Training Guide

What is autoBound?
 Redistricting Data Development
 Census Data Import
 Incorporate Voter Files (Geocode/Aggregate)
 Incorporate Election Results (Disaggregation)
 Calculate new data columns
 Quality Control
 Plan Management
 Plan types – House/Senate/Congressional Single/Multi-County/User Defined
 Plan Storage and Access by users
 Plan Development
 Plan Management
 Plan Editing
 Analysis – Comparison/Constituency/Compactness
 Output – Reports/Maps/Internet
Architecutre
 Data – ESRI Shape Files
 Automated – Files used to run automated redistricting
 Calculations – Temporary copy of the DB used during Calculations
 Geocoded Voters - Voter Files
 Incumbents – Geocoded Location of Voters
 Merge – Temporary copy of the DB used during Dissaggregation
 Statewide – Completed Database file
 Styles – Labeling Styles
 Thematic Maps – Arcview Layer Files containing Thematic demographics
 2000 Plans – 2000 Plans in autoBound format

 Workspaces – ESRI File Goedatabases

 ABPlans – Default Workspace for autoBound
 Active Matrix – Custom Active Matrix for plan type
 Coalition.gdb – Coalition Manager Files
 Congressional Plans (User Created Plan Type)
○ A PA Test Plan (User Created Plan)
 House Plans (User Created Plan Type)
 Incumbents – Folder where incumbents for this plan type
are stored
 Senate Plans (User Created Plan Type)
Architecture
 Program
 Program Files (x86) on 64 bit systems
 Program Files on 32 bit systems
 Contains the autobound software
 Analysis – ESRI Layer Templates for View Manager
 Georules – Geocoding Rules
 Google – Template files for plan output to the Internet
 Graphics – Graphics used in Map production (Flags etc.)
 Layerbackup – Plan Templates, Map Layers for plans
 Reports – report templates in Crystal format
 RES – Icons used by autobound
 Support – Additional Graphics used by the software
 Themes – System and user created map themes used for redistricting
 Upgrades – Upgrades to the software downloaded by the autobound
administrator.
Installation
 Download autoBound from Citygategis.com
 If you are running autoBound on Windows Vista or Windows 7, then you must be
logged in as an administrator AND run all programs listed on this page as
Administrator by right-hand clicking on the application and selecting run as
administrator
 autoBound installer will attempt to register itself to the Windows
Register. Some Antivirus and Spamware products prevent edits to
the registry. You may need to disable these products beforehand.
 Run the Executable using the password provided to you and follow the instructions
 After the completion of the installation run the Autobound 9 Administrator from your
desktop
 Click Yes to Register the Extension with Arcview
Configuration
 Run the Desktop Administrator from your desktop. If this is the first time you are
running it, then right hand click and run as Administrator.
 If prompted to register with Arcview, select Yes.
 Click Ok, a password is not required unless you set it in the Configure my Autobound
Installation menu.
 A yellow triangle indicates that portion of configuration has not been completed.
 A Green Check indicates the task has been completed.
 Select Configure my autobound installation.
 Enter the Installation Key provided to you by Citygate. If you do not have a serial number
then your data set will be limited to the State of Indiana.
 If you plan to share your plans with others using Google maps then you will need a Google
key for your website. Click “Get Google Map Key” button to start the process
 If you plan to use autobound in a standalone mode, then select the top option in the “How
autobound is used menu”. Otherwise, select the bottom option
 In single user mode, the software does not enforce any permission settings
 If you have selected multi-user environment, then you can set passwords for the Autobound
Administrator and register with Citygate’s Redistricting USA website for sharing plans.
Configuration
 Select “Setup defaults for my State
 Select your state
 Enter your Agency Name. This text will appear at the bottom of your reports
 Select the layers used for redistricting. Typically, County, Voting Districts and Blocks
 Select the folder used to store the Census and other data
 Select “Setup or manage workspaces and libraries
 The Configure Workspace tab allows you to create the areas to store plans
 Choose the Master Workspace Folder. This folder will be used to store all created plans
 Workspaces are folders created under the Master workspace folder
 AB Plans is created by default
 You can create other workspaces by clicking the plus button
 The Configure Plans tab allows you to create plan type and setup and the default workspace
where they are stored.
 Plan types can also include incumbent files. Incumbents files are point shape files containing
the location of the incumbents.
 Including additional information such as Name, Party and Picture allows
the information to be displayed during redistricting
Configuration
 Select “Setup or manage workspaces and libraries - Continued
 The Configure Active Matrix Tab allows you to configure tables which display the results of
the redistricting process. Available fields are displayed on the left.
 Use the add button to add fields from the table to the spreadsheet.
 You can also use the spread sheet editor by clicking to perform more complex editing tasks by
clicking the “Launch Workbook Designer” button.
 Spreadsheets can be saved for specific plan types or custom created.
 Use the Save As button to create custom spreadsheets.
 During redistricting various spreadsheets can be swapped in and out of plans.
 This option allows you to have political information displayed for some redistricting sessions
and Census only for others.
 Select Allow users access to autobound
○ If Networked environment was selected in the Configure My autobound option then you
must give users access to autobound using this tool.
○ Use the Plus button to add a user.
○ Select the user and change their access settings using the check boxes on the right.
○ Click Apply modifications to save your changes.
Database development
 Select Manage my Census and Political Data to access data management
tools in autoBound.
 Select Load Census Data for My State to install 2010 Census Data.
 This option allows you to download the Census data for your state. Currently 2000 Census with
2009 population projections are available through this site.
You must have the ability to FTP, if you wish to use this service. If FTP is not available to you,
you can request the file on CD or make other arrangements to receive the file.
 You can directly download files from Citygate, from and CD/DVD or a network location.
 You can also change the location of your master data folder from this menu.
 Merge My Political Data provides access to disaggregation tools
 This option allows you to merge and disaggregate Election results or any other data collected at
one geographic level in order to make the data available at all levels. For example, election
results are available at precinct level. This tool will disaggregate them to blocks then aggregate
them to CCD, Places, Counties and State.
 Merge files can be in Txt, CSV, Access or Dbase. Since Shape files use Dbase, Dbase format
is preferred as the need for field renaming is removed from process.
 A step by step wizard allows you to perform the process
 The disaggregation process, creates a folder called merge in the Master Data folder.
 All disaggregation related files are stored in that folder until the process is finalized by the user .
 At that point the data in the Statewide folder is updated with the disaggregated data.
 Database development
 Disaggregation of Election Results

Sample Precinct
2000 Voting
Age Persons 800 900

1% of the population =8 =9
33 1 20
19 0 16
44 22 85

• After Disaggregation, Add block results and compare with precinct Numbers
• If different, Add/Remove difference to block with the largest population
• If results in a negative number then remove from 2 blocks with the largest populations
• Can set population Thresholds for Disaggregation
• When disaggregating, your political data should only contain numerical data – String data can not be disaggregated
• When disaggregating, you should insure that your political data does contain NULL values.
Although the software manages NULL values. At times the create difficulty during disaggregation
Database development
 Select the file containing the election results or data that you wish to merge
 If the data is not based on precincts then select the bottom radio box and the
appropriate layer once the layer list is displayed
 Click Next to preview your data
 Click Next to review the Census data layer which will be used for matching
 Verify that matching fields exist in the two datasets
 Click next to identify columns for matching
 The left box will contain the columns from the political data
 The right box will contain the columns from your Census Data
 The Administrator checks for duplicate field names between your existing
Census data and the political data. Duplicate field names are not allowed.
 Click Next to begin the matching process
 Any errors or unmatched features will be listed in an error log
 After reviewing the results, click Next to select the field used for disaggregation,
typically population or voting age population
 Click Go to begin the process. Adding 15 fields to the State of Indiana required
approximately 20 minutes.
 You may finalize your merge after the process has been completed or review
the results in the merge folder before proceeding
Database development
 Select Geocode Voter Files to import your voter database.
 This option allows you to geocode voter files then aggregate and merge them to your data
 Voter files can be a database file or have already been geocoded
 If already geocoded, you must be certain that the base geography used matches to Census
 The process, summarizes the points at block level, then aggregates them to other geographic
levels.
 Select the file to be geocoded
 If using a database, MS Access, Dbase, Excel and Txt are supported. However, if possible
convert you file to Dbase format. Shape files use Dbase. By using Dbase field name
changes during the process will not be required.
 Click Next to review your data
 Identify the fields containing the Address and Zip code. The address must be in a complete
form e.g. 123 Main St. stored in a single field.
 Identify the fields containing political or demographic data your interested in.
 Click Next to select the fields used for the import process.
 Select the field containing the address
 Select the field containing the Zip code
 Select the field used for summarization. If you have previously used this file, the information
selected in your last session will be displayed.
 Click Next and select the resulting file name then Click Go to process
Database development
 Aggregation of Registered Voters

Party = D
Gender = F
.
.
.

• Geocode to Census Lines (if needed)

Block 101 • Summarize by Selected Field(s)
• First 1000 records are scanned to identify
possible options in the summary field
• Aggregate at block level
• Aggregate to other levels

 
Block 101 6 5 1 8 4
Database development
 Select Calculate or Edit my database to add, remove or calculate new fields
 Calculations are performed on a copy of the data which is stored in the Calculations folder
 Other options in the system are locked out until calculation are completed
 You can add, remove or calculate values in the fields in you database
 Fields are listed on the left. Selecting a field will display its type and state totals at the top
 You can view the database by selecting Preview database
 Commands can be stacked in the SQL command area, then processed in batch mode
 When adding a field, be sure to make the field wide enough to store the statewide total
 The optimize database option, identifies fields that are less than the user defined value at the
state level
 After all edits are made, you can either Finalize the database and update the Statewide folder
or Cancel the updates and abandon your changes
 Select Quality Control My Database to check you data for errors
 This tool verifies that all data needed for redistricting is loaded into your system
 You can select fields and verify that the totals at all geographic levels match up
 Any errors found will be listed in an error log and saved to DBErros.txt in the statewide folder
 Errors in totals can be corrected to match the summary of the blocks
Configure Workspaces and Plans
 Configure workspaces allows you to create Folders in your system where
plans can be stored
 The Master Workspace Folder stores all PLANS created by autoBound
 This folder is typically stored in a different area than your Census Data Folder
 By default, autoBound creates the AB Plans workspace folder for plans to be stored in
 An autoBound plan is a windows folder stored in a workspace under the Master workspace
folder.
 You can create any number of user defined workspaces
 Each workspace is essentially a windows folder in the master workspace folder
 Workspaces can be organized by Plan type e.g. (House, Senate and Congressional) or by
Plan Origin e.g. (Publicly Submitted, Democrat, Republican etc.) or by individual users e.g.
(John’s Area, Sam’s Areas etc.)
 You can also create your own workspace storage scheme.
 To add a new workspace, use the +. To remove a workspace use the X button. Workspaces
must be completely empty if you wish to remove them. You can also use the Windows
Explorer to remove workspaces and their contents.
 Once you create workspaces and plans. The Master workspace can not be simply moved to
another location. If you wish to move a workspace after plans have been created, you will
need to insert a file called “CopyOpt.par” in every plan in the workspace. The file can be
empty. The existence of this file will indicate to the autoBound software that the path for the
plan may have been changed and the file links in the Arcview project will have to be updated.
AutoBound will automatically delete the CopyOpt.par file after it completes the update of the
paths in the project.
Configure Workspaces and Plans
 Configure Plans allows you to create default plan types for use by your
users when creating new plans in autoBound
 You can create an unlimited number of Plan types in autoBound
 Plan types can be based on the number of districts and/or incumbent files such as (House,
Senate and Congressional, School Board) or based on users creating plans (Jim’s House,
Publicly submitted House etc.) or any other configuration required by you implementation.
 To create a plan type, click the + Button. Enter the Plan Type Name, The default number of
districts and the workspace where the plan will be stored.
 You can also define an Incumbent file for the Plan type.

AB Plans – Default autoBound workspace

Active Matrix – Area where user created active matrix files are stored
Coalition.gdb – The File Geodatabase for the Coalition Manager
Colorado – User created workspace (could be named anything)
Congressional Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)
House Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)
iowatest – User created plan
NE Unicam 2000 Legislative Plan – User created plan
:
:
Shared Plans – Special folder used by autoBound for sharing plans
Incumbents – Folder used to store the Incumbent Point files
Senate Plans - User created workspace (could be named anything)
Configure Workspaces and Plans
 Configure your Active Matrix
 Autobound displays the results of the redistricting process in an Excel compatible
spreadsheet called the Active Matrix.
 Multiple spreadsheets can be used in the same plan or be created for use in different plan
types.
 The Configure Active Matrix tab allows you to customize the matrix
 Use the fields from your database to add columns in the default matrix.
 Any formulas that you create on the first row, will be copies to all rows, when districts are
added during the plan creation process
 You can customize the spreadsheet using the Launch Workbook Designer button
 In the Workbook Designer, you can open a Spreadsheet that has been customized in any of
your plans. You can then save that as the Default AutoBound Matrix or click the Save As to
save it under a new name.
 If you wish to add your own calculations or field names, It should be outside of the range of
cells used by autoBound. The Range of cells used by autoBound is defined as the area
where field names from your Census Database are used as Column Names and Rows where
the district number is used as the row heading.
 If you enter a column name which is the same as a field name in the Redistricting Database,
autoBound will assume that you intent for autoBound to total the values from the field in the
database under that column. Do not enter your own formulas, they will be cleared by
autoBound during any calculation made in the plan.
Allow users access to autoBound
 If you selected the network environment with other users in the Configure
my autoBound Installation then Allow users access autoBound option will
be available. Otherwise this menu will not be visible and no additional
configuration is required.
 Autobound will require users to enter a user name and password, before
accessing plans
 Your system administrator should still configure the system such that users
can not access one another’s files. Autobound can not prevent users from
accessing one another’s files, if Autobound is not used in the process.
 Add users, using the + Button. Remove users using the X button.
 Removing a users does not remove the plans that they may have created.
 After adding the user, select the user from the list, then set access controls
from the right side of the screen.
 Click Apply Modifications to save your changes.
 You can now begin making plans in autoBound.
autoBound District Editor
 The autoBound District Editor is an ArcView GIS Extension
 The extension is installed during the program installation
 To activate the extension, Select Customize from the Arcview Tools menu
 Then turn the Autobound 9 – Redistricting Software on
 Autobound adds to icons to the Arcview Interface
 Select the “AB9 Plan Manager” button
 A list of your plans grouped by workspace is displayed
 The first group are recent plans
 You can sort by any column
 Double click on a plan name to open it
 Move the mouse over a plan name to see a thumbnail picture of the plan
 Any comments which may have been entered will also be displayed
autoBound District Editor
 Plan Management Tab allows
 Open an existing plan
 Create a New Plan
 Copy a Plan
 Delete a Plan
 Close a plan
 Under the Plan Utilities Tab
Access to the plan can be given
to other users (This option is
only available if networked option
was selected in the AutoBound Administrator)
 Comments can also be added or edited for any selected plan
 The Reports Tab allows you to run any existing reports for a selected plan
without opening the plan.
 The autoBound Settings displays your user name, the Path to the Master
Workspace, your Census data folder and the number of plans in the system
 To open a plan, select the plan name then click Open Selected Plan or
double click on the plan name.
autoBound District Editor
 To Create a plan, select “Create a New Plan” from the Plan Management Tab
 Select the Plan Type – Plan types
available are configured in the administrator
 You can use another plan of the same type
as a template for creating this plan
 You can import a plan and use it to create
a new plan
 Or create an empty plan
 Autobound allows you to create your own
color and labeling schemes. These can be
stored in the program folder under the “Themes” folder
 Enter the Plan name – Plan names can essentially folder names. Windows
rules for naming folders applies. e.g. spaces are okay \ is not!
 Enter comments for the plan
 By default, autoBound will store the plan in the designated are for the plan
type, add the incumbent file is one is assigned and load the default matrix.
You can modify any of the default options by clicking the More Options arrow
autoBound District Editor
autoBound District Editor
 Autobound automatically organizes the Arcview Table of
contents by grouping layers under Transportation, water,
Redistricting Layers and Plan Boundary
 Redistricting Layers contains Census geography, population
and any political data which you may have added
 The Census Data layer group contains layers from your Master
data folder. These files are in ESRI Shape file Format
 Plan Boundary contains the plan boundary shapes. This
layer is stored in an ESRI File Geodatabase called AB9PLAN.gdb
 The Plan Boundary File Geodatabase is stored in the Plan folder under the
selected workspace in the Master Workspace folder
 Autobound has predefined scale dependent display ranges set for most
layers used in the redistricting process. You can change these settings
using the Arcview Properties window
 To make these changes permanent for all new plans, edit the layers in the
Themes folder in the autoBound program folder.
autoBound District Editor
 All autoBound tools are available in the docked menu
 Tools are grouped by type
 Current District is the Target district to which selected areas
are assigned. You can set the Target District by clicking the
district number, selecting the Set Target option or using the
Ctrl key in combination with Assign Area or Select Area
options and clicking into a district
 Active layer is the Census layer from which geographies are
selected. You can set the Active Layer by clicking the Layer
name or selecting the Select Layer option
 Zoom to District – zooms to the extent of the Current District
and highlights the district with a red boundary. Use the Clear
selection to clear the red highlight
 Assign Area – Assigns from the Active Layer to the Current
District. Click in the map to assign an area, drag a box to
assign any geographies that intersect the box or use the Alt
key combination to draw a “lasso”. Double mouse click to end,
ESC to Cancel
autoBound District Editor
 Select Area allows you to select the areas to be assigned then
use the Assign Selected button to assign them. When using
this tool, you can use the Shift key combination to add or
remove from your selected set
 Assign Selected, assigns all selected features to the Current
Target District
 Select using overlay allows you to use another polygon (or
Area) layer for selection of feature from your Active Layer. For
Example, you can use city boundaries to select the VTDs
 Use the Select Overlay layer option to select which layer will
be used. A Slider bar allows you to adjust precision by which
selections are made.
 When adding a non-Census Layer to autoBound. You must
insure that the layer is already projected to:
 Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983
 Datum: D_North_American_1983
 Prime Meridian: Greenwich
 Angular Unit: Degree
Not doing so, will result in errors in the redistricting layer.
autoBound District Editor
 Clear selection, clears the currently selected geographies. It
also clears any graphics displayed on the screen such as
highlighted districts
 Select district, selects the geographic from the active layer that
are entirely within the Current District.
 Undo, reverses the last edit made to the districts
 History displays a calendar with the previously executed
commands. You can roll back to any previous step in the
history of the plan.
 Use the Shift key to select the beginning and ending of the dates on the
calendar, you wish to review.
 Click the command in the list to view the thumbnail preview of the step
 Double click the command or Click Preview on map to display the history
over the existing districts with a red boundary highlight. Clear selection
removes the highlighted boundaries
 Click Retrieve to roll back the plan to the selected history. This process
generates a new history backup
 With the exception of the starting and ending points for each previous day,
the system automatically removes backups older than the last 3 sessions
 To permanently keep a backup, select the backup and click Keep
Permanently.
 To remove a backup click Remove
autoBound District Editor
 Backups are stored in a folder called Plan Backups in the plan
folder
 Within each backup folder, commands are organized in
sequentially numbered folders containing a copy of the plan
File Geodatabase, Snap shot of the screen, a copy of the
Active Matrix and a text file containing the command which
initiated the creation of the backup the username and time
 Each backup history file is a complete copy of the autoBound
Plan database
 Save snapshot allows a copy of the redistricting database to
be saved as a history snap shot. Checking the Share with
others checkbox will make the snap shot available to other
plans through the import plan option.
 Snap shots are not removed by the system
autoBound District Editor
 The District Manager tool allows the configuration of multiple districts to be changed at one
time
 Add allows the total number of
districts in the plan to be increased
 Remove, removes the selected
district from the plan and renumber
the remaining districts
 The Save and Load options allow a
text file to be created where all district
numbers can be resequenced
 Erase, clears the boundaries of the
selected districts
 Rename allows the selected district
to be renamed to another district. The
target district must be empty
 Switch allows two selected districts to be swapped
 Merge allows multiple districts to be merged into a single district. The last district selected will
be the one merged to
 Lock will allow the selected districts to be locked from edit
 Unlock will unlock selected districts
 Changes in the District Manager can be undone using Undo or History
autoBound District Editor
 Set Target, sets the district to which selected geography will be
assigned
 Select Layer, selects the active layer from which geographies
are selected
 Select Overlay Layer, works with the Select Using Overlay tool
and identified the layer used as the selection template
 Label options allow you to label Census geographies with
attributes. The option also allows conditional labeling of the
districts. e.g. Red text when deviations are not met
 Select the fields which will be used for labeling then click the + button
 The attributes will be stacked in the order which you select them
 You can change the text color using the Color button
 Saving the labeling style will make the style available to other users
 To label districts, select Plan Boundary from the Left Tab
 You can create conditions using the tools provided
 Conditions can result in text displayed in different colors or with symbols
 Reset colors, resets the district colors
autoBound District Editor
 The View Manager allows map layers to be added or removed from your plan
 Layers are grouped by type
 Analysis group allows access to layers
which are created during analysis
performed by you. If the analysis has
not been performed the layer will not
be available.
 The Census Data layers can be turned
on or off , but not removed
 Demographic categories layers are
created based on US wide layers. The
color scheme my not work for your
specific area. You can customize these |
layers using Arcview. They are stored
in the autobound program folder under
Layerbackups>Thematic Maps
 Access to ESRI and Microsoft Bing online layers is also provided here. Arcview 9.3.1 or later is
required for Microsoft Bing layers
autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools
 Display Statistics will display a window which allows values
from the Census database and your political data to be
displayed. When the Select Area tool is used the totals for the
selected features is updated in the Statistics window
 Use the select fields button to select field for display
 Click the check box next to the field to display the field in the bar graph
 The Bar Graph can display summary for the selected geographies or create
a bar graph for each selected geography
 The Analysis field compares the totals for selected geographies to the target
value and identifies the number of districts which could fit in the selected
area. For this feature to work, the Analysis Field must also exist in the Active
Matrix with a Target Value
 Check plan for Errors allows you to find Unassigned and
discontiguous area in the plan.
 Click Start to begin the review process
 Double click on the error list or click Zoom to, to display the error
 Identify splits, identifies areas in the plan where geographies
have been split. You can select the layers to be checked. A
report is generated after the analysis has been completed.
autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools
 Recalculate Plan, recomputes the totals for the districts and
updates the Active Matrix. Perform a detailed calculation, if
you have made a great deal of block level edits. Detail
calculation, reconsolidates Census geographies making up a
district to the highest level possible, there by reducing the plan
size and improving performance
 Compare plans, allows you to compare the current plan with
Other plans in the workspace, an external shape file or the
plan itself at an earlier stage and identify differences
 The areas of difference will be highlighted with red X’s
 A report outlining the differing geographies will also be displayed
 Core constituency, allows you to compare the current plan with
Other plans in the workspace, an external shape file or the
plan itself at an earlier stage and identify areas that are the
same
 This report allows a member to identify how much of his district has
remained the same and which district the new portions of his district came
from
 A report outlining the information will also be displayed
autoBound District Editor – Analysis tools
 Compactness, provides access to compactness analysis tools
within autoBound.
 5 of the most common methods for calculation of compactness are included
 Additionally, users can choose to create their own compactness
measurement using the custom option
 Street view provides access to Microsoft Bing and Google
Street views. Click into the map to display street views for the
selected area. An internet connection is required. This option
is primarily designed to support identification of new polling
locations.
autoBound District Editor – Coalition Builder
 The Coalition Builder tools is designed to allow comments from
member to be captured and used during redistricting
 Members can identify areas in their plans that of interest for either
keeping or removing during this process
 Selections are limited to Census geographies
 The Coalition Manager database is shared between users with
access to your workspaces
 Multiple Coalition Builder databases can be created. e.g. House,
Senate, Congressional etc.
 Use the Coalition manager tool to Create, Delete, Add or Remove
Coalition databases
 Edit area allows you to select areas from the Active Layer and
mark them as Keep/Add Area to District or Can Remove Area
 If an incumbent file exists, the software will automatically load
information regarding each district. Otherwise, you can manually
fill in the form.
 Areas okay to remove will be highlighted in Green O’s. Areas not
Okay to remove are highlighted in Red X’s.
 View areas allows you to select an area and view information from
the Coalition Manager Database
autoBound District Editor – Reports and Output
 Run reports provides access to redistricting reports
 The Crystal Portion of Arcview must be installed for the Reports to
function
 Crystal Reports is not required to run reports. But is required if
you wish to customize or create your own reports
 Each time a report is run, a copy of the report is saved in the Plan
folder. These copies can be quickly accessed through the Run
Existing Reports Tab
 You can make plans available for viewing using Broadcast to
Internet option
 Plans shared this way are only available for viewing. They can not be edited
 Select the Active Matrix columns you wish to include
 Select an output folder where the html files are to be created
 If you wish for autobound to automatically upload to a server, provide login and
address information
 AutoBound will generate several HTML files along with a Google Maps mashup
ready for placing on the Internet
 If you have registered on redistrictingusa.com, you can upload
plans and make them available to the public using this site. FTP
is the file transfer protocol used. Your Firewall must allow FTP file
transfer.
 Presentation mode, increases the text size in the map and Matrix
autoBound District Editor – Data Exchange
 Export spreadsheet allows you to export the Active Matrix to
several formats including HTML and Excel.
 Export Plan allows you to export the plan as a Shape file or a
Block Equivalency text or dbf file. You can also export plans in
autoBound Exchange format. Autobound Exchange format
will only export the boundary. It is suitable for sending copies
of your plan to other Caucuses, if you do not wish for them to
see any of your analysis data.
 Import plan allows you to import plans from Block Equivalency
files in Text or DBF format, autobound Exchange format or
ESRI shape file.
 When shape files are imported, you can specify the accuracy of the match in
the geographies.
 Areas of where autoBound could not determine an accurate import, will be
highlighted on the map after the import is complete.
 Backup plan creates a backup zip file of the entire plan.
autoBound District Editor – Utilities
 Label Field has been replaced with Label Options in the Edit
Tools Tab
 None Political, remove references to party registration from
the incumbent file
 Automated Redistricting allows autoBound to create
automated plans based on Random or Incumbent starting
locations
 Options allows you to turn Pop up error messages on or off
 Show detailed log, displays the system log as commands are
processed
autoBound District Editor – Active Matrix
 Print Active Matrix allows you to print the spreadsheet
 Print preview provides access to a preview of the pages before
printing
 Page setup allows access to parameters used to control the
printing of the spreadsheet
 Save Matrix allows the saving of different version of the Active
Matrix in your plan. Saved versions can be loaded from the Active
Matrix Combo box in the Assist tool
 Save as BMP allows the matrix to be saved as a Window bitmap
file. It also allows the file to be loaded as a graphic in the layout
 Copy selected, copies the selected cells in the Active Matrix
 Paste selected, pastes the copied cells in the Active Matrix
 Toggle Assist – Hides and shows the autoBound Assist tool
 Insert Columns allows you to add new columns to the Active
Matrix containing values from Census or you political data. User
defined columns can also be added. User defined columns
should not be named after data fields in your Census or political
data. Autobound will assume the column to be a database field to
be calculated if they are named as such
autoBound District Editor – Active Matrix
 Remove column will remove the selected columns. If you
remove all columns from a sheet, you must then remove the
sheet
 Conditional format allows coloring of values in the Active
Matrix, based on a numerical threshold
 Cell Properties provides access to the Cell formatting menu.
Color, Font, Decimal places along with other settings for the
selected cells can be modified
 Bold, Italic, Underline, Align Left/Center/Right allow formatting
of the selected cells
 Zoom in 25%, Out 25%, 100% set the zoom level for the
Active Matrix.
autoBound District Editor – Assist tool

 The autoBound Assist tool identifies the district with the highest deviation and the 2 districts
making up the plan deviation.
 Clicking the District with the largest deviation in the assist tool will set it as the current district.
Double clicking will zoom to the district
 The Locate Adjacent Suitable district will identify neighboring district that can help correct the
deviation in the Current District
 An arrow will display their location on the map
 Find Features Based on Selected District button will located geographies from the Active layer
along the boundary which will correct the deviation.
 Active Matrix Combo box will load other spreasheets into the Active Matrix. A recompute will
be required
 The Dynamic Checkbox, reduces the Active Matrix to the districts currently visible on the map