This loads a map from a Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) file or an ArcView SHP file. The map objects are placed on the same map that is already open in your project. The new map will use the same coordinate system as your existing map. If the map disappears after loading, it may be because the two maps are located a great distance from each other (e.g. one site in New York and one site in California) and cannot be properly scaled to your screen. You will usually want to load a map into a project whose map is still blank.
DXF files often organize map lines into layers. When loading a DXF file, you will be presented with a Map Layer selection dialog , which allows you to choose which layers to load. The dialog also contains a Z-Offset, which allows you to place the map vertically in space. This is useful for loading multiple floors for a single building.
When loading an SHP file, you will be presented with a Map Z-Offset dialog that allows you to place the map vertically in space.
VSP will detect when your SHP might be a Latitude / Longitude map. If this is the case, VSP will present you with a Coordinate System dialog. This dialog allows you to convert the map to a projected coordinate system as it is loaded.
SHP files that contain points will be loaded as Sample points. If any points are outside of existing Sample Areas, VSP will automatically create a new Sample Area to contain them.
If the database file (DBF) associated with the SHP file is located in the same folder, VSP automatically detects it and presents you with a dialog that allows you to choose to import information from the database file. You can choose which fields (if any) to import and choose where to put the information. The destination choices depend on the SHP file type:
For Polygon type SHP files:
Can be imported into any Sample Area parameter that is not read-only
New User-Defined Parameter. Note: you will choose the type (integer, real, text, logic, date-time) for the User-Defined Parameter and it will have the same name as the source database field.
For Point type SHP files:
Z-Coordinate
Sample Label
Data Value
Historical Flag
New User-Defined Parameter. Note: you will choose the type (integer, real, text, logic, date-time) for the User-Defined Parameter and it will have the same name as the source database field.
Shortcut
Toolbar: