Products in a series
Part of building the product library is adding products or map sheets. The number of map sheets you include in the series can vary based on the purpose of the series and the number of areas of interest. For example, if you are creating topographic maps for a particular region, you could have several map sheets, whereas series for aeronautical charts could only have one to two map sheets.
Product properties
There are two sections of properties associated with a product: General and Product. The General section contains properties such as the name, alias, description, and current status of the product. The Product section contains properties such as the bar code number, the name of the parent series, the product code, the product type, the reference code, and the name and location of the file itself.
When you are creating a product, the properties in the General section and the map document are required. By default, the document file name matches the name of your product. You can optionally indicate the bar code, reference code, and other product-specific information.
General properties
The properties in the General section define basic information about the product and its state. They include the following:
|
Property name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
The name of the product |
|
Alias |
The name displayed for the product in the product library tree view |
|
Description |
A description of the product |
|
Visible |
Indicates whether the product 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 product in the product library tree view.) |
Product properties
The properties in the Product section allow you to define information such as the map document's bar code number and the product type.
Properties in the Product section include the following:
|
Property name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Bar Code |
The bar code number associated with the product |
|
Parent Series |
The names of the solution, product class, and series associated with the product |
|
Product Code |
The code name or number associated with the product |
|
Product Type |
The name of the product type (For aeronautical charts, examples include High or Medium, and for nautical charts, examples include Safety Of Life at Sea [SOLAS] and Leisure.) |
|
Reference Code |
The code that is used as a reference for the map document |
Properties related to the map document include the following:
|
Property name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
MxD |
The name and current status of the product |
|
File |
The file name of the product |
|
Name |
The name of the product |
|
Description |
A description of the product |
|
File Type |
The file type of the product, which is .mxd |
|
Status |
The current status of the product |
|
Author |
The user name of the person who has associated the map document with the product |
|
Check Out Location |
The path to the directory to which the product is copied when it is checked out |
|
Last Modified |
Date and time the product was last modified |
|
Username |
The user name of the person who last modified the product |
Properties related to the map document's metadata XML file (item description) include the following:
|
Property name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
MxD Metadata |
The name and current status of the XML file |
|
File |
The file name of the XML |
|
Name |
The name of the XML |
|
Description |
A description of the XML file |
|
File Type |
The file type of the file, which is .xml |
|
Status |
The current status of the XML file |
|
Author |
The user name of the person who has associated the XML file with the product |
|
Check Out Location |
The path to the directory to which the XML file is copied when it is checked out |
|
Last Modified |
Date and time the XML file was last modified |
|
Username |
The user name of the person who last modified the XML file |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Product creation based on existing features
Another way to add products to a series, besides using the New Product dialog box, is to base the individual products on existing features from a feature class you have loaded into your table of contents. This process automates the creation of individual products, including instances, and areas of interest.
Learn how to import selected features as products.
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.