Before the actual map shows up, you must add your map layers. Click the "Add Layer" button from the bottom of the screen and browse to the folder where you copied your ESRI map files. Select any of the available .shp files from your Map Layer folder and you will then be prompted to choose settings for that Map Layer. The layer name is extracted from the actual .SHP file name, so you can not change this. The Layer Type is a "User Defined" value, so you can choose a value from the drop down list, or type in your own description, if you prefer.
Use Map Designer to set up how you want your map layers to appear. Once happy with the settings, they can be easily transferred to each of your mobile computers.
Note* If you choose "Save Settings as Default" before pressing the "SAVE" button, your Layer Properties dialog will remember your Layer Preferences next time you Add or Insert a layer. This is especially useful for not having to locate your .SHP files "Projection System" during the creation of your Map Layer Set.
The Layer Properties dialog can also be used to adjust the color used for the layer, the line style, line width, and fill style. You can also change these values for each layer on the main Map Designer screen after they have been added into the map set. The most complicated setting is the "Projection System," as described above. It is critical that you select the proper Projection in Preferences. Once you have added all your map layers, click Save to save all of your settings.
The map still does not show up on the screen until you select one of the addresses from the list on the right. Click on any address and then click the Load Map button, or double click on an address to load it. The map is then loaded with the selected address shown in the center. The address is located on the map based on the Latitude and Longitude coordinates that are in the First Look Pro database. If, for some reason, the building does not appear to be at the correct location, you may want to use the “Verify the Latitude/Longitude” command on the File menu to obtain the correct values.
If one layer is covering up another layer, use the up and down arrow buttons in the lower-left of the screen to change the order of how the layers are displayed. In this example, we moved the layer called “cityboundary” to the bottom of the list so all the other layers are drawn on top of the filled city boundary.
Be sure to click the Save button to save all your Layer Settings!
The figure below shows what First Look Pro Map Designer looks like after adding several other Layers and setting the colors, line styles, and fill styles to obtain the desired look for the map.
