properties

The properties in the General section allow you to define basic information about the series and its state and include the following:

Property name

Description

Name

The name of the map series

Alias

The name displayed for the map series in the product library tree view

Description

A description of the map series

Visible

Indicates whether the series is visible to other users when a Spatial Database Engine (SDE) database is used as the product library (By default, the value is False. When it is set to True, other product library users can see the series in the product library tree view.)

General series properties

Series properties

The properties in the Series section allow you to define information related to the parent product class, the solution, and the map document template to be used for all the map sheets.

Series properties include the following:

Property name

Description

Parent Class

The solution and product class to which the series belongs

Series Type

The name of the series type (For aeronautical charts, examples include AFR and AP1B, and for nautical charts, examples include Approach, Coastal, or Harbor.)

Series properties

Template file properties include the following:

Property name

Description

Template MxD

The name and current status of the .mxd file being used as the template for all map sheets in the series

File

The name of the .mxd file being used as the template

Name

The name of the template .mxd file in the product library

Description

A description of the template .mxd file stored in the product library

File Type

The file type of the template .mxd file (This is typically .mxd.)

Status

The current status of the template file

Author

The user name of the person who has associated the template file with the map series

Check Out Location

The path to the directory to which the template file is copied when it is checked out

Last Modified

The date and time the template file was last modified

Username

The user name of the person who last modified the template file

Template MxD properties for the series

Template instructions

Template instructions allow products to be more dynamic, allowing them to perform actions during key events like a checkout. There are three types of template instructions controlled by file types: data frame rules, layout rules, and python scripts.

The Map Document (MxD) properties are populated from the Template .mxd properties on the General pane.

Property name

Description

Map Document (MxD)

The name and current status of the template MXD file

Name

The name of the template MXD file

Description

A description of the template MXD file

File Type

The file type associated with the template MXD in the product library

Status

The current status of the template MXD file

Author

The user name of the person who has associated the product class with the file

Check Out Location

The path to the directory to which the template MXD file is going to be copied when it is checked out

Last Modified

The date and time the template MXD file was last modified

Username

The user name of the person who has modified the template MXD file

Map Document MxD properties

The Data Frame Rules properties allow products to have their data frame settings, such as scale, extent, coordinate system, and rotation, updated based on a product's associated instance AOI(s).

Property name

Description

Data Frame Rules

Data frame settings based on a product's associated instances AOI(s)

File

The name of the data frame rules file

Description

A description of the data frame rules file

File Type

The file type

Status

The current status of the file

Author

The user name of the person who has associated the data frame rules with the file

Check Out Location

The path to the directory to which the file is going to be copied when it is checked out

Last Modified

The date and time the file was last modified

Username

The user name of the person who has modified the file

Data Frame Type

The data frame(s) to which rules are applied

Data Frame Name

The specific data frame the data frame rules are applied to when using the custom option under the Data Frame Type property

Data Frame Rules properties

The Layout Rules properties enable a product map document's layout size and orientation and the relative placement of elements on that layout to react to changes that happen on dynamic cartographic products.

Property name

Description

Layout Rules

The name and current status of the file containing the layout rules

File

The name of the layout rules file

Name

The name of the layout rules file

Description

A description of the file

File Type

The file type

Status

The current status of the file

Author

The user name of the person who has associated the layout rules with the file

Check Out Location

The path to the directory to which the file is going to be copied when it is checked out

Last Modified

The date and time the file was last modified

Username

The user name of the person who has modified the file

Layout Rules properties

The Python Scripts properties allow custom business logic to be executed on a product. A single python file can be saved as part of template instructions.

Property name

Description

Python Scripts

The name and current status of the python script

File

The name of the python script

Name

The name of the python script

Description

A description of the python script

File Type

The file type

Status

The current status of the file

Author

The user name of the person who has associated the script with the file

Check Out Location

The path to the directory to which the python script is going to be copied when it is checked out

Last Modified

The date and time the script was last modified

Username

The user name of the person who has modified the script

Python Scripts properties

Series creation based on existing features

Another way to add series to a product class, besides using the New Series dialog box, is to base them on existing features from a feature class you have loaded into your table of contents. This process automates the creation of series, including individual products, instances, and areas of interest.

Learn how to import selected features as one or more series

Product instances

Product instances, and their data frames, are generated based on the way you want to use repeating values for the product name. Instances can be generated for the products in one of two ways:

  • Combine to create one instance per product—Features that have the same value for the product name are combined. This is the default method used to create instances for each product or map document.
  • Allow multiple instances per product—One instance is created on the map document for each area of interest that has a unique instance value.

    If you use this method, you must choose the field that is going to be used as the name of the instance. Any areas of interest that have the same product name are included in the same instance and appended with a number.


9/22/2010