A legend’s color scheme, data aggregation method, and number of ranges can greatly influence a maps visual appearance, quality, and usefulness when interpreting. The SMS software has a variety of tools and preset modes to help you get the most out of your data.
How to modify the legend of a mapped layer:
Create a map of an operation you want to edit the legend on.
Click the Edit Legend button that appears over the legend window, or double click anywhere in legend and the Edit Legend dialog will open.
Settings within Edit Legend
Range Settings
Ranges: Allows User to set the number of ranges for a legend. Certain operations and attributes have limits on the number of ranges that can be set. One example would be a yield map can have a maximum of 40 ranges.
Mode: Provides a variety of methods to distribute the data into the defined number of ranges.
Equal Points: Adjust all legend ranges so that each range has an equal number of data points. For example if a dataset has 20,000 points and the user has specified they want 5 legend ranges, the equal points option will even out the ranges to each include 4,000 data points.
Equal Spacing: Takes the maximum value minus the minimum value and divides this number by the number of ranges to distribute the data evenly in the legend.
Standard deviation: Uses the standard deviation for the dataset to determine the minimum and maximum values for each range with the highest value being +infinity and the lowest –infinity. The deviation factor can be set to fit the type and range of data values that your data contains, but the deviation factor must be between .05 and 3.
Custom: Allows user to manually enter in values for each range.
Natural Breaks: This method tries to determine the optimal natural grouping of data to define the range values. This option is similar to the equal point’s option but it can better account for outliers and anomalies on the high and low sides.
Percentage Based: Allows the user to select the number of ranges in the legend and what percentage of the raw data values should fall into each range. The entered percentages will have to total 100%.
Start at Zero: Sets the lowest range value to zero.
Show End Ranges: Sets the bottom and top range values to display their ‘true’ values; if unchecked the bottom value in the legend will be replaced with ‘Below’ and the top value with ‘Above’.
Color Settings:
Mode: Provides a variety of preset color schemes: Single Hue, Dual Hue, Rainbow, Green-Yellow-Red, Red-Yellow-Green, Grayscale, Random, and Fixed colors.
Reset Sticky Ranges: If a "Sticky" range has been set by manually editing a range color, clicking on this button will reset the range color to be whatever the color should be for the current Color Setting mode.
If a User manually edits a range color then the word "Sticky" will appear in the cell with the color. This is now a "Sticky" range which means that if you change the Color Setting to another mode, the "Sticky" range color will stay the color that you set, even though all the ranges around it that weren't edited manually will change.
Invert Colors: Flip-Flops the order of the range colors.
Format Settings:
Precision: Allows users to set the number of digits that are displayed to the right of the decimal place for range values.
Scientific Notation: Allows users to set the range values to be displayed in scientific notation format. For example a value of 48.0 would be displayed as 4.8e+001.
Show Legend As: Users can use this option to define if they want to see Range Values Only, Description Text Only, or a combination of the two that will be displayed in the legend.
Statistics: Displays statistical values for the legend’s dataset, which can be used to help make decisions on selecting the legend range settings. A histogram is also provided to see how the values in the dataset are distributed as well as where the current ranges fall.
Histogram: Displays a histogram with Area on the X-axis and the current legend attribute on the Y-axis.
View Legend Lines: Turns the legend lines on the histogram on and off.
View Larger Histogram: Click this button to open a large dialog containing the histogram.
Save: Opens ‘Save legend’ window where you can save a legend and set legends as defaults for operations, products, and/or specific crop types.
Current Layer Default: This selection will set the default legend for the current layer that you have mapped only. If you have a special test plot where you would like to set a special legend, different from your normal legends, then you would set this default selection.
Current Operation Default: This selection will set the default legend for the current operation that is mapped. There are three choices for Legend Types when saving as an operation default:
Crop Type Based: legend is saved across all datasets for one crop type per operation. For example, if you would like to set all your Yield (Dry) harvest data for corn to a specific legend but be able to specify a different legend for soybeans you would select this option.
Product Based: legend is saved across all datasets for one product per operation. For example, if you save a legend for Rate Applied for a Planting operation, and create/save the legend for a field planted with a product named DKC63-45 then all other fields under the Planting Operation with a product name of DKC63-45 will share the same legend display settings for Rate Applied.
All Crop/Products: legend is saved across all datasets for all crops and products for the currently mapped operation. For example, if you would like to have all Yield (Dry) legends the same, regardless of product or crop type you would select this option.
Keep Legend Already Assigned to Specific Crop Type/Product: Selecting this option will keep any legends you might have assigned to a specific crop/product that you don't want to be overridden by the selection above. If unchecked, any saved legends for the currently mapped operation will no longer be applied and the new legend will be used.
Load: Opens ‘Load legend’ window where users can load previously saved legends.
