Compare to an External Data Source dialog box

The Compare to an External Data Source dialog box allows you to open a tab-separated values file (with a .txt extension), a comma-separated values file (with a .csv extension), or a data file formatted for IBM® SPSS® Statistics (with a .sav extension). When the file is open, you can select a field in the data file to compare to the feature labels in a specific map key. You can then correct any discrepancies in the map file.

Fields in the data file. Choose the field whose values you want to compare to the feature labels. If the first row in the .txt or .csv file contains descriptive labels for each field, check Use first row as column labels. Otherwise, each field will be identified by its position in the data file (for example, "Column 1", "Column 2", and so on).

Key to compare. Choose the map key whose feature labels you want to compare to the data file field values.

Compare. Click when you are ready to compare the values.

Comparison Results. By default, the Comparison Results table lists only the unmatched field values in the data file. The application tries to find a related feature label, usually by checking for inserted or missing spaces. Click the dropdown list in the Map Label column to match the feature label in the map file to the displayed field value. If there is no corresponding feature label in your map file, choose Leave Unmatched. If you want to see all field values, even those that already match a feature label, clear Display only unmatched cases. You may do this if you want to override one or more matches.

You can use each feature only once to match it to a field value. If you want to match multiple features to a single field value, you can merge the features and then match the new, merged feature to the field value. For more information about merging features, see Merge features .