Displaying Attribute Data

[joshwheeler1]

Hello,

I'm looking for the best way to generate, display, and place attribute data on a map layout. However, I also need to be able to add the process to my script, for map automation.

I have a script that reads a spreadsheet and updates layers accordingly. But I also have a need to display the constantly changing attribute data on the map layout. I've tried generating a report. But is there a way to specify the location and/or size of the report when adding it to the layout? Or are there other ways to automate the display of attribute data?

Thanks for any help/advice.

Josh

[ThomasLaxson · Accepted solution]

Josh,

I've just started looking into this myself. Depending on how much data you want to display on your maps, it doesn't take too much work to draw a table using text boxes in an mxd and then change the content of them via a script. Another option is to export the map to a pdf, and use ReportLab (see pp. 10 and 75 of this user guide) to generate a table and then merge the table and map into a single pdf page. Within the next couple of days, I should have worked this out with ReportLab for myself, and I'll post any helpful code here.

Good luck.