Autobound 9 Training

Training Guide

What is autoBound?

Redistricting Data Development

Census Data Import

Incorporate Voter Files (Geocode/Aggregate)

Incorporate Election Results (Disaggregation)

Calculate new data columns

Quality Control

Plan Management

Plan types – House/Senate/Congressional Single/Multi-County/User Defined

Plan Storage and Access by users

Plan Development Plan Management

Plan Editing

Analysis – Comparison/Constituency/Compactness

Output – Reports/Maps/Internet

Architecutre Data – ESRI Shape Files

Automated – Files used to run automated redistricting

Calculations – Temporary copy of the DB used during Calculations

Geocoded Voters - Voter Files

Incumbents – Geocoded Location of Voters

Merge – Temporary copy of the DB used during Dissaggregation

Statewide – Completed Database file

Styles – Labeling Styles

Thematic Maps – Arcview Layer Files containing Thematic demographics

2000 Plans – 2000 Plans in autoBound format

Workspaces – ESRI File Goedatabases ABPlans – Default Workspace for autoBound

Active Matrix – Custom Active Matrix for plan type

Coalition.gdb – Coalition Manager Files

Congressional Plans (User Created Plan Type)○ A PA Test Plan (User Created Plan)

House Plans (User Created Plan Type)

Incumbents – Folder where incumbents for this plan typeare stored

Senate Plans (User Created Plan Type)

Architecture Program

Program Files (x86) on 64 bit systems

Program Files on 32 bit systems

Contains the autobound software

Analysis – ESRI Layer Templates for View Manager

Georules – Geocoding Rules

Google – Template files for plan output to the Internet

Graphics – Graphics used in Map production (Flags etc.)

Layerbackup – Plan Templates, Map Layers for plans

Reports – report templates in Crystal format

RES – Icons used by autobound

Support – Additional Graphics used by the software

Themes – System and user created map themes used for redistricting

Upgrades – Upgrades to the software downloaded by the autoboundadministrator.

Installation Download autoBound from Citygategis.com

If you are running autoBound on Windows Vista or Windows 7, then you must be

logged in as an administrator AND run all programs listed on this page as

Administrator by right-hand clicking on the application and selecting run as

administrator

autoBound installer will attempt to register itself to the Windows

Register. Some Antivirus and Spamware products prevent edits to

the registry. You may need to disable these products beforehand.

Run the Executable using the password provided to you and follow the instructions

After the completion of the installation run the Autobound 9 Administrator from your

desktop

Click Yes to Register the Extension with Arcview

Configuration Run the Desktop Administrator from your desktop. If this is the first time you are

running it, then right hand click and run as Administrator.

If prompted to register with Arcview, select Yes.

Click Ok, a password is not required unless you set it in the Configure my Autobound

Installation menu.

A yellow triangle indicates that portion of configuration has not been completed.

A Green Check indicates the task has been completed.

Select Configure my autobound installation.

Enter the Installation Key provided to you by Citygate. If you do not have a serial number

then your data set will be limited to the State of Indiana.

If you plan to share your plans with others using Google maps then you will need a Google

key for your website. Click “Get Google Map Key” button to start the process

If you plan to use autobound in a standalone mode, then select the top option in the “How

autobound is used menu”. Otherwise, select the bottom option

In single user mode, the software does not enforce any permission settings

If you have selected multi-user environment, then you can set passwords for the Autobound

Administrator and register with Citygate’s Redistricting USA website for sharing plans.

Configuration Select “Setup defaults for my State

Select your state

Enter your Agency Name. This text will appear at the bottom of your reports

Select the layers used for redistricting. Typically, County, Voting Districts and Blocks

Select the folder used to store the Census and other data

Select “Setup or manage workspaces and libraries The Configure Workspace tab allows you to create the areas to store plans

Choose the Master Workspace Folder. This folder will be used to store all created plans

Workspaces are folders created under the Master workspace folder

AB Plans is created by default

You can create other workspaces by clicking the plus button

The Configure Plans tab allows you to create plan type and setup and the default workspace

where they are stored.

Plan types can also include incumbent files. Incumbents files are point shape files containing

the location of the incumbents.

Including additional information such as Name, Party and Picture allows

the information to be displayed during redistricting

Configuration Select “Setup or manage workspaces and libraries - Continued

The Configure Active Matrix Tab allows you to configure tables which display the results of

the redistricting process. Available fields are displayed on the left.

Use the add button to add fields from the table to the spreadsheet.

You can also use the spread sheet editor by clicking to perform more complex editing tasks by

clicking the “Launch Workbook Designer” button.

Spreadsheets can be saved for specific plan types or custom created.

Use the Save As button to create custom spreadsheets.

During redistricting various spreadsheets can be swapped in and out of plans.

This option allows you to have political information displayed for some redistricting sessions

and Census only for others.

Select Allow users access to autobound○ If Networked environment was selected in the Configure My autobound option then you

must give users access to autobound using this tool.

○ Use the Plus button to add a user.

○ Select the user and change their access settings using the check boxes on the right.

○ Click Apply modifications to save your changes.

Database development Select Manage my Census and Political Data to access data management

tools in autoBound.

Select Load Census Data for My State to install 2010 Census Data. This option allows you to download the Census data for your state. Currently 2000 Census with

2009 population projections are available through this site.

You must have the ability to FTP, if you wish to use this service. If FTP is not available to you,

you can request the file on CD or make other arrangements to receive the file.

You can directly download files from Citygate, from and CD/DVD or a network location.

You can also change the location of your master data folder from this menu.

Merge My Political Data provides access to disaggregation tools This option allows you to merge and disaggregate Election results or any other data collected at

one geographic level in order to make the data available at all levels. For example, election

results are available at precinct level. This tool will disaggregate them to blocks then aggregate

them to CCD, Places, Counties and State.

Merge files can be in Txt, CSV, Access or Dbase. Since Shape files use Dbase, Dbase format

is preferred as the need for field renaming is removed from process.

A step by step wizard allows you to perform the process

The disaggregation process, creates a folder called merge in the Master Data folder.

All disaggregation related files are stored in that folder until the process is finalized by the user .

At that point the data in the Statewide folder is updated with the disaggregated data.

Database development

Disaggregation of Election Results

= 8 =9

800 900

19

33

44

1

0

22

20

16

85

2000 Voting

Age Persons

1% of the population

Sample Precinct

• After Disaggregation, Add block results and compare with precinct Numbers

• If different, Add/Remove difference to block with the largest population

• If results in a negative number then remove from 2 blocks with the largest populations

• Can set population Thresholds for Disaggregation

• When disaggregating, your political data should only contain numerical data – String data can not be disaggregated

• When disaggregating, you should insure that your political data does contain NULL values.

Although the software manages NULL values. At times the create difficulty during disaggregation

Database development Select the file containing the election results or data that you wish to merge

If the data is not based on precincts then select the bottom radio box and the appropriate layer once the layer list is displayed

Click Next to preview your data

Click Next to review the Census data layer which will be used for matching

Verify that matching fields exist in the two datasets

Click next to identify columns for matching

The left box will contain the columns from the political data

The right box will contain the columns from your Census Data

The Administrator checks for duplicate field names between your existing Census data and the political data. Duplicate field names are not allowed.

Click Next to begin the matching process

Any errors or unmatched features will be listed in an error log

After reviewing the results, click Next to select the field used for disaggregation, typically population or voting age population

Click Go to begin the process. Adding 15 fields to the State of Indiana required approximately 20 minutes.

You may finalize your merge after the process has been completed or review the results in the merge folder before proceeding

Database development Select Geocode Voter Files to import your voter database.

This option allows you to geocode voter files then aggregate and merge them to your data

Voter files can be a database file or have already been geocoded

If already geocoded, you must be certain that the base geography used matches to Census

The process, summarizes the points at block level, then aggregates them to other geographic levels.

Select the file to be geocoded If using a database, MS Access, Dbase, Excel and Txt are supported. However, if possible

convert you file to Dbase format. Shape files use Dbase. By using Dbase field name changes during the process will not be required.

Click Next to review your data Identify the fields containing the Address and Zip code. The address must be in a complete

form e.g. 123 Main St. stored in a single field.

Identify the fields containing political or demographic data your interested in.

Click Next to select the fields used for the import process. Select the field containing the address

Select the field containing the Zip code

Select the field used for summarization. If you have previously used this file, the information selected in your last session will be displayed.

Click Next and select the resulting file name then Click Go to process

Database development

Block 101 6 5 1 8 4

Aggregation of Registered Voters

Block 101

Party = D

Gender = F

.

.

.

• Geocode to Census Lines (if needed)

• Summarize by Selected Field(s)

• First 1000 records are scanned to identify

possible options in the summary field

• Aggregate at block level

• Aggregate to other levels

Database development Select Calculate or Edit my database to add, remove or calculate new fields

Calculations are performed on a copy of the data which is stored in the Calculations folder

Other options in the system are locked out until calculation are completed

You can add, remove or calculate values in the fields in you database

Fields are listed on the left. Selecting a field will display its type and state totals at the top

You can view the database by selecting Preview database

Commands can be stacked in the SQL command area, then processed in batch mode

When adding a field, be sure to make the field wide enough to store the statewide total

The optimize database option, identifies fields that are less than the user defined value at the

state level

After all edits are made, you can either Finalize the database and update the Statewide folder

or Cancel the updates and abandon your changes

Select Quality Control My Database to check you data for errors This tool verifies that all data needed for redistricting is loaded into your system

You can select fields and verify that the totals at all geographic levels match up

Any errors found will be listed in an error log and saved to DBErros.txt in the statewide folder

Errors in totals can be corrected to match the summary of the blocks

Configure Workspaces and Plans Configure workspaces allows you to create Folders in your system where

plans can be stored The Master Workspace Folder stores all PLANS created by autoBound

This folder is typically stored in a different area than your Census Data Folder

By default, autoBound creates the AB Plans workspace folder for plans to be stored in

An autoBound plan is a windows folder stored in a workspace under the Master workspace folder.

You can create any number of user defined workspaces

Each workspace is essentially a windows folder in the master workspace folder

Workspaces can be organized by Plan type e.g. (House, Senate and Congressional) or by Plan Origin e.g. (Publicly Submitted, Democrat, Republican etc.) or by individual users e.g. (John’s Area, Sam’s Areas etc.)

You can also create your own workspace storage scheme.

To add a new workspace, use the +. To remove a workspace use the X button. Workspaces must be completely empty if you wish to remove them. You can also use the Windows Explorer to remove workspaces and their contents.

Once you create workspaces and plans. The Master workspace can not be simply moved to another location. If you wish to move a workspace after plans have been created, you will need to insert a file called “CopyOpt.par” in every plan in the workspace. The file can be empty. The existence of this file will indicate to the autoBound software that the path for the plan may have been changed and the file links in the Arcview project will have to be updated. AutoBound will automatically delete the CopyOpt.par file after it completes the update of the paths in the project.

Configure Workspaces and Plans Configure Plans allows you to create default plan types for use by your

users when creating new plans in autoBound You can create an unlimited number of Plan types in autoBound

Plan types can be based on the number of districts and/or incumbent files such as (House,

Senate and Congressional, School Board) or based on users creating plans (Jim’s House,

Publicly submitted House etc.) or any other configuration required by you implementation.

To create a plan type, click the + Button. Enter the Plan Type Name, The default number of

districts and the workspace where the plan will be stored.

You can also define an Incumbent file for the Plan type.

AB Plans – Default autoBound workspace

Active Matrix – Area where user created active matrix files are stored

Coalition.gdb – The File Geodatabase for the Coalition Manager

Colorado – User created workspace (could be named anything)

Congressional Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)

House Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)

iowatest – User created plan

NE Unicam 2000 Legislative Plan – User created plan

:

:

Shared Plans – Special folder used by autoBound for sharing plans

Incumbents – Folder used to store the Incumbent Point files

Senate Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)

Configure Workspaces and Plans Configure your Active Matrix

Autobound displays the results of the redistricting process in an Excel compatible

spreadsheet called the Active Matrix.

Multiple spreadsheets can be used in the same plan or be created for use in different plan

types.

The Configure Active Matrix tab allows you to customize the matrix

Use the fields from your database to add columns in the default matrix.

Any formulas that you create on the first row, will be copies to all rows, when districts are

added during the plan creation process

You can customize the spreadsheet using the Launch Workbook Designer button

In the Workbook Designer, you can open a Spreadsheet that has been customized in any of

your plans. You can then save that as the Default AutoBound Matrix or click the Save As to

save it under a new name.

If you wish to add your own calculations or field names, It should be outside of the range of

cells used by autoBound. The Range of cells used by autoBound is defined as the area

where field names from your Census Database are used as Column Names and Rows where

the district number is used as the row heading.

If you enter a column name which is the same as a field name in the Redistricting Database,

autoBound will assume that you intent for autoBound to total the values from the field in the

database under that column. Do not enter your own formulas, they will be cleared by

autoBound during any calculation made in the plan.

Allow users access to autoBound If you selected the network environment with other users in the Configure

my autoBound Installation then Allow users access autoBound option will

be available. Otherwise this menu will not be visible and no additional

configuration is required.

Autobound will require users to enter a user name and password, before

accessing plans

Your system administrator should still configure the system such that users

can not access one another’s files. Autobound can not prevent users from

accessing one another’s files, if Autobound is not used in the process.

Add users, using the + Button. Remove users using the X button.

Removing a users does not remove the plans that they may have created.

After adding the user, select the user from the list, then set access controls

from the right side of the screen.

Click Apply Modifications to save your changes.

You can now begin making plans in autoBound.

autoBound District Editor The autoBound District Editor is an ArcView GIS Extension

The extension is installed during the program installation

To activate the extension, Select Customize from the Arcview Tools menu

Then turn the Autobound 9 – Redistricting Software on

Autobound adds to icons to the Arcview Interface

Select the “AB9 Plan Manager” button

A list of your plans grouped by workspace is displayed

The first group are recent plans

You can sort by any column

Double click on a plan name to open it

Move the mouse over a plan name to see a thumbnail picture of the plan

Any comments which may have been entered will also be displayed

autoBound District Editor Plan Management Tab allows

Open an existing plan

Create a New Plan

Copy a Plan

Delete a Plan

Close a plan

Under the Plan Utilities Tab

Access to the plan can be given

to other users (This option is

only available if networked option

was selected in the AutoBound Administrator)

Comments can also be added or edited for any selected plan

The Reports Tab allows you to run any existing reports for a selected plan

without opening the plan.

The autoBound Settings displays your user name, the Path to the Master

Workspace, your Census data folder and the number of plans in the system

To open a plan, select the plan name then click Open Selected Plan or

double click on the plan name.

autoBound District Editor To Create a plan, select “Create a New Plan” from the Plan Management Tab

Select the Plan Type – Plan types

available are configured in the administrator

You can use another plan of the same type

as a template for creating this plan

You can import a plan and use it to create

a new plan

Or create an empty plan

Autobound allows you to create your own

color and labeling schemes. These can be

stored in the program folder under the “Themes” folder

Enter the Plan name – Plan names can essentially folder names. Windows

rules for naming folders applies. e.g. spaces are okay \ is not!

Enter comments for the plan

By default, autoBound will store the plan in the designated are for the plan

type, add the incumbent file is one is assigned and load the default matrix.

You can modify any of the default options by clicking the More Options arrow

autoBound District Editor

autoBound District Editor Autobound automatically organizes the Arcview Table of

contents by grouping layers under Transportation, water,

Redistricting Layers and Plan Boundary

Redistricting Layers contains Census geography, population

and any political data which you may have added

The Census Data layer group contains layers from your Master

data folder. These files are in ESRI Shape file Format

Plan Boundary contains the plan boundary shapes. This

layer is stored in an ESRI File Geodatabase called AB9PLAN.gdb

The Plan Boundary File Geodatabase is stored in the Plan folder under the

selected workspace in the Master Workspace folder

Autobound has predefined scale dependent display ranges set for most

layers used in the redistricting process. You can change these settings

using the Arcview Properties window

To make these changes permanent for all new plans, edit the layers in the

Themes folder in the autoBound program folder.

autoBound District Editor All autoBound tools are available in the docked menu

Tools are grouped by type

Current District is the Target district to which selected areas

are assigned. You can set the Target District by clicking the

district number, selecting the Set Target option or using the

Ctrl key in combination with Assign Area or Select Area

options and clicking into a district

Active layer is the Census layer from which geographies are

selected. You can set the Active Layer by clicking the Layer

name or selecting the Select Layer option

Zoom to District – zooms to the extent of the Current District

and highlights the district with a red boundary. Use the Clear

selection to clear the red highlight

Assign Area – Assigns from the Active Layer to the Current

District. Click in the map to assign an area, drag a box to

assign any geographies that intersect the box or use the Alt

key combination to draw a “lasso”. Double mouse click to end,

ESC to Cancel

autoBound District Editor Select Area allows you to select the areas to be assigned then

use the Assign Selected button to assign them. When using

this tool, you can use the Shift key combination to add or

remove from your selected set

Assign Selected, assigns all selected features to the Current

Target District

Select using overlay allows you to use another polygon (or

Area) layer for selection of feature from your Active Layer. For

Example, you can use city boundaries to select the VTDs

Use the Select Overlay layer option to select which layer will

be used. A Slider bar allows you to adjust precision by which

selections are made.

When adding a non-Census Layer to autoBound. You must

insure that the layer is already projected to: Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983

Datum: D_North_American_1983

Prime Meridian: Greenwich

Angular Unit: Degree

Not doing so, will result in errors in the redistricting layer.

autoBound District Editor Clear selection, clears the currently selected geographies. It

also clears any graphics displayed on the screen such as highlighted districts

Select district, selects the geographic from the active layer that are entirely within the Current District.

Undo, reverses the last edit made to the districts

History displays a calendar with the previously executed commands. You can roll back to any previous step in the history of the plan. Use the Shift key to select the beginning and ending of the dates on the

calendar, you wish to review.

Click the command in the list to view the thumbnail preview of the step

Double click the command or Click Preview on map to display the history over the existing districts with a red boundary highlight. Clear selection removes the highlighted boundaries

Click Retrieve to roll back the plan to the selected history. This process generates a new history backup

With the exception of the starting and ending points for each previous day, the system automatically removes backups older than the last 3 sessions

To permanently keep a backup, select the backup and click Keep Permanently.

To remove a backup click Remove

autoBound District Editor Backups are stored in a folder called Plan Backups in the plan

folder

Within each backup folder, commands are organized in

sequentially numbered folders containing a copy of the plan

File Geodatabase, Snap shot of the screen, a copy of the

Active Matrix and a text file containing the command which

initiated the creation of the backup the username and time

Each backup history file is a complete copy of the autoBound

Plan database

Save snapshot allows a copy of the redistricting database to

be saved as a history snap shot. Checking the Share with

others checkbox will make the snap shot available to other

plans through the import plan option.

Snap shots are not removed by the system

autoBound District Editor The District Manager tool allows the configuration of multiple districts to be changed at one

time

Add allows the total number of

districts in the plan to be increased

Remove, removes the selected

district from the plan and renumber

the remaining districts

The Save and Load options allow a

text file to be created where all district

numbers can be resequenced

Erase, clears the boundaries of the

selected districts

Rename allows the selected district

to be renamed to another district. The

target district must be empty

Switch allows two selected districts to be swapped

Merge allows multiple districts to be merged into a single district. The last district selected will

be the one merged to

Lock will allow the selected districts to be locked from edit

Unlock will unlock selected districts

Changes in the District Manager can be undone using Undo or History

autoBound District Editor Set Target, sets the district to which selected geography will be

assigned

Select Layer, selects the active layer from which geographies

are selected

Select Overlay Layer, works with the Select Using Overlay tool

and identified the layer used as the selection template

Label options allow you to label Census geographies with

attributes. The option also allows conditional labeling of the

districts. e.g. Red text when deviations are not met Select the fields which will be used for labeling then click the + button

The attributes will be stacked in the order which you select them

You can change the text color using the Color button

Saving the labeling style will make the style available to other users

To label districts, select Plan Boundary from the Left Tab

You can create conditions using the tools provided

Conditions can result in text displayed in different colors or with symbols

Reset colors, resets the district colors

autoBound District Editor The View Manager allows map layers to be added or removed from your plan

Layers are grouped by type

Analysis group allows access to layers

which are created during analysis

performed by you. If the analysis has

not been performed the layer will not

be available.

The Census Data layers can be turned

on or off , but not removed

Demographic categories layers are

created based on US wide layers. The

color scheme my not work for your

specific area. You can customize these |

layers using Arcview. They are stored

in the autobound program folder under

Layerbackups>Thematic Maps

Access to ESRI and Microsoft Bing online layers is also provided here. Arcview 9.3.1 or later is

required for Microsoft Bing layers

autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools

Display Statistics will display a window which allows values

from the Census database and your political data to be

displayed. When the Select Area tool is used the totals for the

selected features is updated in the Statistics window Use the select fields button to select field for display

Click the check box next to the field to display the field in the bar graph

The Bar Graph can display summary for the selected geographies or create

a bar graph for each selected geography

The Analysis field compares the totals for selected geographies to the target

value and identifies the number of districts which could fit in the selected

area. For this feature to work, the Analysis Field must also exist in the Active

Matrix with a Target Value

Check plan for Errors allows you to find Unassigned and

discontiguous area in the plan.

Click Start to begin the review process

Double click on the error list or click Zoom to, to display the error

Identify splits, identifies areas in the plan where geographies

have been split. You can select the layers to be checked. A

report is generated after the analysis has been completed.

autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools

Recalculate Plan, recomputes the totals for the districts and

updates the Active Matrix. Perform a detailed calculation, if

you have made a great deal of block level edits. Detail

calculation, reconsolidates Census geographies making up a

district to the highest level possible, there by reducing the plan

size and improving performance

Compare plans, allows you to compare the current plan with

Other plans in the workspace, an external shape file or the

plan itself at an earlier stage and identify differences The areas of difference will be highlighted with red X’s

A report outlining the differing geographies will also be displayed

Core constituency, allows you to compare the current plan with

Other plans in the workspace, an external shape file or the

plan itself at an earlier stage and identify areas that are the

same This report allows a member to identify how much of his district has

remained the same and which district the new portions of his district came

from

A report outlining the information will also be displayed

autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools

Compactness, provides access to compactness analysis tools

within autoBound. 5 of the most common methods for calculation of compactness are included

Additionally, users can choose to create their own compactness

measurement using the custom option

Street view provides access to Microsoft Bing and Google

Street views. Click into the map to display street views for the

selected area. An internet connection is required. This option

is primarily designed to support identification of new polling

locations.

autoBound District Editor – Coalition Builder

The Coalition Builder tools is designed to allow comments from member to be captured and used during redistricting

Members can identify areas in their plans that of interest for either keeping or removing during this process

Selections are limited to Census geographies

The Coalition Manager database is shared between users with access to your workspaces

Multiple Coalition Builder databases can be created. e.g. House, Senate, Congressional etc.

Use the Coalition manager tool to Create, Delete, Add or Remove Coalition databases

Edit area allows you to select areas from the Active Layer and mark them as Keep/Add Area to District or Can Remove Area

If an incumbent file exists, the software will automatically load information regarding each district. Otherwise, you can manually fill in the form.

Areas okay to remove will be highlighted in Green O’s. Areas not Okay to remove are highlighted in Red X’s.

View areas allows you to select an area and view information from the Coalition Manager Database

autoBound District Editor – Reports and Output

Run reports provides access to redistricting reports

The Crystal Portion of Arcview must be installed for the Reports to function

Crystal Reports is not required to run reports. But is required if you wish to customize or create your own reports

Each time a report is run, a copy of the report is saved in the Plan folder. These copies can be quickly accessed through the Run Existing Reports Tab

You can make plans available for viewing using Broadcast to Internet option Plans shared this way are only available for viewing. They can not be edited

Select the Active Matrix columns you wish to include

Select an output folder where the html files are to be created

If you wish for autobound to automatically upload to a server, provide login and address information

AutoBound will generate several HTML files along with a Google Maps mashupready for placing on the Internet

If you have registered on redistrictingusa.com, you can upload plans and make them available to the public using this site. FTP is the file transfer protocol used. Your Firewall must allow FTP file transfer.

Presentation mode, increases the text size in the map and Matrix

autoBound District Editor – Data Exchange

Export spreadsheet allows you to export the Active Matrix to

several formats including HTML and Excel.

Export Plan allows you to export the plan as a Shape file or a

Block Equivalency text or dbf file. You can also export plans in

autoBound Exchange format. Autobound Exchange format

will only export the boundary. It is suitable for sending copies

of your plan to other Caucuses, if you do not wish for them to

see any of your analysis data.

Import plan allows you to import plans from Block Equivalency

files in Text or DBF format, autobound Exchange format or

ESRI shape file. When shape files are imported, you can specify the accuracy of the match in

the geographies.

Areas of where autoBound could not determine an accurate import, will be

highlighted on the map after the import is complete.

Backup plan creates a backup zip file of the entire plan.

autoBound District Editor – Utilities

Label Field has been replaced with Label Options in the Edit

Tools Tab

None Political, remove references to party registration from

the incumbent file

Automated Redistricting allows autoBound to create

automated plans based on Random or Incumbent starting

locations

Options allows you to turn Pop up error messages on or off

Show detailed log, displays the system log as commands are

processed

autoBound District Editor – Active Matrix

Print Active Matrix allows you to print the spreadsheet

Print preview provides access to a preview of the pages before

printing

Page setup allows access to parameters used to control the

printing of the spreadsheet

Save Matrix allows the saving of different version of the Active

Matrix in your plan. Saved versions can be loaded from the Active

Matrix Combo box in the Assist tool

Save as BMP allows the matrix to be saved as a Window bitmap

file. It also allows the file to be loaded as a graphic in the layout

Copy selected, copies the selected cells in the Active Matrix

Paste selected, pastes the copied cells in the Active Matrix

Toggle Assist – Hides and shows the autoBound Assist tool

Insert Columns allows you to add new columns to the Active

Matrix containing values from Census or you political data. User

defined columns can also be added. User defined columns

should not be named after data fields in your Census or political

data. Autobound will assume the column to be a database field to

be calculated if they are named as such

autoBound District Editor – Active Matrix

Remove column will remove the selected columns. If you

remove all columns from a sheet, you must then remove the

sheet

Conditional format allows coloring of values in the Active

Matrix, based on a numerical threshold

Cell Properties provides access to the Cell formatting menu.

Color, Font, Decimal places along with other settings for the

selected cells can be modified

Bold, Italic, Underline, Align Left/Center/Right allow formatting

of the selected cells

Zoom in 25%, Out 25%, 100% set the zoom level for the

Active Matrix.

autoBound District Editor – Assist tool

The autoBound Assist tool identifies the district with the highest deviation and the 2 districts making up the plan deviation.

Clicking the District with the largest deviation in the assist tool will set it as the current district. Double clicking will zoom to the district

The Locate Adjacent Suitable district will identify neighboring district that can help correct the deviation in the Current District

An arrow will display their location on the map

Find Features Based on Selected District button will located geographies from the Active layer along the boundary which will correct the deviation.

Active Matrix Combo box will load other spreasheets into the Active Matrix. A recompute will be required

The Dynamic Checkbox, reduces the Active Matrix to the districts currently visible on the map