Group Properties

Select an existing template group from the list.

Use this button to delete the current group from the template.

This field can be used to rename the current group. No two items (views and groups) can have the same name. It is usually a good idea to pick a name for the base group at this stage (e.g. ViewTitles_Title1 or Margins_TextBlock2) because a template can quickly grow to contain many base groups and it makes template management simpler.

The contents of this control depend on the type of group selected. The properties can either be regular text (in which case they can be changed by just typing something after selecting the desired property) or they can have editors that become active once the property is selected. An example of the latter is a colour picker (which will manifest as a drop-down button).

Once a property becomes selected, the bottom pane will provide information or tips about its usage.

View Properties

Select an existing view in the template. The Base view is a special case and will always exist in this list.

When the Base view is selected the properties here will provide ways to change the units, paper size and orientation or to setup the map template to fit its paper size to an existing view in the template based on the data extents and margins defined.

The properties for a currently selected data view can be adjusted here. The view name can be changed and fixed data extents can be assigned to the view using one of the buttons at the bottom.

Once a view has defined coordinates the desired scale as well as the properties of the coordinate grids output will become available.

The scale can be left blank in which case a good default depending on the positioning of the view on the map layout will be chosen. Otherwise the view will be sized to a layout extent that matches the desired coordinates and scale chosen. Usually when a specific scale is desired a user may choose to fit the Base view to the data view and pick margins and linking properties for the other items in the template to position things nicely.

As with the group properties the bottom pane will give some information or tips about a selected property’s usage.

Use this button to define X, Y extents and possibly a projection for the current Data view.

Use this button to define Lat, Long extents and a projection for the current Data view.

Use this button to get an indication of the current scale given the chosen data extents and coordinate parameters based on the placement of the view in the map layout.

Use this button to clear all coordinate information from the current view.

Template

Edit the description for the current map template. When a map template is added to the library, this description will be used to give more information on the information pane on the Add Template dialogs.

Library

When a template is ready to be added to the library, enter a valid name for it here, and use the Add to Library button to add it.

The library templates can be found in the %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Geosoft\Desktop Applications \maptemplate folder.

Click the button to add a template to the library once an appropriate description and name have been entered for it.

Click on the Manage Template Library button to manage the templates that are currently in the library. Management functions include changing names and descriptions as well as deleting existing templates from the library.