Dynamically add data points to U.S. Map from excel file?

Question

Hi,
I have an illustrator U.S. map and I have an excel spread sheet with 1,000's of zip codes. I need to add dots on my map for each zip code. How do I do that dynamically? This is going into an annual report so the design needs to be kept in Illustrator and the dot style needs to be adjustable.
Please let me know if there is a solution as opposed to manually looking up the zip codes and copy/pasting 1,000's and 1,000's of dots.
Many thanks in advance,
Stacy

Answer 1

Not sure I follow exactly what you have in mind. You just want to have a dot at the location of each zip code on a map of the US? Are the dots going to be individually labeled? Individually named objects? Isn't there something like 40,000 zip codes in the US?
You don't provide much information about the problem. What kind of map? Does it already have individual objects drawn in the shape of zip codes and you just want a dot in the middle of each? Are you literally just starting with an outline of the whole US?
What kind of columns are in your spreadsheet? For example, do you have latitude/longitude data cells for each zip code? I don't think there is any geographical reference system embedded in a zip code. It's just a number.
Illustrator isn't going to recognize a *shape* as the state of Georgia, for example, unless that object already has some kind of identifier within Illustrator. So obviously, you would need some kind of 2D reference table to tell whatever automation scheme you employ where to place each dot on an XY coordinate grid.
Such things are available, as described here:
http://www.maponics.com/index.html
I suspect you're probably trying to reinvent the wheel here, but it would not be a difficult Javascript problem, once armed with the three-field data. This would be the general scheme:
1. Start with a data table with three columns: Zip Code, Latitude, Longitude.
2. Write an AI Javascript which does these things:
-Contains a function which uses a simple multiplication scheme to effectively scale the Lat/Long values into X and Y divisions of your Artboard area.
-Contains a loop which cycles through the Lat/Long values, calls the function to translate each into X/Y page coordinates, and places a pre-defined Symbol (an AI Symbol, in the sense of the Symbols Palette) at each coordinate pair. Using Symbol Instances would enable you to use the various Symbols-related commands to later globally swap out or edit the symbols.
-The script could optionally name each of the instances by its zip code, if necessary.
3. After running the script, simply scale and position the map (probably on an underlying Layer) proportionally so that two points on it correspond to any two known lat/long coordinates. The rest of the map would then correspond to the dots on the grid.
But again, I strongly suspect this has all been done before. You could probably buy a vector graphic file like what you need from a map clipart source and then just edit it stylistically for your use.
JET