Join Table

Join Table provides the ability to merge tables from another layer and external data tables directly into an existing MAP Layer attribute schema in order to create a single extended attribute table. The following formats are supported:

•dBase file IV (dbf)

•Delimited XY Text (csv, tsv, txt)

•Microsoft Excel (xls, xlsx)

•Spatial Data Transfer Standard (catd.ddf)

When exporting tables from spreadsheet applications for use with MAPublisher, the preferred format to use is Delimited Text as they have the widest range of compatibility.

 dBase tables created or edited in Microsoft Excel must have a proper data type assigned to each column through cell formatting before being saved as DBF. For example, numerical values specified in a cell set with the format "General" will be imported as an Integer type by default, therefore losing all decimal values.

Requirements

In order to join a table into an existing attribute schema, both MAP Layer and data table must share at least one common attribute column with matching values. The column must be of a matching type (i.e. String, Real, Integer, Boolean) in both the Source and the Destination table. If not, the join may not be successful.

Using Join Table

Click the Join Table button or choose Join Table in the MAP Attributes panel options menu.

Source type

Click the Source type dropdown list to choose either an external file or an existing MAP Layer as the data source.

If MAP Layer is selected as the source type, use the Document dropdown list to select the document containing the MAP Layer. 

If External file is selected as the source type, click the Browse button to locate and import the data table. When a Microsoft Excel file is selected, use the Worksheet drop-down list to specify the sheet to be used for joining.

Select a column in the Matching Column drop-down list. This is the source attribute column to join on.

In MAPublisher, double-byte characters are supported in attributes on import, allowing such attributes to be used for labeling and export. To assign a codec suitable for a selected dataset, choose an appropriate entry from the Encoding drop-down list.

If the table contains column names as headers, check the Use first line as header option. If it does not contain headers, do not check this option and each column will be assigned a default heading name: Column1, Column2, etc.

The option to select a table from a MAP Layer was introduced in version 11.5.

Destination

The Target Layer is specified under the Destination section. Choose an attribute from the Matching Column drop-down list. This column must match the format and values as the column chosen as the Source Matching Column to achieve a proper join.

Additional Option

When the Case sensitive when matching option is checked, the column entries from the two matching columns will only be matched by case. When the Add matching column from source option is checked, the source column is also imported and the column name is appended with the number 1. The Update existing columns instead of adding columns when possible option attempts to update attributes instead of appending more columns to the table.

 Attribute names can not contain all numbers. If a source column name contains all numbers the column is joined but the attribute column name is changed to Attribute1, Attribute2, etc.