Tutorial
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Pin
Mappingwith

TNTmips®
TNTedit™
TNTview®

Pin Mapping

Before Getting Started
Visualization of point locations directly from database materials is a very
powerful tool in TNTmips® and TNTview®, particularly when the information isfrequently changed. Each location mapped can be represented as a simple point,
a symbol, or as a pie chart or bar graph. Databases for pinmaps can be in
TNTmips’ internal format or in some external format supported by direct linking
or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). Any table that contains X and Y
coordinate fields for each record can be used for pin mapping.
Prerequisite Skills This booklet assumes you have completed the exercises in the

Displaying Geospatial Data and Navigating tutorials. Those exercises introduce
essential skills and basic techniques that are not covered again here. Please
consult these booklets for any review you need.
Sample Data The exercises presented in this booklet use sample data distributedwith the TNT products. If you do not have access to a TNT products CD, you candownload the data from MicroImages’ web site. The exercises in this booklet use
objects in the GSPINMAP and UNTDSTAT Project Files in the PINMAP directory of
LITEDATA. Objects in Project Files in the CB_DATA directory are also used. Makea read-write copy on your hard drive of the sample data so display parameters canbe saved when you use these objects.
More Documentation This booklet is intended only as an introduction to pin

mapping. Consult the TNTmips reference manual for more information.
TNTmips and TNTlite™ TNTmips comes in two versions: the professionalversion and the free TNTlite version. This booklet refers to both versions as“TNTmips.” If you did not purchase the professional version (which requires asoftware license key), TNTmips operates in TNTlite mode, which limits the sizeof your project materials.

Pin Mapping is available in TNTmips, TNTedit, and TNTview. Pinmaps can beused with TNTatlas, but they can’t be created while running one. All exercisesin this booklet can be completed in TNTlite using the sample geodata provided.
Merri P. Skrdla, Ph.D., 1 November 2002
© MicroImages, Inc., 2002
It may be difficult to identify the important points in some illustrations without acolor copy of this booklet. You can print or read this booklet in color fromMicroImages’ web site. The web site is also your source of the newest Getting
Started booklets on other topics. You can download an installation guide,sample data, and the latest version of TNTlite.
http://www.microimages.com
page 2

Pin Mapping

Welcome to Database Pin Mapping
The ability to visualize database information directly is a very powerful tool—it means the information can be updated as often as needed, even during
the display process, and the updated locations andinformation can be viewed immediately. Because
TNTmips supports ODBC, as well as direct linking
to dBASE IV, FoxPro, and the ARC/INFO databaseformat, you can manipulate databases in their native
software and view the updated results in the TNT
products without any additional steps. Any tablethat contains X and Y coordinate fields for eachrecord can be used for pin mapping.
The point locations in the database table
can be represented in a variety of ways:
as symbols or as open or filled boxes orcircles. The symbols can be from thestandard set that comes with the TNT
products or symbols you design yourself
using the Symbol Editor, which is accessible inany process that lets you assign symbols for display.
You can also create pie charts or bar graphs that
represent the relative values for several attributes atthe point location.
Even with elaborate symbols selected to mark point
locations, you generally need a reference layer toprovide a context for your pin map. The reference
layer can be any TNTmips object type, such as
satellite imagery, an airphoto, or vector polygons.
There are two parts to a pinmap: the graphic depiction of the point locations and the other associatedinformation in the database table. You can view the
database records for the pinmap as single records orin tabular form. When using the tabular view, you
can choose to see all records or only the records
related to currently selected pins. You can also
update the information for existing pins or add
records that will place new pins on the map. Thesechanges are immediately reflected in the display.
page 3

Vocabulary: A databasepinmap is a visualization of
a number of point locations
represented by spatial
coordinates in a databasetable. The pinmap derives
its name from the wallmounted counterpart where
pins in a map represent
points of interest.

STEPS; launch TNTmips; copy the sample data files
for this booklet to yourhard drive; select Display / Spatial
Data from the main menu
and open a new 2D Group; click on the Preferences icon, choose
View Options, andturn on the first option on
the View tabbed panel(Redraw after any change)
Pages 4–10 provide instruction for relatively simple pin
maps. The remaining
exercises take you throughmore complex pin mapping
concepts, such as pie
charts and bar graphs, label
positioning, and pin
selection.

Pin Mapping

Simplest Possible Pinmap
STEPS; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon and select
GEOCHEM_CB from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on the Symbol tab,then on [Style] to the rightof the Symbol optionmenu

You can create a pinmap without entering any query
statements if coordinates are present in a usableformat. You can also get by without selecting a styleobject if you will accept one of the six default
drawing styles. Such a pinmap isn’t much to look at,
see lower left, but it does provide access to the
database information by location.

; click on the red tile in thecolor palette, then click[OK]; click on the Points tab,then click on [X], anddouble-click on X in thelist of the new window; click on [Y], then doubleclick on Y in the new
window’s list
; click on [Projection], thenon [System] in the new
window and double-clickon Universal Transverse
Mercator; if some other zone isshown, click on [Zone]
and select 13; click [OK] in the
Projection window and[OK] in the Pinmap Layer
Controls window

pinmapwithout
referencelayer; click on the Add
Vector icon, choose
Quick-Add Vector, selectHYDROLOGY from the CB_DLG
Project File in the CB_DATA
data collection

A reference layer is almost
necessary with pinmap display
to provide a context for what
you are viewing.

page 4

Pin Mapping

Coordinate Formats and Symbols
The format in which Latitude / Longitude coordinates are expressed must be designated. TNTmips
supports 25 different formats. Select the format usedfrom the option menu on the Points panel (for the
CAPITALS database, millionths of a degree). If degrees, minutes, and seconds are expressed in separate fields, you can convert the coordinates to a
usable format with a script.
A style object is a collection of drawing specifications for vector, CAD, TIN, and pinmap objects.
These specifications include such factors as color,size, and assignment of symbolic representation.
Symbols, line patterns, and fill patterns are also
stored in style objects. You need to select a styleobject before symbols become an option for the All
Same drawing style.

STEPS; delete added layers; click on the Add
Vector icon, choose
Quick-Add Vector, andselect STATES from the
UNTDSTAT Project File; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon and select the
CAPITALS object from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on [Styles] andselect STARS from the
SYMBOLS folder in the
STDSTYLE Project File*; on the Symbol panel,click on [Style] to the rightof the Symbol optionmenu; set the Point Type option
menu to Point Symbol; scroll through the list ofsymbols until
you find
STARRED3D,
click on it, thenclick [OK]; check that the
projection on
the Points
panel is
Latitude /Longitude; set the X field
to LONG, the Y field to
LAT, and the format to
DDDdddddd; click [OK] in the Pinmap
Layer Controls* For future reference
if you did a complete install,
STDSTYLE.RVC will also be in the directory on yourdrive where the TNTmips executables are found.

page 5; click on the Save
Group icon andcreate a STATECAP groupobject in your GSPINMAP
Project File

Pin Mapping

Selection and Style By Script
STEPS; choose Group /Close then click on
the New 2D Group icon
; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon and select the
ARTIFACTS object* from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on the Symbol tab,click on [Style] (to the rightof the Symbol optionmenu), and set the Point
Type to Circle (filled); click on [OK] in the Point
Style Editor window, then
set the Symbol option
menu to By Script; click on the Points tab,click on [X…], then doubleclick on EASTING; click on [Y…], then doubleclick on NORTHING; click on [Projection…] andselect UTM Zone 16

Record selection, symbol assignment, labels, andcoordinates can all be specified in a single script.
The corresponding option also must be set to By
Script for the relevant query statements to be used,
as shown by the initial display in this exercise. The“return” statement at the end of the script means that
only those records with a FREQUENCY greater than 19
will be displayed when the record selection method
is set to By Script.
You can specify drawing color using any colorname found in the RGB.TXT reference file or by
supplying percent red, green, and blue (separated by
spaces). In either case the color specification in the
DrawColor$ = statement must be in quotes. If shapeand size are not specified in the query, the lastsettings for All Same are used.
* The points in the
ARTIFACTS object
represent a subsetof the datacollected for the
Sayil Archeological
Project (Michael
P. Smyth andChristopher D.
Dore,
Principal
Investigators).

; click on the Script tab and,in the Query Specification
field, type the text exactly
as belowif (DATABASE.FREQUENCY > 39)
DrawColor$ = "cornflower blue";
else
DrawColor$ = "sea green";
return DATABASE.FREQUENCY > 19
; return to the Pinmap Layer
Controls window, click on
the Object tab, and set the
Records option to By
Script; click [OK]page 6

Pin Mapping

Symbols and Size By Script
You can specify a symbol from a selected styleobject either by the symbol name or the style name.
If the symbol in question uses elements of variable
color, the actual color is specified by the style if astyle is selected or by the color last chosen forsymbol display if only a symbol name is specified.

STEPS; return to the Pinmap
Layer Controls window
and click on [Styles] on
the Object panel

You need to include scaling information in the query
if you specify the symbol by its name. Scale information is included as part of the style definition and,
therefore, need not be in the script if a style name isspecified. The script in this exercise uses one of the
field values to determine the scale so that locations
where a greater number of artifacts were found are
represented by larger symbols.

; click on the Symbol tab
and click on [Style] at theright of the Symbol optionmenu; select the STYLECERAMIC
object from the GSPINMAP
Project File; click on the red tile in thecolor palette then on [OK]; choose Query / New on

The symbol name must be entered exactly as it
the Script panel and typein the text exactly as
appears in the style object. In situations where you
below
are not sure of a name or its capitalizaSymbol$="ceramic";tion, set the Symbol option menu to All
XScale = (DATABASE.FREQUENCY / 50);Same and click on the Specify button*. YScale = XScale;
Then set the Point Type to Point Sym- DrawSymbol = 1;bol (this choice is not active if you don’t return (DATABASE.FREQUENCY >= 25)
have a style object selected), and check the list to the ; click [OK], and observe
the style, distribution, andright of the color palette. Remember to set thesize of symbols
Symbol option back to By Script.
; return to the Pinmap
Layer Controls window; click on [Style] in the
Symbol panel; click on the blue tile in thecolor palette then on [OK]; click [OK] in the Pinmap
Layer Controls window* Assigning a style in ascript requires you to beeven more familiar with thestyle object because, at
this point, you have directaccess only to the list ofsymbols.

page 7

Pin Mapping

Symbol Angle and Multiple Pins
STEPS
; choose Group / Close
then click on theOpen icon in the
Spatial Data Display
toolbar, choose OpenGroup and select the
SCHOOLS group from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon, and select the
SCHOOLS object from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on the Symbol tab
and set the Symbol option
menu to By Script; type the text exactly as at
the right on the Script
panel in the Query
Specification field; click [OK]; repeat steps 2 and 3, thenchange the query so
DrawColor$ = “Green”
Angle = 0 and XScale =Mayors_Run._1996 / 10
; click [OK]; repeat steps 2 and 3, thenchange the query so
DrawColor$ = “Blue”
Angle = 310 and
XScale =Mayors_Run._1997 / 10

Each database record can produce only one pin in
the pinmap, so to look at information for one location on several dates, you need to have multiple
pinmap layers, each with a different drawing style(or you could use a pie chart or bar graph, which aredescribed later in this booklet, if that seems appropriate). To prevent pins in different layers fromobscuring one another, assign a different angle to thesymbols used in each layer.
This exercise maps the number of participants fromeach of seven schools in a 1-mile foot race in threesuccessive years. The years are distinguished bothby pin angle and color (all red pins, which are also
rotated 50° counter clockwise, represent the 1995
participants). The size of each pin is determined by
the number of runSymbol$ = "MapPinN2";
DrawColor$ = “Red”;
ners from the school
Angle = 50;
located at the point
DrawSymbol = 1;
XScale = Mayors_Run._1995 / 10; of the pin. Whenpinmap locations
YScale = XScale;
MapScale = 40000
are represented bysymbols, the “hot spot” is placed at the coordinate
location. For many symbols, such as those on thepreceding pages, the hot spot is in the center of thesymbol. For these map pin symbols, the pin point isa more logical choice.

; click [OK]The same database object
appears four times in thisgroup, once to identify school
locations with a representative
symbol, and once for eachyear in which race participation
is being mapped.

page 8

Pin Mapping

Simple Labels
You can use the value of any field in the database tolabel the pins. You can also enter a query to generate
the labels. The default position for labels is to theright of the pin. You can, however, position labels
wherever you want around the pin using the option
menu on the Symbol panel.
You need to add the labels to only one of the databasepinmap layers in this example since the pins represent the same location in each layer. You can,however, have labels in different layers at different
sizes if you choose. More advanced labeling features are described in the later
exercises (Multiple Line Labels and More About Labeling).
Select thefont from thescrolling listthat opens.
Click on tiles in thecolor palettes to set
the text color.
Set the characterstyle by clicking on
one or more of thesechoices (some are
mutually exclusive).

STEPS; click on the Database Pinmap icon in
the layer icon row for thebottom pinmap layer; click on the Symbol tab,then on [Label], anddouble click on School in
the Label window; click on [Base Style], thenon [Font] in the Text Style
Editor window, anddouble click on Arial.ttf (ora similar font); set the Ascender Height
to 12 Points at a map
scale of 40000 with the
Scale set to User-Defined; click on a blue tile for the
Foreground Color and awhite tile for the
Background Color; click on the Enhanced
check button to the rightof the color palettes, thenclick [OK] in the Text
Style Editor window; set the Label Position to
Lower Center then click[OK] in the Pinmap Layer
Controls window

Use ofenhanced
text helps toensure thatlabels will bevisiblewhether the
local background isdark or light.

page 9Pin Mapping

Dynamic Update
STEPS; choose Group /Close then click on
New 2D Group; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon and select the
GEOCHEM_CB object; check that the settings arestill the same as for the
exercise on page 4; click on the [Style] buttonon the Symbol panel andchoose Circle (Filled) for
the Point Type; click on [OK] in the Point
Style Editor and in the
Pinmap Layer Controls; click on the Show Details
icon for thepinmap layerthen on the Show
Tables icon
; click on the View
Table icon for the
Geochemistry table; in the new record, enter
the information shown
above the center pinmap; choose Record / New andenter the information
shown over the pinmap on
the right, then choose
Table / Close

You can update your pinmap during display byadding new records or changing existing records.
When coordinates are changed, the pins are moved.
These changes can be made during the display
process, or if the database is in an external format,
using its native software. During display, changes
are apparent as soon as the database is updated by
selecting another record or closing the table.
When you open a table in single record view with nopoints selected, the table is automatically positioned
at a new record. You then simply enter the information for the new record. You need to take someaction that indicates you are done with the record,such as closing the table or selecting another pin,
before the new pin is drawn.
If your tableopens
showingrows andcolumns
instead ofappearingas at theleft, choose Switch to Single
Record View from the Table menu
ObsNum: 11
X: 640759.83
Y: 4731825.48
Cu: 87
Pb: 627
Zn: 429

ObsNum: 12
X: 642763.89
Y: 4729854.62
Cu: 117
Pb: 414
Zn: 658

11
12

page 10

Pin Mapping

Pie Charts
Special query statements are available so you can STEPS
create pie charts and bar graphs to represent each ; click on the Database
Pinmap icon in the layers
data location. These special symbols can incorpoicon row
rate values from as many different fields as desired.
We will display over a raster object for this pie chartsample exercise. An outline around the pie and ; choose By Script from theSymbol option menu
between the wedges is an optional component of a
; click on the Script tab andpie chart so the background is relevant when choosenter the query as below,
ing its color. The color to use for this outline isthen click [OK]indicated at the beginning of the Symbol$ = PieChart$(“white”, Geochemistry.Cu,
Geochemistry.Pb, Geochemistry.Zn);
pie chart specification (here, it is
DrawSymbol= 1;“white”). If a color name is omitXScale = 5;
ted here, there will be no outline. YScale = 5;
You can add as many of the fields MapScale = 125000
as you want to a pie chart and the proportion of each ; click on the Add Raster
icon, choose Quick-Add
to the whole for that location will be reflected in theSingle and select _8_BIT
relative size of the wedges. The default colors
from the CB_COMP Project
assigned counterclockwise in order from the origin
File in the CB_DATA
collection
are red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, and thenrepeating if you have more than six fields. You can ; click on the Change
Order icon andalso specify the color for each wedge if desiredchoose Lower(consult the reference manual).
You are instructed to type
all the queries in thisbooklet to match the example provided. You
can, alternatively, use theInsert menu choices to
add most of the components of a query. Using
the Insert menu to build
queries is described in another booklet in this series (Getting Started:
Building and Using Queries).
Lead accounted for nearly half of the
dissolved chemicals found at the location
represented by this pie chart.

page 11

Pin Mapping

Bar Graphs
STEPS; click on the Add
Vector icon, choose
Quick-Add Vector, andselect HYDROLOGY from the
CB_DLG Project File; click on the Remove iconin the layer icon row for
the _8_BIT raster object
and choose Remove
Layer

The query to specify a bar graph is more complex
than that for a pie chart; a pie chart requires only thesymbol type, the fields to be included, and a size ata specified map scale. For a bar graph you also needto specify information for the surrounding rectangle, which is really two rectangles (one white andfilled, the other black and unfilled), the baseline (ifyou want one), and the field value equivalent to therectangle height.

You can include as many fields as you like in the bar
graph; the bars become narrower as more are included. You change the overall width of the bar
graph using the XScale parameter in the query. As
with pie charts, the color of the bars can be omitted
from the query and then are automatiSymbol$ =Rectangle$(0,0,1000,1000,0,"white",1) + cally assigned in the order red, green,
Rectangle$(0,0,1000,1000,0,"black",0) + blue, cyan, magenta, yellow.

; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for
GEOCHEM_CB and replace
the pie chart script withthe following

BarGraph$(750,"black",Geochemistry.Pb, "blue",
Geochemistry.Zn, "green",
Geochemistry.Cu, "red")+Line$(-100,0,1100,0,"black");
DrawSymbol = 1;
XScale = 5;
YScale = 7.5;
MapScale = 125000; click on [OK]The first value in the BarGraph$ portionof the script sets the rectangle height,
here 750. The color name that follows
the rectangle height is for the bar outline
if desired. The baseline length is determined by the Line$ part of the script andis relative to the rectangle coordinates
such that Line$(-100,0,1100,0, “black”)
specifies a black line that
extends 10% of the width
beyond a 1000 x 1000 rectangle both to the right and
left.

These bar graphsymbols present
values for thesame fields but ina different orderthan in the pie
chart exercise.

Approximately equal concentrations of lead and zinc were
found at the location represented by this bar graph.

page 12

Pin Mapping

Better Understanding Bar Graphs
Let's change a number of bar graph parameters so
you can see how each works. The one part of the bar
graph script you should not change is the size specified for the bounding rectangles. The bar graph itself
is scaled so the bars for all fields listed in the query
fit in a width of 1000 and the maximum field value
specified is represented by a height of 1000. The
units are arbitrary and used only so that the bounding
rectangles can fit the graph. The actual dimensionsof the bar graph are controlled by the XScale and
YScale assignments and the map scale specified. If
you change the width of the rectangle, the width of
the bar graph will exceed or fall short of the width of
the rectangle. If you change the height of therectangle, the maximum field value specified will
not occur at the top of the rectangle.
The bar graphs that correspond to observation numbers (ObsNum) 3 and 10 are used for the illustrations
on this page. All of your bar graph symbols willchange in a similar fashion since the script applies toall pins. Your sample data is not set up for the last
two examples, which include five additional fields
without color specification in the bar graph query.
As you can see below, adding more fields with thesame XScale specified makes each bar narrower.

as originallyspecified(3) baselinefrom ± 100
to ± 400(1) XScale and
YScale = 5

original specifications with 5
fields added

page 13

STEPS; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for
GEOCHEM_CB; change the YScale in thescript from 7.5 to 5
; click [OK], see (1) below; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for
GEOCHEM_CB; change the YScale backto 7.5, and change thefield value equivalent to
the rectangle height from750 to 1750
; click [OK], see (2) below; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for
GEOCHEM_CB; change the field value /height back to 750, andchange the Line$ statement from -100,0,1100,0
to -400,0,1400,0; click [OK], see (3) below(2) original X and Y scales
but the field value equivalent to the rectangle
height changed to 1750

XScale and
YScale = 7.5

Pin Mapping

Multiple Line Labels
Adding simple one line labels is described in an
earlier exercise. Some pin maps, such as pie chartsand bar graphs, benefit from multiple line labels.
The labels can include values for all of the fields; change the Line$
used in these special symbols or values for a subset
statement back to thatspecified on page 12of these fields. Field values can be reported with orwithout identifying text. You can also include a line
; add the three lines at theright to the end of theof text without an acscript exactly as shown
print (" Pb:", Geochemistry.Pb);
companying field value(there is a space between print (" Zn:", Geochemistry.Zn);
the initial quote and theprint (" Cu:", Geochemistry.Cu) if desired. An alternative method for enterelement identifier so thatthe label sits to the righting multiline labels uses the Label$ assignmentof the baseline)
statement listed for simple labels in combination; on the Symbol panel, clickwith text, integer field identifiers, new line specifion [Label] and doublecations, and field names. Consult the reference
click on By Script
manual for details on this more complex method of; click on [Base Style], thenlabel assignment.
click on [Font] in the Text
STEPS
; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for
GEOCHEM_CB

Style Editor window anddouble click on Arial.ttf (ora similar font); set the Ascender Height
to 10 Points at a map
scale of 100000 with the
At Scale option set toUser-Defined; click on the black tile (orwhite tile if you have a
black background) in the
Foreground palette; click [OK] in the Text
Style Editor window; click [OK] in the Pinmap
Layer Display Controls
window; exit the Display process

The labels report theconcentrations in parts per
million of the three chemicals inthese bar graphs.

page 14

Pin Mapping

Pasting a Pinmap into a Vector Object
The Copy and Paste features of TNTmips’ Spatial
Data Editor let you create point elements in a vector
object from a database pinmap using the specified
coordinate fields to position the database pins you
select. These point elements retain direct attachments to the corresponding records in the table,
which becomes part of the vector’s point database.
You can choose to copy elements from the entire
object or from a designated region, which may havebeen saved previously or can be drawn before copying is initiated. You may copy either all elements or
only selected elements from the designated region.
The object you are pasting the points into must be an
active editing layer while the pinmap can be a reference layer.

STEPS; select Edit / Spatial Data
from the main menu
; click on the Open
icon in the TNTmips
Object Editor window andselect HYDROLOGY from the
CB_DLG Project File; choose Add / Database
Pinmap from theReference menu andselect GEOCHEM_CB fromthe GSPINMAP Project File,and click [OK]; click on the Copy
icon in the Spatial
Data Editor View window,
and set the Region Typeto Entire Object; click on [Copy] in the
Copy Object window; click on the Selecticon for the HYDROLOGY
layer; click on the Paste
icon; click on [Paste] in the
Paste Placement Tool
window; click on the Save
As icon and savethe edited HYDROLOGY
object to a new file,adding POINTS to the object
name so you can’t
confuse it with the original
HYDROLOGY object

The Paste Placement tool
appears as a box with theextents of the copied
elements in the same position
as the originals. Generally,
this is the correct position for
pasting because it wasdetermined by georeference.
You can, however, move,resize, or rotate the box.

The original pinmap layer
has been hidden and thepoint display style is set tofilled circles that are larger
than the default size.

page 15

Pin Mapping

Designing Your Own Pinmap Symbols
STEPS; launch Display / Spatial
Data with a new 2D group; click on the Add
Database Pinmap
icon and choose the
ARTIFACTS object; click on the Symbol tab,
set the Symbol option
menu to All Same, andclick on [Style]; set the Point Type to
Point Symbol; click on the New
Symbol icon then on
the Rectangle icon in
the Symbol Editor
window; click on an orange tile inthe color palette, then turnon the Fill toggle; pull out a rectangle thatfills the bottom quarter or
third of the design area
and right-click to add it; click on a gray tile andchange the shape of therectangle tool to be thin,
extend to the top of thedesign area, and overlap
the first rectangle, thenright click

You can create your own symbols in any TNTmips
display process if a style object has been specified
for the pinmap. Since you can choose to create a newstyle object in the selection process, you can design
your own symbols to be added to an existing or newstyle object at any time by opening the control
window, designating a style object on the Object
panel, clicking on [Style…] on the Symbol panel,and clicking on the New Symbol icon. TNTmips
also has a separate Style Editor process (Edit /Styles) that lets you design point symbols, line
patterns, and fill patterns for use with any object type
without having a specific object selected for display.
The tools used in this exercise for symbol design areinteractive. A scripting language for precise, symmetric symbol design is also available.

design area

; click on the Polygon
tool; click on [Variable] anddraw a triangle as shown,then right-click

The All Same drawing
color, which is used as
the variable color, is set
to red in this example.

; click the Select icon
then on the gray, thinrectangle and next
on the Lower icon
; save your work, close thePattern Editor window,
choose your new symbolfrom the list, click [OK]and display

page 16

Pin Mapping

Creating Symbols from TrueType Glyphs
You do not have to rely on your own drawing
abilities to create pinmap symbols; you can paste andcolorize any glyph from a TrueType font. Some
fonts contain only one element in a glyph, whichmeans you cannot create a multicolored symbol
without adding to the design.
Symbol elements can have one color assigned and beeither filled or unfilled. Thus, to have an outline fora filled symbol, you need to add a
copy of the outermost element
and assign a contrasting color to it(without filling).
Symbol elements have an assigned
drawing order that may need to bechanged when the elements arefilled. If you fill an ele- The font size set does notment and can no longer affect the symbol, only thesize at which it is viewed
see another element that for selection.
should be on top of it, youneed to lower the former
element in the drawing
order.

Selected glyphs
appear in outline. If you
don’t see the selected glyph
in the design area, change the area’s background color.

STEPS; click on the Database
Pinmap icon in thelayer icon row; click on the Symbol tab,then on [Style]; click on the New
Symbol icon
; choose Open TrueType
Symbol from the Pattern
Menu in the Symbol Editor
window; select wingdings or someother TrueType font; scroll until you find aglyph you’d like to use,click on it, then click [OK]; select each element inturn, click on the color you
want in the palette (orchoose Variable), andclick on Fill; change the drawing orderof any element layered so
it hides another element; select the outermost
element again, choose
Copy from the Edit menu,
then choose Paste, andclick on [Apply] in the Box
Edit Controls window(without moving the box)
; click the Select icon,
select the new outermost element, click on theblack color tile, and turnoff the Fill toggle if on; save your work (Pattern /Save)

The pole and the background of the flag are a single
polygon in this glyph, so they can only be assigned asingle color. Several steps in the sequence of coloringand outlining the flag symbol are shown above.

page 17

single element

multipleelements

Pin Mapping

Table Viewing
STEPS; click on the Open
icon on the toolbar,
choose Open Group, andselect the STATECAP group
you saved on page 5; choose Options / Colors inthe View window, change
the Selected color togreen, then click [OK]; click on the Show Details
icon for thepinmap object,then on the Show
Tables icon
; right-click on the
POPULATION table name or
description, and turn off
the Tabular View toggle; click on the View
Table icon for the
POPULATION table

Database tables can be displayed in either single
record or tabular view. Each view type has its own
associated features. There are two methods to switch
between viewing modes: right-click on the tablename to turn on / off the Tabular View toggle orselect the other viewing mode from the Table menu
in the database table viewing window.
Single record view is often easiest for data entry
because a smaller window is needed to view all
fields. Also, for vector, CAD, and TIN objects, a
new record is created automatically when you clickon an element without a related record in a table.
Single record view, however, only presents information about the active
element and does nothave any of the element
selection features available intabular view.

; click on the Toolbox
icon, then on the
Rectangle icon, anddraw a rectangle that
includes the capitals of
the northeastern states

You have the option in tabular
view of viewing all records,
records related to all selected
elements, or only those records
related to the active element.
You can also select one or morerecords and click on an icon to select all the elements related to thoserecords.

; right-click and choose
Select Elements; choose Table / Switch to
Tabular view in the
database table window; click on each of the View
icons (in the toolbar below
the Record menu), andnote the differences in
information
shown

page 18

Pin Mapping

Selecting Pins
You changed the highlight color for selected elements in the last exercise because the symbol used
for the pinmap is red, which means selected elements
are indistinguishable from other elements unless thehighlight color is changed from red.
You can click on pins and view the related database
information, as you did in the last exercise, or selectrecords and view the associated pins. When you areselecting pins to view related records you want to bein either the View Active or View Selected Element
Records mode so all the records of interest will be inview in the table. You generally want to be in the
View All Records mode to choose records for use in
selecting pins.
You can choose to sort on any field for databaseviewing purposes. This table was initially sorted
alphabetically by capital city. After sorting by
population and selecting as described, all capitalcities with population > 250000 should be highlighted.
View Active Element Records
icons for element
selection fromselected
records

STEPS; click on the View All
Records icon
; widen the Populationtable so you can see thefifth field, or column(Pop), right -click on thefield name, and choose
Sort On This Field fromthe menu that pops up; scroll down until you see
a population >250,000
and click in the SelectRecord box (should be
St. Paul, MN); scroll to the bottom of thetable (after sorting,should be Phoenix, AZ),
hold the <shift> key andclick on the last SelectRecord box; click on the Exclusive icon

View Selected Element Records
View All Records

Exclusive1) click here3) click on the
Exclusive icon

4) the checks
are replacedby related
indicators…
2) hold down the <shift> key, thenclick in the last Select Record box…and the pins are
redrawn with selected elements in highlight

page 19

Pin Mapping

Pinmap from Vector Database Tables

STEPS; click on the Open
icon on the Display
Spatial Data toolbar,
choose Open Group, andselect BASINSANDSOILS
from the CENTROID ProjectFile; note how difficult it is todetermine which basins(wide, orange outline)
contain soil polygons witharea >200000 m2 (filled); click on the Hide/Show
icon for the CBSOILS_LITE
vector layer tohide the layer; click Hide/Show icon for
the POLYDATA pinmap layer
to show the layer; click on the Database
Pinmap icon for thepinmap layer and notethe settings in the
Pinmap Layer Controls
soil polygons less than
200000 m2 are not filledbasins and soil polygons(>200000 m2 filled)

You can create a pinmap from any database tablethat can be viewed in TNTmips and contains X andY coordinates in each record. The table need not be
part of a main level database object; it can be part ofthe point, line, or polygon database of a vector
object, for example. You might want to represent
soil polygons by their centroids when displayedover other polygonal data, such as watershed basins,
because multiple sets of polygon boundaries arevisually confusing. You can, however, readily visualize the number of different soil type polygons
within a watershed basin when soil polygon centroids are displayed with the watershed polygons.
Usable centroid coordinates are available for any
polygon-containing vector object that has a standard attributes table (polystats).
Pinmaps can also have a Z component provided byany field in the same table. You can use thisvalue to float the points over the surface. You
can connect these floating points to the surface by adding
the pinmap asecondtime and
total
using narrow
population
rectangular symbols with a Y Scale tied to the same field. (Symbols
are billboards and have no Z scale.) Although thiseffect can be created from a database pinmap, it isdone more easily and versatily
using vector
points (connecting line can use avariety of line
styles instead ofa single symbol).
basins and soil polygons(>200000 m2 centroids)

page 20

Pin Mapping

Pins to Vector Points for Theme Mapping
Pasting pins into an existing vector object as points
has been discussed. This exercise describes importing a database to create a new vector object for theme
mapping. Importing points from a database tableeliminates the fluid properties of a pinmap that allow
pin movement by simply changing coordinate values in the table. A theme map equivalent to thatcreated interactively for vector points can be generated for a pinmap by script, but writing such a script
is rather tedious. Creating a 500 point vector object
by import takes only about two seconds for theimport and less than a minute to set up. Interactive
theme map setup is also very quick.
You then need to consider the source and use of thedata to decide whether query writing or import is thebest choice for you. If the data is dynamic with pin
positions frequently changing, you should probably
write the appropriate query. If the data is static withpin positions based on past observations, import is
likely the way to go.
Accept thedefaults inthe upper
portion of
the Theme
Mapping
Controls
window.

STEPS; choose Process / Import/
Export, set the option
menus to Vector andImport, and double-clickon Database in the list offormats; set the Database Format
to RVC Database Object,
click on [Database] andselect ARTIFACTS from the
GSPINMAP Project File; click on [Table] and click[OK] in the SelectSubobject window; click on [Projection] andchoose UTM Zone 16; click on [X Column] andchoose EASTING (YColumn should be set to
NORTHING), then click[Import] and name thenew object in the GSPINMAP
Project File ARTIFACTPOINTS; open a new 2D group in
Spatial Data Display; click on the Add
Vector icon, choose
Add Vector Layer, andselect ARTIFACTPOINTS; click on the Points tab,
set the Style to By
Theme, and click on[Specify]; choose the DATABASE table
and FREQUENCY field, thenclick [OK]; open the Style Controls
panel, turn on the Spread
Size toggle, and set the
spread from 1 to 3 mm at
Layout Scale; choose Theme / Save,
accept the defaults, thenchoose Theme / Closeand display the object

Compare this depiction of theartifact data points with theversions presented on pages
6 and 7.

page 21

Pin Mapping

More About Labeling
STEPS; click on the New
2D Group icon

Designating label position from the option menu on
the Symbol panel was described on page 9. You canalso specify label position in the script, which lets
; click on the Add
you vary the position according to other pin atDatabase Pinmap
tributes. The label position is specified by including
icon and select the
SCHOOLS object from the“LabelPosn” in the script and assigning a value from
GSPINMAP Project File
1–9. The values are in a 3 X 3 grid as shown, such; click on [Styles] and1 2 3 that a value of 5 positions the label centeredselect STYLEPINS from the
4 5 6 over the pin, 1 positions the label above and tosame Project File
7 8 9 the left of the pin, and so on.
; check that the Symbol
Two additional terms can be added to a script tooption menu is set to All
Same and that the Point
modify the position of pinmap labels: LabelOffset
Type is specified as Point
and
Label
Symbol with school_p as
Angle.
The
dithe selected symbol
rectionforla; click on the Script tab andbel offset is deenter the query below in
the Query Specification
termined by thepanellabel position.
LabelPosn=2
Labels above
LabelOffset=5
the
pin
are
moved
up,
labelstotherightof the pin are
LabelAngle=20
moved
furtherright,
labelspositioned
diagonally; click [OK] and observefrom the pin are moved the specified offset distancethe resultin the two appropriate directions, and so on. The; return to the Pinmap
offset you specify is from the pin location to theLayer Display Controls
window and modify the
beginning of the label in the same units as thequery to match thesymbol size, which means the offset must be at least
second example below
half the symbol width or the label will cover part of; click [OK] and observe
the symbol. Unrotated labels without specified
the result
offsets do not collide with their associated symbols.
; try each of the four
Add a LabelAngle assignment to the query to set
examples and any otherpermutations you’d likelabel rotation. Rotation is specified in degrees anticlockwise around the label position.
LabelPosn=2
LabelOffset=5
LabelAngle=20
LabelPosn=1
LabelOffset=7
LabelAngle=90
LabelPosn=7
LabelOffset=5#LabelAngle=90

When you want to remove a statement from a query,
you can either delete the text (bottom right) or you
can comment it out by placing a # at the beginningof the line (bottom left). (Other SML conventions
also apply. See the tutorial booklet entitled Writing
Scripts with SML.)
LabelPosn=5
LabelAngle=-45

page 22

Pin Mapping

Further Notes on Pin Mapping
The last used display parameters for a databasepinmap are saved with the database object for use as
defaults the next time the database is selected forpinmap display. These display parameters include
the settings of all buttons and fields in the Pinmap
Layer Controls window and any entered query statements. When multiple pinmap layers of the same
database are used in a single layout, as in the Symbol
Angle and Multiple Pins exercise on page 8, these
multiple display parameters for a single databaseobject can be saved as a group or layout. The display
parameters for the last added pinmap layer will be
the ones retained for the next time the database is
selected as an individual pinmap layer, while all thedifferent parameters will be used to recreate theinitial display when the layout is opened.
You can save any entered pinmap script for later use
with the same or other database objects by choosing
Query / Save from the menu bar in the Script panelof the Pinmap Layer Controls. Obviously, any fieldnames in the script would have to be the same acrossobjects for an unmodified script to work with another object. You can always use one script as amodel for the next, changing field names and map
scales as necessary. You will get a syntax error in thequery if you forget to modify all field names to matchthe currently selected database.

All of thesesymbols are foundin the STYLEPINS
style object in the
GSPINMAP ProjectFile. Many moreare available in the
STYLE Project File
distributed with
TNT products (asample of thesesymbols is shownat the bottom leftof the page withmagenta as thevariable color).
Any of thesesymbols or
symbols of yourown design can beused with pin
maps or point
elements in vector
and CAD objects
and in the legends
you may include
when creating alayout.

Don’t forget, if you find asymbol you want that is acharacter in a TrueType font,
you can easily use it with yourpin maps or vector objects.
STEPS; click on the Preferences icon, choose
View Options, andturn off the first option on
the View tabbed panel(Redraw after any
change)page 23

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Index
3D pinmaps ............................................... 20
adding pins ............................................... 10
bar graphs ........................................... 12, 13
colors ...................................................... 6, 7
coordinate formats ...................................... 5
default settings ..................................... 4, 23
drawing color .............................................. 6
import vector points from database .......... 21
labelsangle ................................................ 22
offset ................................................ 22
multiple line labels .......................... 14
position ........................................ 9, 22
map scale .............................................. 8, 11
multiple line labels ................................... 14
pie charts ................................................... 11
pinmap to vector points ............................ 15
reference layers ..................................... 4, 11
scripts ............................... 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 23

selected element color .............................. 18
selecting pins ............................................ 19
single record view .................................... 18
sorting records .......................................... 19
style objects ................................................ 5
symbols
angle .................................................. 8
design ........................................ 16, 17
samples ............................................ 23
selecting ............................................. 5
TrueType ......................................... 17
tabular view ........................................ 18, 19
theme mapping ......................................... 21
variable color .............................................. 7vector database pins ................................. 21
viewing tables ........................................... 18
XScale ............................................. 7, 12, 13
YScale ............................................. 7, 12, 13

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