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Select the country or region and data types for each column

When you import or link to data, you need to select the data type and column heading for each field of data in the source file. Additionally, you need to select the country or region that applies to your data. You are prompted to do this in the last step of the Import Data, Link Data, Import Territories, or Link Territories wizards.

  1. In the Country/Region box select the country or region that applies to your data.

    Note  If your data will be mapped to multiple countries, select <Multi/Other>.

    More information

    When you map data from multiple countries, MapPoint provides the best matches available for those countries. You can import and pinpoint nearly all street addresses in United States and Canada.

    For instance, if you are combining address data from United States and Mexico, MapPoint will place your United States data on the map according to specific street address but will match your records for Mexico on the map according to their city.

  2. Select the First row contains column headings checkbox if this applies to your data.

    If this is checked, the headings are displayed in the Column heading row on this page.

    Note  You can manually edit the column heading by clicking on the Column heading cell of any column. This can be useful to identify columns when your source data does not contain column headings in the first row.

  3. For each column of data, you must confirm that MapPoint assigned the correct data type. If it did not, in the Data type row, select one of the following types of data for each column:

    Name data. To specify that the column contains name information, select Name or Name 2.

    Location data. To specify that this column contains location information, select one of the location data types.

    For example, if you specify United States in Country/Region, you can select Address1, Address2, Address3, City, County, State, Country/Region, ZIP Code, 3-Digit ZIP Code, Census Tract, Metropolitan Area, Latitude, and Longitude.

    Other data. To specify that the column contains data other than names or locations, select <Other Data>.

    Skip column. To specify that you don't want to import or link to the data contained in a particular column, select <Skip Column>.

    Territory. To specify that the column contains territory names, select <Territory>.

    Note  When you specify <Territory> you are choosing to map data to territories defined on the map. You must define territories before mapping data to them.

Notes

For a column that contains hyperlinks, make sure to assign a data type of <Other Data>.

MapPoint assigns a data type by examining your source data, however, as noted above, you must confirm that the heading in the Data type row are correct.

How MapPoint assigns data types

When you use the import or link data, MapPoint assumes that your data contains geographic information that can be used to match your records to locations on the map. It searches your data for column headings containing references to geographic information, such as Street Address, State, Province, or ZIP or Postal Code.

If MapPoint finds a column containing geographic information, it uses the contents of that column with that name to match data to the map. For example, if you have a column that contains United States city names, MapPoint recognizes that and uses that data to place the records at their corresponding cities on the map.

If MapPoint doesn't find a recognizable geographic location in the column heading, it searches your data for five-digit numbers (ZIP Codes), number/letter combinations (Postal Codes), and two-letter sequences (as in State or Province abbreviations). If it doesn't find anything likely to correspond to a geographic entity in either your column names or your data, you will not be able to match your records to the map unless you choose an appropriate data type for each column.

For a list of the countries for which address information is available, see About address coverage areas.

About preparing your data for mapping

Map data starting with the Data Mapping Wizard

Map data starting with the Import or Link Data Wizard

Create a territory set using your own data

Create a territory set manually