This package contains the source data and the actual graphics objects for map views, including their constituent state or county path objects and any applicable city labels.
The contents of this package are primarily used by nhmc.ctrl.zoomToState, which switches between map views.
State and county path objects contain nhmcData attributes with identifying information that might be useful for event handlers interacting with those paths; more details about those objects’ properties are provided below.
There are three general types of map view currently in use:
Todo
The entire map view system should be refactored to work in a common way to avoid some of the complications resulting from having three different kinds of map. Part of a prototype implementation of this exists but still needs to be incorporated into the current version of the Map Center.
The nationwide county map consists of one basic type of object: county paths.
This map is identified by the view name (also referred to in some contexts as the “state” name) us_counties.
Each county and county-equivalent in this map is identified by its five-digit FIPS code as found in nhmc.config.FIPSToCounty. For example, the raw path string corresponding to Arlington County, Va., which has a FIPS code of 51013, is located at nhmc.geo.allCounties["51013"].
Important
If you intend to use this map view in a Map Center page, you must include lib/maps/all_counties.js in the document <head>. In theory, any other JavaScript file with the appropriate structure could be used, though, which could be useful for making modifications to this view for the purposes of a specific module. For example, a different version of this map view is included in the map of 2008 general election results to reflect the fact that Alaska results were reported by state House district instead of by county; that version of all_counties.js is available at lib/map_center/modules/static_maps_data/08general-all_counties.js.
Object (values are strings)
This object has county FIPS codes as keys and raw SVG path strings as values. These strings theoretically could be included as the d attribute of an SVG path element and properly represent the counties’ desired shape. (In fact, these path strings were taken directly from such attributes; all current Map Center views existed first as standard SVG images.)
Object (values are instances of dojox.gfx.path.Path)
This object has keys of county FIPS codes and values of Dojo path objects corresponding to the actual image components representing the counties. It is generated directly from the path strings found in nhmc.geo.allCounties.
Each county path object also includes an nhmcData object to help event handlers identify the county when needed. nhmc.geo.countyGeo[foo].nhmcData contains one property, county_fips, with a value of the county’s FIPS code as found in nhmc.config.FIPSToCounty.
The nationwide state map consists of two basic types of object: state paths and labels for some smaller states.
This map is initially rendered directly by nhmc.mapCenterInit and is identified by the view name (also referred to in some contexts as the “state” name) us_all.
The objects making up the nationwide state map live in nhmc.geo.usGeo under the key corresponding to the state’s full name as found in nhmc.config.stateToUSPS, represented as foo in the headings below. For example, the raw SVG path string for North Carolina is located at nhmc.geo.usGeo["North Carolina"].state.
Important
If you intend to use this map view in a Map Center page, you should include lib/maps/states_only.js in the document <head>. In theory, any other JavaScript file with the appropriate structure could be used, though, which could be useful for making modifications to this view for the purposes of a specific module.
String
This property is the raw SVG path string for the state foo; that is, this string theoretically could be included as the d attribute of an SVG path element and properly represent the state’s desired shape. (In fact, these path strings were taken directly from such attributes; all current Map Center views existed first as standard SVG images.)
Object (instance of dojox.gfx.path.Path)
This property is a Dojo path object corresponding to the actual image component representing the state foo. It is generated directly from the path string found in nhmc.geo.usGeo[foo].state.
This object also includes an nhmcData object to help event handlers identify the state when needed. nhmc.geo.usGeo[foo].statePath.nhmcData contains one property, state, with a value of the state’s full name as found in nhmc.config.stateToUSPS.
Object (instance of dojox.gfx.shape.Text)
This property is only used for a handful of East Coast states and is a Dojo text object corresponding to a label for that state.
Statewide county maps are an interesting case because there are so many of them; all maps other than the two mentioned above are considered statewide county maps.
Each statewide county map consists of two basic types of object: county paths and city labels.
Each map is identified by a view name (also referred to in some contexts as the “state” name) corresponding to the all-lowercase version of its state abbreviation as found in nhmc.config.USPSToState.
The objects making up each statewide county map live in nhmc.geo.usGeo under the key corresponding to the state’s full name as found in nhmc.config.stateToUSPS, represented as foo in the headings below. For example, the Dojo group object corresponding to the city label for Jefferson City, Mo., is located at nhmc.geo.usGeo["Missouri"].cityPaths["Jefferson City"].
In order to keep users from having to download all map views’ path data at once whenever loading a Map Center page, nhmc.ctrl.zoomToState makes AJAX (technically JSONP) requests to obtain the data for a specific statewide county map the first time it is needed for a given pageview. The JSONP file for each map view is located at http://s3.amazonaws.com/newshourroot/nhmc_geo_json/VIEW_NAME.json, where VIEW_NAME is the view name mentioned earlier in this section.
Object (values are arrays)
This object has city names as keys and city location arrays as values. The format of those arrays is described more in detail in the documentation for nhmc.ctrl.addCity.
Object (values are instances of dojox.gfx.shape.Container)
This object has city names as keys and Dojo group objects as values. Each of those groups contains the components of the labels for the cities defined in nhmc.geo.usGeo[foo].cities, which provides the source data used to generate this object.
Object (values are strings)
This object has full county names (as found in nhmc.config.CountyToFIPS[foo] as keys and raw SVG path strings as values. These strings theoretically could be included as the d attribute of an SVG path element and properly represent the counties’ desired shape. (In fact, these path strings were taken directly from such attributes; all current Map Center views existed first as standard SVG images.)
For example, the path string corresponding to Dane County, Wis., is located at nhmc.geo.usGeo["Wisconsin"].counties["Dane County"].
Object (values are instances of dojox.gfx.path.Path)
This object has keys of full county names and values of Dojo path objects corresponding to the actual image components representing the counties. It is generated directly from the path strings found in nhmc.geo.usGeo[foo].counties.
Each county path object also includes an nhmcData object to help event handlers identify the county when needed. nhmc.geo.usGeo[foo].counties[bar].nhmcData contains one property, county, with a value of the county’s full name as found in nhmc.config.CountyToFIPS[foo].