Mapdiva, LLC | Mac OS X Software

The Library Manager is where all styles and symbols are organized into libraries, collections, and categories. Through this interface you will manage your symbol collections, as well as create and edit new symbols and styles.

To open the Library Manager, click the Library Manager icon on the toolbar, or choose Window > Library Manager from the main menu, or the CMND-5 keyboard shortcut (note, the Library Manager icon is not on the toolbar by default – you can add it by customizing the toolbar). The Library Manager uses an interface which is very similar to other applications such as Finder and iTunes, and this familiarity should make it quick and easy to learn and use.

The Library Manager’s left sidebar (1) lists the available libraries, collections, and categories, and its main window (2) displays items an icon view or list view. In the icon view, items are displayed in small, medium, or large sizes (3) and sorted using the right-click contextual menu. In the list view (4), items are sorted by clicking column headers or the contextual menu. To display item totals for collections and categories next to each item in the list, check the appropriate commands in the Action Menu (5) (looks like a gear). You can further filter the content displayed by entering text into the search/filter field (6). This removes items from the display that don’t match the filter settings. The toolbar at the top of the Library Manager window is customizable (7) as usual, and can be hidden.

The Library Manager contains three libraries – the Mapdiva Library, My Library, and Open Documents Library.

Mapdiva Library
The Ortelius software delivers with the Mapdiva Library containing a Built-In Collection with over 1700 classic styles and symbols ready to use for making maps and plans. Items in this library cannot be edited, though they can be reorganized into various categories and subcategories, and also copied (cloned) to My Library for further customization.

My Library
My Library is the primary location of user created symbols and styles. Collections are containers for organizing styles and symbols by project, map type, or theme. User styles and symbols created in pre-version 1.1 of Ortelius are automatically migrated to My Library on first launch of Ortelius 1.1. Organize your user created styles and symbols by adding new collections and categories and dragging items as desired.

Open Documents Library
When you draw anything in Ortelius — symbols, styles, map elements, or graphics — they are copied into your map document. Therefore, the original referenced symbols and styles are not required to open and display the map again. The Open Documents Library is populated with content that is read when the file is opened (it is not dynamic as you work with the file). Temporary collections are automatically assigned for each open document using the same name as the document; each containing three default categories: “All Items,” “All Styles,” and “All Symbols.” The collections are removed when a document is closed.

Because documents are allowed to use unnamed ad-hoc styles freely, the temporary collection in Open Documents Library will name ad-hoc styles “#Ad Hoc – n” where n is a sequential digit. To save styles and symbols from an open document for more widespread use, drag-and-drop them from the Open Documents Library to a collection in My Library and assign them a name. By default, they are named “#Ad Hoc – n (cloned from ‘File X’)” where File X is the open document name.

The Library Manager’s main function is to allow you to create and organize your own collections of styles and symbols. You can also import and export entire collections to collaborate with other users. As you work with the Library Manager, the Symbols Palette tracks every change allowing you to work with new styles and symbols immediately if you wish. Or, you may prefer to create a suitable collection for a particular project before you start work – it’s up to you.

Collections you create or import from other Ortelius users are added to My Library. (Note, additional collections supplied by Mapdiva are added to the Mapdiva Library.)

Collections, categories, and items have various settings which allow or prevent different levels of editing. As a general rule, collections in My Library are fully editable in that they can have their content freely changed, categories added, deleted, reorganized and renamed. Individual items may be locked or unlocked – only unlocked items can be edited, provided they belong to a Library which also permits it. In contrast, collections in the Mapdiva Library have more limited editing – the content cannot be changed but you can freely alter the organization of categories as you wish.

Creating Collections in My Library
To create a new empty collection, choose New Collection from the Action Menu or click the New Collection button. A new collection called “Untitled Collection” is added to My Library with its name selected ready to be edited. Type in a suitable name.

New collections have three default categories, “All Items”, “Recently Added” and “Recently Used”. These categories are automatically managed and can’t be removed – this is indicated by their names appearing in italic text. “All Items” contains every item in the collection, whether or not it also belongs to another category within the collection. When the collection itself is selected, the content of “All Items” is what is displayed. “Recently Added” contains the 16 most recently added items of the collection, and “Recently Used” contains the 16 most recently used items from this collection. A recently used item is one that was selected in the Symbols Palette (even if nothing actually got drawn using that style or symbol).

Deleting Collections
Deleting a collection deletes it, along with its entire contents (the styles and symbols it contains). Select the collection and choose “Delete Collection…” from the Action Menu, or right-click on a collection name and choose “Delete Collection…” from the contextual menu. After confirming, the entire collection – including its styles and symbols – is moved to the trash and removed from Ortelius. This action cannot be undone, and you will be prompted to confirm the deletion. Some collections, such as the Built-In Collection, cannot be deleted.

Moving Styles and Symbols Among Collections
Dragging styles and symbols among collections moves the items. By default this action does not copy the item, so it will be removed from the source collection and added to the destination collection. You can also move items to different collections by right-clicking and choosing a destination (or a New Collection) in the Move To > menu. If an item from a non-editable collection, such as the Mapdiva Library > Built-In Collection or Open Documents Library, is dragged to a collection in My Library, Ortelius will automatically copy the item and append “(cloned)” to the item name.

Items can be copied (cloned) by holding the OPTION(ALT) key when dragging an item among collections. Copied items are exact replicas of the original item but are in fact completely new items (to indicate the copy, the name is appended with “(cloned)”). This means that you can freely edit new items without affecting maps that were drawn using the original items. In contrast, if you edit an item that has been used to create a map, then all uses of that style or symbol will be changed to the most recent version when that map is next opened. This is an intentional feature, allowing you to modify a style or symbol and have it retrospectively applied to mapping projects you worked on in the past. So, if this behavior is undesirable, make copies of items before editing them.

Copying Categories Among Collections
Dragging a category (with its contents) from one collection to another copies it. A message prompts you to confirm to copy.

Categories keep your styles and symbols organized and easy to find. You can freely add categories to organize the collections, and categories can be nesting into subcategories.

Adding a New Category
To add a new category, click the ‘+’ button or choose “New Category” in the Action Menu. A new “untitled category” is added to the active collection (or, if you have selected a category, a new subcategory (child) of the selected category is added). Type a name for the category. A category can be renamed at any time by double-clicking its name and typing a new one. Category names must be unique within a collection.

Deleting Categories
To delete a category, select the category and click the ‘-’ button or choose “Delete Category…”. Deleting a category does not delete the styles and symbols it contains – items remain available in the “All Items” category unless intentionally deleted – but they may be harder to find later. This operation cannot be undone.

Adding Items to Categories
Individual styles and symbols can belong to one or more category within a collection. Items are organized into categories using drag-and-drop. Simply select the “All Items” category to show the content of the library, then drag items (shift-click to select multiple items) to the desired category in the left-hand list. To nest and unnest categories, just drag-and-drop the category where you want it.

Removing Items from Categories
To remove items from a category, select the items, right-click and choose “Remove From Category” from the contextual menu. Alternatively, select the category and drag items out of the window to some empty space. Removing an item from a category does not delete it from its collection – it will remain available in the “All Items” category unless intentionally deleted. Items can’t be removed from or directly added to any of the automatically managed categories, such as “All Items.”

In addition to normal categories, a special type of category exists called a “Smart Category.” Smart Categories are shown having a purple-colored icon.

Smart Categories work by filtering the entire collection based on a set of criteria you establish. As such their content is dynamic and will change automatically as items are added, removed and edited. Smart Categories are analogous to the similar Smart Folders and Smart Playlists feature in Finder and iTunes, respectively.

Adding a New Smart Category
To create a Smart Category, select the collection to add it to and choose New Smart Category… from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category. You can build up the desired filter by combining different criteria as you wish; click ‘+’ to add a new criteria to the query, ‘-’ to remove a criteria. You can also limit the content to a fixed number of results if you wish. Click ‘Save’ to establish the Smart Category which will immediately display the content matching the query. Double-click the name or right-click and choose “Rename” from the contextual menu to change a Smart Category’s name.

Editing Smart Categories
Smart Categories are not directly editable in that you can’t drag items into or out of them, but you can edit the filter criteria. To edit the filter criteria, select the category and choose “Edit Smart Category…” from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category.

Deleting Smart Categories
To delete a Smart Category, select the category and click the ‘-’ button or choose “Delete Category…”. Deleting a category does not delete the styles and symbols it contains – items remain available in the “All Items” category unless intentionally deleted. This operation cannot be undone.

Editing within the List View
To edit an item’s name, double-click it within the item list view (unlock as necessary). Items can be locked and unlocked from within the list view (provided they are within an editable library).

Editing within the Icon View
Double-clicking a symbol within the icon view opens the symbol editor dialog to edit the symbol’s name, description, and properties. Double-clicking a style within the icon view opens the Style Inspector to edit a style’s name, description, and properties.

The “Get Info” drawer slides out and displays information about the selected style or symbol. This information includes the name and description, as well as other item metadata.

The creation of symbols is fully integrated into the Library Manager.

Choose Edit > New Symbol… from the Ortelius main menu. The new symbol is automatically be added to a collection in My Library. If there is no collection available in My Library to contain new styles and symbols, a default collection called “My Symbols” is automatically created. The symbol editor dialog is opened to edit the symbol’s name, description, and properties. When creating more than one symbol in a batch, use the lower left arrows to scroll through and edit properties for each symbol, then click “Done.”

Related topic: Creating New Symbols

You can directly drag-and-drop a style or symbol from the Library Manager (as well as the Symbols Palette) onto an object in the drawing to apply that style or symbol to the target object. For symbols, this means that the target object must be a symbol, and it will adopt the dragged symbol as its master.

Print the selected collection, category, or subcategory by choosing Print from the Library Manager – Action Menu. As needed, use Page Setup to adjust your page settings, such as paper size and orientation. The Library Manager supports printing previews (or create a PDF) with the icon view of collections or categories.

Export collections from My Library and Open Documents Library to create a zip file on disk of the entire collection, allowing you to backup and share it with other users. Select the desired collection to export, then choose “Export Collection…” from the Library Manager – Action Menu.

If you receive a collection from another user (or from Mapdiva), you can import it by first unzipping it as necessary, then choosing “Import Collection…” from the Action Menu. The collection will be imported into My Library and displayed. You can also import a collection by double-clicking the collection file in Finder. Ortelius will launch as ask if you want to install the collection, if you click ‘Install’ it is imported and displayed. Note that import doesn’t unzip a zipped file (a zip file could contain anything), so you need to unzip the file first.