Section 3.0: Export an AOI Map Package

BAGIS V3 includes the capability to export a complete set of AOI maps and charts to .pdf format. This allows the AOI to be shared with people who do not have access to BAGIS V3 or ArcMap. Our goal is to support sharing the AOI documents on the NWCC ArcGIS portal.

Prerequisites: These instructions assume that the analyst has already selected an AOI and configured the parameters (elevation and precipitation zone thresholds) to generate the maps and charts on the Map Settings form. The Generate Maps menu item is only enabled when an AOI is selected in BAGIS V3. The Tables and Maps buttons are only enabled on the Map Settings form when the parameters have been selected and the zones generated.

Generating a map package without customizations

• 1. Open the Map Settings form by clicking on the Generate Maps menu item

  2. Click on the Maps button in the lower right-hand corner of the form to add the formatted maps to the ArcMap viewer. If the Maps button is disabled, it is likely because the zones have not been generated.

• 1. The ArcMap Table of Contents will update as the map layers are added to the viewer. The message: 'Please use the menu items to view maps!' indicates that all of the required maps have been added to the viewer. Close the Map Settings form.

  2. Note that the 'Publish Current Map' and 'Publish Map Package for Web' items are now enabled on the Analysis and Maps menu

• 1. Click on the 'Publish Map Package for Web' menu item to launch the Publish Map Package screen.

• 1. The fields on the Publish Map Package screen are:

     1. Publish Folder: this read-only field indicates the folder where the map and chart .pdf files will be published. The maps_publish folder is a top-level folder in the AOI folder.

     2. Published By: this optional, editable field may be used to indicate the creator of the .pdf document(s). When the document is created, the publisher's name will be listed on the title page, if it is provided.

     3. Publisher Comments: this optional, editable field may be used to add comments to clarify the contents of the map package. These comments are included on the title page for the map package.

     4. There is a table that lists the file names and publish dates for the six maps that may be included in the map package. If a .pdf version of the map exists in the export folder, the Published column reflects the date that the .pdf document was created. These dates will be populated if a map package was previously generated or if individual .pdf map documents were created to accommodate map customizations.

  2. Click the Publish Map Package button in the lower-right hand corner to initiate the publishing process. BAGIS will check to see if an existing map package exists. If there is an existing map package, BAGIS will ask for permission to overwrite it. Overwriting a map package deletes the full map package document and the charts.

  3. There may also be existing maps but no old map package. In this case, BAGIS will ask if the existing maps should be overwritten or merged with missing maps that will be generated during the process. If the existing maps are overwritten, their associated .mxd map documents will also be deleted.

  4. The publishing process takes a few minutes while BAGIS publishes each map (as needed), generates the Excel charts, publishes each chart, generates the title page, and then concatenates all of the documents together into a single .pdf document. BAGIS also leaves the single-page copies of each document in the folder. See the appendix at the bottom of this document for the file names included in a Map Package.

Customizing a map before including it in a map package

There may be a need for the analyst to customize the layout of a map or maps before including them in an AOI map package. This need commonly arises when the shape of the AOI overlaps with the default placement of one or more of the map elements.

• 1. Follow steps 1 to 3 for generating a default map package to select the AOI and add the default maps to the ArcMap viewing window

  2. IMPORTANT: BAGIS determines the file name for the map being customized using the name of the currently selected map. So, if the slope map needs to be customized, use the Slope Distribution menu item from the BAGIS V3's Analysis and Maps pull-down menu to bring the slope layers to the forefront before customizing.

  3. After the map has been customized, use the 'Publish Current Map' button on the Analysis and Maps menu to publish the contents of the viewing window to a .pdf document in the maps_publish folder. Per step 2, the file name for the map .pdf is determined according to the last map button clicked. In the example from step 2, the .pdf file name will be map_slope.pdf.

  4. Before proceeding, BAGIS will check to see if an existing map package exists. If there is an existing map package, BAGIS will ask for permission to overwrite it. Overwriting a map package deletes the full map package document and the charts. BAGIS will also check to see if a .pdf with the same file name exists (the same map type) and ask for permission to overwrite it.

  5. After publishing the .pdf map document, BAGIS automatically saves the current map document (.mxd) to the maps_publish folder. The name of the .mxd is the same as the .pdf, but with a different file extension. In the example from step 2, the .mxd file name would be map_slope.mxd. You can re-use an .mxd as long as all the prerequisites have been met for map publishing. Also, don't forget to click the menu item for the desired map from the Analysis and Maps pull-down menu to tell BAGIS V3 the map type is being published.

  6. When all desired custom maps have been created, use the 'Publish Map Package for Web' menu item to publish the complete map package.

Appendix

The following pages make up a map package. Not all pages will always be present. For example, if there are no SNOTEL sites in the AOI, the SNOTEL maps and charts will be absent; If there is no subrange configured, there will be no subrange charts. Note that users can only create customized maps but not charts when publishing AOI analysis results.