Customizing Placename Labels on the Hurrevac2010 Tracking Map

Hurrevac2010 Tech Note 7 - posted 6/10/2010

Hurrevac2010's basemaps are generated from two shapefiles that reside in the program's Application Data directory. It is possible to customize Hurrevac2010's place name labels to a limited extent by substituting your own shapefiles. Please note that this customization requires GIS experience and access to a GIS program such as ESRI's ArcGIS for file editing.

Below are the steps necessary to implement this customization which will work with Hurrevac2010 version 1.0.412 or later:

  1. Locate the cities1 and cities2 shapefiles in the All Users Application Data directory for Hurrevac2010. This directory may be hidden by Windows but can be accessed by typing the appropriate address into Windows Explorer - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Hurrevac2010 (WindowsXP) or C:\ProgramData\Hurrevac2010 (Vista and Windows7)
  2. Create copies of the .shp, .shx, .dbf, and .prj files for cities1 and cities2 and name them customcities1 and customcities2. All four of the file types that make up a 'shapefile' must be present under the new name.
  3. Using ESRI's ArcMap or some other GIS program, edit these custom shapefiles to add or subtract point locations. The customcities1 shapefile is for major cities, customcities2 is for smaller cities. You will need to experiment with the zoom levels in Hurrevac2010 to decide which file(s) you wish to customize. In the current version of Hurrevac2010, the zoom level at which these placenames appear is not adjustable.
  4. Restart Hurrevac2010. The customcities shapefiles will be loaded in place of the defaults. It's important that you not simply edit the default shapefiles because these could be replaced if a new version of Hurrevac2010 is installed, causing you to lose your work. The customcities shapefiles will be untouched by program upgrades.