Free E2G Mapping Tool Upgrade

made with the E2G Thematic Mapping Tool

E2G 2.0 is a free mapping tool from MEASURE Evaluation that allows you to create color-shaded maps in Google Earth using Excel spreadsheet data for administrative divisions (e.g., provinces and districts). E2G has been  enhanced in a number of ways:

• PEPFAR countries: Angola, Botswana, Cambodia, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
• Countries of military and humanitarian interest to the United States: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan
• Additional Francophone countries: Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, and Togo

Smaller Output File

The new version of the Excel macro creates a compressed KMZ file rather than an uncompressed KML file as before. File size reduction is significant. This is important for users with low bandwidth.

Printable Legend

Users can now display a legend within the Google Earth map window and print it along with the map. The legend can also be turned off if the user does not wish to display it. All graphics needed for the legend are contained in the map file created by the user, so no Internet connection is needed if the background imagery has been cached.

Flexible Column Names

Users can now use any name for a column containing administrative division names (column no longer has to be named ADMIN1 or ADMIN2). If the column name chosen does not match the default name used in the coordinates files, the macro provides a dialog box and allows the user to select the correct administrative level to use.

Internationalized Numeric Formatting

The macro will display numbers using the decimal separator being used by Microsoft Excel, which means it can be used seamlessly with international numeric formats.

Consistent Numeric Formatting

The macro will now consistently display numeric data in the legend based on the maximum number of decimal places found in the values being mapped.

Expanded Color Choices 

More color gradients available for map shading, and can now access the full Windows system palette to change the color for an individual data class.

Reduced Label Clutter

If a map contains more than 35 label placemarks, they will not be displayed unless the user turns them on manually. This will eliminate the sometimes overwhelming clutter that can occur when a map opens in Google Earth.

Grouped Labels 

In addition to providing a set of label placemarks that is arranged alphabetically, the user can now access a set of label placemarks that can be turned on or off by class. This also helps reduce label clutter and allows the user to focus on a specific class within a map.

Enhanced Error Checking

• Error message provided if the selected worksheet does not contain at least two columns of data, which is the minimum required.
• Alert message provided if the selected worksheet does not contain a third column, which is required for the identification of an alternate label field.

Easier to Read

Larger font size used for dialog box text.

Google Earth Launched Via File Type Association

The path to Google Earth is no longer hard-coded in the E2G macro. The macro will now launch Google Earth from wherever it is installed on your computer, provided that Google Earth is set as the program your computer uses to open KMZ files.