With a valid API Key, the Geocode Plot All Locations button submits ALL Locations to the chosen Geocoder at several plots per second, but Plotted locations can be excluded. Geocoding starts from the chosen Location, and a Progress Bar shows how long it will take. Use its Stop Plotting Locations button to halt plotting. Geocoding will resume from the interrupted Location unless it is altered. See also Frequently Asked Questions.
With a valid API Key, the Geocode Plot Some Locations button allows any Statistics class of Locations to be Geocoded selectively.
With a valid API Key, the Geocode Plot This Location button Geocodes the chosen Location to obtain its Latitude & Longitude and place a Marker on the map.
Geocoder plots may be limited per day, so when Geocoding is first used, a warning is given.
Standard Country Codes, State Abbreviations, Chapman Codes, and other plotting enhancements are governed by the Smart Geocoding Set Preference Option.
The Geocoder can be biased to prefer locations in a particular region by using the Region Bias Code Set Preference Option.
Manage Location Plots
The Statistics show how many Locations are plotted, and how many un-plotted for various reasons.
| ~Plotted | Number plotted by editing, dragging, or nudging Lat/Longitude values or Non-Tentative in FH |
| ~Tentative~ | Number plotted automatically by the Geocoder or Tentative in FH |
| ~No Plot~ | Number un-plotted as not found by the Geocoder or No Auto-Geocode in FH or Block Geocoding applied |
| ~Invalid~ | Number un-plotted because of an error from the Geocoder |
| ~No Data~ | Number un-plotted because not submitted to the Geocoder~ |
Click the Location button to obtain a list derived from the Facts in your project. It can list all Place Fields, or Address Fields, or Address ~ Place fields, as chosen by the Locations From Set Preference Option. Each list entry is colour coded to match the Statistics and is truncated to 260 characters, but the underlying data is unaffected. The Reverse Display Order: tick option swaps the column part order.
If a Location is not auto-plotted by the Geocoder, the lefthand comma-separated part is discarded and auto-plotting is attempted again. If that still fails the next comma-separated part is discarded and tried again. So some successful plots might have ignored leading Location parts.
If Locations plotted by the Geocoder are in the wrong place try one or other of the following strategies:
- Use the Set Preference Options to set an appropriate Region Bias Code.
- Ensure the County/State &/or Country are specified for the Location.
- Drag the Marker or nudge it with the North, South, East, West buttons. Increase the map Zoom level for more accurate placement.
- Use FH Tools > Work With Data > Places…/Addresses… or the methods below for resolving the No Plot status.
Locations not auto-plotted by the Geocoder are shown with No Plot status and can be resolved by various techniques:
- Enter an alternative Standardized location. Use the Copy Location to Standardized button to load the Standardized field ready for editing. Strangely, removing the county or country may improve the Geocoder auto-plotting success. Otherwise, try a Standardized modern equivalent address, place, or postcode.
- Enclose location text in “quotes” (such as a house or building name), or in [[brackets]], to exclude it from the Geocoder.
- Manually set the Latitude & Longitude values derived from some other mapping utility. Those values use the decimal point dot (.) symbol, even if the Windows custom Regional and Language Options define a comma (,) symbol.
- Use a double-left-click on the map pane to create a Marker that can then be dragged or nudged.
- Selecting an Address ~ Place option can improve success rates because each Address is given a Place context.
The Geocoder can respond with Invalid Request suggesting there may be invalid characters in the Location text.
The Status: Geocoder API Unknown Error indicates a server problem.
Whereas Geocoder API Request Denied suggests the API Key is invalid, so check the Geocoding and Mapping section.
If plots are submitted too fast, the Geocoder may respond with Geocoder API Quota Exceeded, but this will become permanent if a daily Quota is exceeded. If using the Google Maps geocoder, see the Manage Quota Limits section.
Locations can be explored using the Next … buttons that usually search forwards, but holding down the Alt key reverses the search.
| ~Next Plotted~ | Finds next Plotted entry |
| ~Next Tentative~ | Finds next Tentative entry |
| ~Next Standardized~ | Finds next Standardized entry, both plotted and un-plotted |
| ~Next Unplotted~ | Finds next unplotted entry (No Plot, Invalid, No Data) ~ |
The Set Preference Options tab provides other settings for this plotting phase.
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Plugin Map Life Facts
Help content on this page is owned and provided by Mike Tate, the plugin's author, Calico Pie takes no responsibility for its content.