Google Earth mapping

Google Earth (GE) mapping requires that you have Google Earth installed on your local PC and are connected to the internet. You can produce maps using Google Earth from any file where the toolbar is enabled. This includes RDE files. The key requirement is that the file includes LAT and LONG map coordinates.

You can set Google Earth as your default map option using Admin > Project configuration > Maps > Default map software.

On Personal Settings > Online maps, you can also configure:

The marker text that appears adjacent to each point (e.g. species name or collector name + number). The default is no text.
Suppress descriptive text being added to each point. This text is seen when you click on a point.
The map symbol used.
The general map point scale/size. If left as 0, the default Google Earth scale is used. Enter e.g. 0.5 to make points smaller and 1.5 to make points larger. Experiment with these values .

By using the Map tools option to add map style fields to the current file, you can edit point colour, symbol, size and text labels on a record by record basis. For details, refer to the section on Google Earth map point style and map style setting.

If you save the map in the BRAHMS map library, the map name is added to the google Earth left margin where the map layers are displayed. Otherwise, the map is labelled as 'No name provided'.

When you exit Google, you will be asked if you want ot save the map points layer to your My Places folder. Unless you want to save the map, say No to this. If you do save the map, when you plot your next map, take care that the saved map layer is selected or deselected as required under Temporary Places.

In this example, the point description is the default RECSUM memo field.

If you get an error message as below, it means there is an unusual character getting through into the point descriptive text, probably in the RECSUM memo. Your best bet is to select the option to Clear RESUM field on the map form and try again.