How do I make points from a data set different colors, as well as different sizes?

[OliverRay]

I know this is a symbology issue. I have lat/lon data which populates the points, but I need to make variable sizes from one row of data and variable colors from another row.

Example: Row A contains several lines of 3 or 4 repeating variables that need to be assigned 3 or 4 colors. Row B contains all different values which need to be plotted with variable size, in accordance to their values or value ranges. Rows C and D contain lat/lon data, Rows C and D are a non-issue.

PLEASE HELP WITH THIS! It's probably not too difficult but I've been stuck on it for too long!

Thanks,

Oliver

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

What the software is doing is by default coloring every combination of the two fields as its own color.  And if there are many combinations, it will sometimes re-use colors, adding to the chaos.

The simplest way to resolve this is to manually recolor all your combinations.  Tedious and time consuming, yes, but workable.

The more elegant way is to write code in Python that automatically assigns the color and size according to your criteria.  I have seen that done, so know it is possible, but have not done that particular challenge myself.  It would take some time to research the specific coding needed to make this happen and then test it, but it might be worth it if you forsee doing this symbolization with many times with many files.

[OliverRay]

I just made three separate data sets, one for each operator, assigned a color and then made them vary in size. Worked like a charm. Thanks Chris! I really appreciate your help today.

Regards,

Oliver Ray

[ChrisDonohue__GISP]

Another way to differentiate the three - use the same dataset (with the complete data/all your oil/gas operators), but use a "Definition Query" to limit it to each individual operator.

To do this:

1.  Add the data into ArcMap 3 times.

2.  Right-click on the first dataset in the Table of Contents

3.  Click on the "Definition Query" tab.

4.  Click the "Query Builder" button.

5.  From the top part, double-click on the field for the Operators.

6.  Click once on the equal sign button.

7.  Click once on the "Get Unique Values" button.

8.  Int he middle window, double-click on this operator name.

9.  Repeat on the other two copies (in ArcMap) for the other two operators.

Why do this instead of making 3 copies, you might ask?  The reason is for data integrity - you only have to worry about editing one dataset if there are any changes need to be made to the data in the future.