Step 2 - Choose Map Key

Now you will choose which map keys to include in the SMZ file. You can then change some options that will affect rendering of the map. The subsequent steps in the Map Conversion Utility include a preview of the map. The rendering options that you choose will be used to generate the map preview.

Choose primary map key. Select the attribute that is the primary key for identifying and labeling features in the map. For example, a world map's primary key may be the attribute identifying country names. The primary key will also link your data to the map features, so be sure that the values (labels) of the attribute you choose will match the values in your data. Example labels are displayed when you choose an attribute. If you need to change these labels, you will be able to do so in a later step.

Choose additional keys to include. In addition to the primary map key, check any other key attributes that you want to include in the generated SMZ file. For example, some attributes may contain translated labels. If you expect data coded in other languages, you may want to preserve these attributes. Note that you can choose only those additional keys that represent the same features as the primary key. For example if the primary key were the full names of U.S. states, you can select only those alternate keys that represent U.S. States, such as state abbreviations.

Automatically smooth the map. Shapefiles with polygons typically contain too many data points and too much detail for statistical map visualizations. The excess details can be distracting and negatively impact performance. You can reduce the level of detail and generalize the map with smoothing. The map will look crisper and render more quickly as a result. When the map is automatically smoothed, the maximum angle is 15 degrees and the percentage to keep is 99. For information about these settings, see Smooth the map . Note that you have the opportunity to apply additional smoothing later in another step.

Remove boundaries between touching polygons in the same feature. Some features may include sub-features that have boundaries internal to the main features of interest. For example, a world map of continents may contain internal boundaries for the countries contained within each continent. If you choose this option, the internal boundaries will not appear in the map. In the world map of continents example, choosing this option would remove the country borders, while retaining the continent borders.