ultimate goal:
Geodatabase that can be updated from excel table that highlights the changes only, then automates the map generation.
So the player sends his changes (movements, repairs, new unit or resource creation etc) to the GM to add to the geodatabase as a dated entry.
The map generated can track movement of units with arrows over time, so you can see over the course of a year, you can track movements.
Need something easy to manipulate to create maps with multiple options.
I think to do that you would need:
1. A lot of Python scripting, which I do not do OR
2. Use of FME, which is a great third party program that will set you back about $3K, and has a steep learning curve. And I mean steep.
I think the easiest route is going to require some GM interaction, and I don’t think it would too intensive.
If you having each player submit an excel file, what you can do is make a new shapefile from each excel file. You might also need a unit.lyr file if you have a particular labeling method like I do, but that’s a slightly different process, and I can address that if needed.
So, say you have a file called Bob3025_June_UnitMoves. It has the unit name on it, what planet the unit starts on (with X/Y Columns), and what planet it ends on (with X/Y Columns) at a minimum. You bring that excel file into the .mxd, and then project the units by “Display XY data”, then you export that event class that as a Shapefile, Bob3025_June_Unit_Moves, and bring that shapefile into your mxd.
Now, you should also have a “Unit Move” layer file. That you can create from scratch in Arc Catalog. If using a move file with names something similar to the above, your columns for this layer would be something like:
Player Name, Month, Year at a minimum. I would also add unit name, start planet, and stop planet, unit moved file, but that’s just me.
So your move file would be something like this:
Player Name Month Year Unit Name Unit Start Unit Stop Unit Move File
Bob June 3025 1st Lyran Guard Sevren Tamar Bob3025_June_UnitMoves
When you edit this file, you are creating the line from where the unit was, to where it went.
Then in the symbology, you use Categories, Unique Values, Many. This is also where you can choose what symbology to display. In this example, I would choose, Player name, Month, and Year as my choices. That way, anything move named Bob June 3025 will have the same symbology.
So, lets say you have the Bob3025_June_UnitMoves built, plotted and exported.
Now, you get the Bob3025_July Moves excel.
The process is the same. Import the excel sheet, plot the XY’s, create the event class, save the shapefile. draw the movement arrows in. Then you change the symbology, and you can export to pdf.
The nice thing doing it this way is that you can organize your layer files by groups, and you can have subgroups within groups.
So, let’s say you Have 5 players, Bob, Ted, George, Phil, Zeke, your MXD table of contents could look like the following:
Layers
Bob
Ted
George
Phil
Zeke
Unit Moves
World
Regions
Provinces
States
Where the players are groups.
If you click on Bob, you would get:
Bob
Bob_Jan_3025_Moves
Bob_Feb_3025_Moves
Bob_March_3025_Moves
Ted
George
Phil
Zeke
Unit Moves
World
Regions
Provinces
States
Each of those Bob Layers is a distinct Layer, so long as the group is activated, you can choose to display as many of those layers as you want. Likewise, in the symbology for the unit moves, you can choose what to display by using the “Add Values…” button.
Does that make sense so far? I’d put in screenshots, but I’m not able to at the moment.
Dav
