Q: How do I import ShapeFiles created for a TAP field strength study into Maptitude mapping software?

    A: TAP systems on Maintenance Subscriptions in effect on or after June 15, 2003, and updated to Build 908 or later, can export Tile, Radial, or Contour coverage calculations from TAP to ShapeFiles.

    ShapeFiles can be used with several other software packages.  A free ShapeFile viewer is available from ESRI.  ShapeFiles from TAP can be combined with other ShapeFiles (roads, building locations, etc.) available from numerous sources on the internet.

    March 2, 2011 Note:  The shapefiles for a coverage study are created automatically in TAP6 and do not need to be exported as described above for earlier versions.  The shapefile will be named with the Task Description you entered when you created the Task in HDCoverage.  The file will be located in a folder with that same name, in the /MAPPING/MAP FILES" folder where TAP is installed.

  1. Start by running Maptitude.
  2. Create a new Map, such as the state you need.
  3. At the Maptitude menu, Click File then Open
  4. Under the Files of Type pull down menu select: ESRI Shape (*.shp)
  5. Find the ShapeFile you created from a TAP Field Strength study, the default location will be the TAP ShapeFile folder (SWTAP\SHAPEFILES)
  6. Click Open.
  7. The "Import ESRI ShapeFile" form is displayed.
  8. Click the "Coordinates" button.
  9. For "Coordinate System" be sure "Longitude, Latitude" is selected and click OK
  10. On the "Import ESRI ShapeFile" form you can also edit the layer name (the default is the file name).
  11. Click OK to close the "Import ESRI ShapeFile" form.
  12. The Save As box will appear.
  13. Enter a file name for the Maptitude dbd file. This should be a name you will use to identify the information in the file later.  For this example, you can use "My Coverage.dbd"
  14. There will be progress bars displayed showing the status of building the new map of coverage information.
  15. The Map will open showing just the shapefile. Since no theme information has been assigned to the file, all the locations will appear the same.
  16. Select the state map by clicking your mouse on the map.
  17. Go to the Map menu.
  18. Select the layers option.
  19. Select the add layer button.
  20. Select the "My Coverage.dbd file" or the file name that you just created.
  21. Click open.
  22. Your file now shows up in the layer list.
  23. Be sure the coverage layer you added is highlighted in the list.
  24. Click the Style button.
  25. On the Style form, for the "Border Style" select None.  (Otherwise each tile will be bordered.  If the border color is different from the fill color, the map will be very difficult to read.)
  26. Select the move up button and move your file up in the list (the 2nd or 3rd layer is fine. You can change the location later if your data is covered up or covers up something else).
  27. Click close.
  28. The ShapeFile now shows on the map, but all the points look the same because no Theme information has been added.
  29. Be sure that your coverage layer you just added is shown in the Maptitude menu pulldown list.
  30. Next, select the Map menu and click the "Color Theme" item.  You can also click the Color Theme Map Wizard (This is a button with three triangles on the Maptitude toolbar. You can hold mouse the buttons to display the button function.)
  31. In the Field box, select DBU_FIELD. This is the field (or column) in the ShapeFile that contains the computed field strength value.
    March 2, 2011 Note:  For TAP TalkBack studies, the field will be the "TALKBACK" field in the shapefile database.  For assigning a Color Theme for a TalkBack study, see the section below.
  32. Maptitude offers various ways to automatically classify the data to be plotted., such as equal distribution of values, etc. Since we are plotting field strength information to see particular levels, we want to set the levels manually. Click the Manual button. This will bring up the Manual Theme box.
    1. The program will read the values from the database.
    2. The map will be redrawn with default levels, usually assigned as equal numbers of points in each level assigned by Maptitude.
    3. Usually, you will want to see field strength values computed in TAP that relate to particular receiver hardware configurations.
    4. For example, suppose you use the TAP Required Field utility to determine that the field strength necessary for a mobile receiver unit is 39 dBu, and a handheld unit requires 50 dBu. (These numbers are for this illustration only. You determine the actual values for your system based on receiver manufacturer’s specifications, system gains and losses, etc.)
    5. In this example, you will need to set up at three levels: -9999 to 39, 39 to 50, and 50 to 99999.
  33. In the Number of Classes box, type in the number of levels that you have (3 for example)
  34. In the Class Settings section, highlight each line in the Classes list.
  35. You will make these changes in Class Settings (as an example):
    1. First line: From -9999 (inclusive) to 39 (not inclusive). This will plot all the points with a field strength value below 39 dBu. In our example, these would be points with values below the minimum required field for any of the receivers under consideration.
    2. Second line: From 39 (inclusive) to 50 (not inclusive). This will plot all the points at 39 dBu and above (adequate for our sample mobile unit) but below 50 dBu (not enough for our sample handheld radio).
    3. Third line: From 50 (inclusive) to 9999 (inclusive). This will plot all the points at 50 dBu and above for service to the handheld units.
  36. When you are finished setting the values, click the Styles tab. This will allow us to set the graphical information for each of the value ranges, or "classes".
  37. In the Styles box, you can select each of your levels and give a name to each level to appear in a legend.
    1. When you highlight one of the levels, type in a name for the legend. In the example, the legends could be:
    2. "No Service" for the –9999 to 39 range
    3. "Mobile Service" for the 39 to 50 range
    4. "Handheld Service" for the 50 to 9999 range.
    5. Then click the Style button.
    6. Select the color, icon, and size of the icon. Click OK.
    7. Repeat the Style process with each of the levels until you have the colors, icons, and legend names the way you want it.
  38. Once you have finished the style process, click on Apply.
  39. Click OK to close the Color Theme form.
  40. The ShapeFile of coverage information should now be displayed in its own window with the theme information applied.
  41. Your coverage study now shows on map.
  42. Your map and legend are now in a readable form.

TalkBack Studies in Maptitude

For TalkBack studies, instead of plotting ranges of field strength values as described above, you will plot two or more categories, such as "No TalkBack Service" and "My Mobile" where each talkback level computed is labeled with the description of the Mobile Facility database record used for the talkback calculation, such as "My Mobile" in this example.

For a TalkBack study in Maptitude, follow steps 1 to 31 as described above, then use this procedure to assign properties (color, etc) to the TalkBack categories.

  1. On the Color Theme Layer form click the "Settings" tab.
  2. In the "Field" box, select the TALKBACK data field.
  3. In the "Method" box, select "List of Values"
  4. The "# Classes" value will be set automatically after you set the "Styles" value.
  5. Click the "Styles" tab.
  6. You should see an entry for "No TalkBack Service" plus one entry for each Mobile Facility used. (Ignore the "Other" item.)
  7. Select each of the entries and click the Style button to select the color and fill pattern you want for each level.
  8. When you are done, click the OK button to display the TalkBack study on the Maptitude map.

 

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