neoMapper

• Installing and ordering neoMapper Standard
• Preparing your data
• Creating your Google Earth file
• Advanced configuration
• Using your Google Earth file
• Sharing your maps

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Installing and ordering neoMapper Standard

1. Download the evaluation version of neoMapper Standard from our download page. This version is free, yet only 50% of your data is processed and integrated in your maps.
2. Install neoMapper Standard. Just double-click on the downloaded
   “setup.exe” file and follow the instructions.
3. Start neoMapper Standard (Start menu -> Program -> neoMapper -> neoMapper Standard USA). The welcome screen lets you either continue the evaluation or upgrade to the full version. If you continue the evaluation, the welcome screen can be later accessed by the menu “Help -> Enter activation code”.
4. Order neoMapper Standard. Copy your license number presented on the welcome screen. Next, purchase your activation code in our online shop.
5. Activate your full version of neoMapper Standard. You receive your activation code by email. Enter it on the welcome screen to activate your license.

To display Google Earth files created by neoMapper Standard, you must first install Google Earth.

Preparing your data

Before creating your Google Earth file, it is necessary to export the data you wish to integrate in your maps from your information system. The file to export is a list of contacts organized in a table with mandatory and optional fields.

Creating maps requires the following mandatory fields:

• The name of the contact.
• The zip code of the contact (5 digits).
• The name of the city of the contact.

The optional fields enable enhancing of your maps:

• The address of the contact, enabling detailed directions in Google Maps.
• The type of the contact: a field qualifying the contact, for example client, prospect, supplier, etc. This field enables creating maps per type of contact. At most, 5 different types can be processed.
• Indicators: any quantified information you wish to visualize as County and State level maps, for example turnover, sales, incoming calls, etc. You can visualize up to 3 indicators.
• Any other complementary information, such as telephone number or status, which you wish to display in your maps (contact balloons).

The following file formats are accepted: Text (TXT, CSV) and Microsoft Excel (XLS, XLSX).

Tip: target your analysis

Make partial exports from your database by filtering the contacts on particular criteria (e.g. clients of a given product category). Next, create several Google Earth files per theme.

Creating your Google Earth file

To view Google Earth files created by neoMapper Standard, you must first install Google Earth.

Start neoMapper Standard (Start menu -> Program -> neoMapper -> neoMapper Standard USA). If you have not yet ordered your activation code, the welcome screen lets you either continue your evaluation or order the full version. Next, the main window of neoMapper Standard opens.

Follow the next steps:

1. Select the input file with your contact data.
   If the first row in your file does not contain the field names, deactivate this option.

   If you use a file in Text format, the magnifying glass button right to the input field enables a view of your input file in table format. This is particularly useful to validate or manually select the field separator (tab, comma, semicolon or space) which is normally detected by neoMapper.

2. Select the fields of your file to define the links to the information that neoMapper Standard uses to create your maps.
   Only the fields Name, Zip code and City are mandatory. The other fields are optional and can be activated or deactivated (see above for their use).
3. Select the output directory where the Google Earth file will be saved.
4. Click on the “Create Google Earth file” button. This button stays deactivated as long as the configuration is incomplete or invalid.
   The created file is directly opened in Google Earth.

It is not necessary to recreate the Google Earth file each time you want to view it. The file is created and saved in the output directory. You can open it with a double click in the windows explorer. However, to update the Google Earth file with regards to an update of your contact data, export your data again and recreate the Google Earth file.

It is possible that some contacts of your database cannot be geolocated by neoMapper because their address (combination of city and zip code) could not be identified. In this case the following message appears:

Click on the Details button to display the list of non-identified contacts. Click on the OK button to continue the creation of the file. The rejected contacts are excluded from the Google Earth file.

To have the rejected contacts included anyway, correct their addresses (combination of city and zip code) in your database, export your contacts again, and recreate the Google Earth file.

Advanced configuration

The Advanced configuration button on the main window gives access to a set of options to personalize and enrich your Google Earth files.

You can specify the name of the output file and optionally add the creation date to the filename. If you create several files on the same day, rename them to avoid the files being overwritten.

You can also specify the title of the maps displayed in Google Earth, including or not the creation date.

You can select different types of maps (per level of administrative unit) that you wish to include in the Google Earth file to create.

You can also choose to include socio-economic statistics (number of inhabitants, average income, etc.).

You can add complementary information in the contact balloons. This information must be present in the input file as separate fields (up to 3). It is possible to personalize their labels displayed in the contact balloons.

The labels of the mapped indicators can also be personalized (by default the name of the used field). This allows for example to show the nature or unit of an indicator.

Using your Google Earth file

Opening your Google Earth file

After its creation, the Google Earth file is automatically opened in Google Earth. You can also open a Google Earth file with a double click in the windows explorer or by the menu in Google Earth (File -> Open).

Important tips for using Google Earth

• Install the latest version of Google Earth for optimal viewing. Click here to download Google Earth (version 5.x).
• Delete unnecessary maps to lighten up viewing. Press the right mouse button on the elements to delete in the “Places” panel (in “My Places” and in “Temporary Places”) and click on “Delete”.
• Only view relevant information: Clear the “Primary Database” checkbox in the “Layers” panel. Next check the layers that interest you (for example “Roads”).
• On closing Google Earth, reply “No” to the following question “You have unsaved items in your Temporary Places folder. Would you like to save them to your My places folder?” to avoid multiple versions of your maps.

See our Google Earth user manual for complete explanations on how to use Google Earth.

Exploring your maps

Your created maps (geographic information layers) are located in the “Temporary Places” folder in the “Places” panel. The map layers are organized in a tree structure.

To open and close folders in this tree structure, click on the and  icons.

To show or hide a map layer, (un)check the  or icons (the latter type indicating that only one map layer of the folder can be displayed at the time).

In the “Contacts” folder:

• A point map layer for each type of contact (if you do not have different types of contacts, only one map layer is created). In our example, the two types are “Client” and “Prospect”. A point appears in the center of each city where any contacts are located. The size of the point varies with the number of contacts. Clicking on a point opens an information balloon with the list of the contacts in the city. The information presented depends on your configuration. If you specify an “Address” field, a link in the balloon enables direct access to detailed directions in Google Maps.

In the “Administrative boundaries” folder:

• Cities: a point in the center of each city (only cities with more inhabitants than the threshold selected in the advanced configuration). The size of the points varies with the number of inhabitants. Clicking on a point opens an information balloon with the number of contacts per type, the selected indicators (summed over all contacts in the city), as well as socio-economic statistics such as number of inhabitants.
• Counties and States boundaries. Clicking on the center of a county or state opens an information balloon with the number of contacts per type, the selected indicators (summed over all contacts in the county or state), as well as socio-economic statistics such as number of inhabitants, area, density, average income.

In the “Maps” folder:

• A series of maps of Counties and States with a colored legend depending on the mapped information: the summed indicators, the number of contacts per type, the number of inhabitants, the average income.

Sharing your maps

Several ways exist to share and disseminate your maps:

• You can send the Google Earth file by email or share it by means of any other internet related support (e.g. an intranet). The created Google Earth files are stored in the specified output directory.

In Google Earth, you can also:

• Print a screen capture (menu File -> Print).
• Save a screen capture as an image file (menu File -> Save -> Save Image).
• Send a screen capture by email (menu File -> Email -> Email Image).