Datazen Custom Maps

Datazen's map data definition is primarily based on the ESRI shape file format, a map data format that is now widely used today. In Datazen, a custom map needs to provide the following two map data definition files:

• SHP file provides location data for the map
• DBF file provides metadata information for a file

The name field in the metadata needs to match the name in the location data.

Once these two pieces of data are ready, you can upload them to the system in the system's control Panel.

First click Upload Map Shape ... button, then enter a name for the map, specify the location of the shape file and the data file, and then click the Upload button to start uploading the data.

This allows you to use this map in Datazen Publisher.

You can also upload a map directly in Publisher.

Select SHP and DBF files.

Note that the Datazen for the uploaded shp file has a 512KB size limit, which is mainly for performance considerations, and the market in the scope of the shape file is not found at all, so in order to meet the requirements of the map, you can use the tool to reduce the accuracy of the map, such as:

http://mapshaper.org

In this site, you can upload local shp files, and then reduce the accuracy of the map online, thereby reducing the size of the map file.

The following is the original file and the effect after reducing the precision.

For more information on customizing your map:

Technical documentation information about the map

• Official Document: Http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf
• Wikipedia's shape file description: Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile

about creating and editing map data

This topic is beyond the scope of Datazen, so there are only a few resources available for reference:

• arcgis:http://www.arcgis.com/
• Mapublisher Plug-in for Adobe Illustrator:http://www.avenza.com/mapublisher
• Quantumgis (free): http://www.qgis.org/
• Manco Shapefiles Editor:http://www.mancosoftware.com/shapefileeditor

Download of map data

In addition to the map data that comes with Datazen, you can download the map data from the following Web site.

• Diva-gis:http://www.diva-gis.org/data
• Openstreetmap:http://openstreetmapdata.com/data
• geocommons:http://www.geocommons.com/

Datazen Custom Maps