Sonoma - Network Mapping Software
Download v. 0.5.1 full installer for Windows
Download patch 5 for v. 0.5.1 Use this after running the full installer. Unzip the file, and place unzipped files in your "c:\Program Files(x86)\SNMT" folder. (Ability to graph vertices without tie data; Improved display of directed ties, ).

Using the Sonoma Software

Figure 1. Design Map Screen

This is the initial screen that appears when users startup Sonoma. From this screen, users may generate a new map by selecting File -> New from the main menu. To open an existing map project, users may select File -> Open.

Figure 2. Design Map Screen

This screen of Sonoma allows for the designing of the cartographic layer of a visualization (also known as the “base map”). From this screen, the type of geographic projection can be chosen. Once the projection is chosen, projection specific attributes can be entered, such as the central longitude of focus, and any relevant latitudes for the projection. Fields required for a given projection automatically have their labels set in boldface type.

Once projection-level attributes are chosen, a user can specify the region of the globe to depict using the “Map Edge” parameters to specify the latitude and longitude of the map’s edges. The colors for filling in land masses and areas of water can then be specified using a color chooser tool. The type of rivers to depict (i.e. major or minor rivers) can then be chosen and depicted using the color of water chosen previously. The type of political boundary to display (eq. national or state) can then be chosen, along with the width and color of political boundary lines. An option to show or hide the display coastlines as lines is also provided, along with the option to choose a color and width for coastlines. A field to specify the minimum area of map features is also provided so that map features such as mountains and/or lakes can be shown or hidden as desired. Coordinate gridlines can also be chosen for display, along with options for setting the frequency of gridlines, and optional labels that specify the latitude and longitude of gridlines. Lastly, additional graphical layers can be overlaid on the map using the “additional visual layer fields”. For these fields, commands from Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) can be executed and overlaid upon the base map. Please see the GMT manual (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/) for more information.

Figure 3.Load Network Data Screen

Using this screen, users can load data files for their networks. The “tie file” should be a matrix file in the form of comma-delimited text, or a dyad file in the form of comma delimited text.

For matrix files, the first line of the tie file should be a comma separated list of actors, where the first column is blank. Subsequent lines of data in the tie file each start with an actor name follow be a comma, and then a comma –separated list of tie values when a pair of actors possess a network tie (see Figure 5 below). Tie weights must be represented as integer values.

For dyad format files, each dyad should eappear on a single row with three columns of data, The first two columns hold the two adtors involved in the dyad, while the third column holds the tie weight in integer form.

The actor file is a comma delimited list of actors, latitudes , and longitudes. The first line of the file should be the text “Actor, Latitude, Longitude”. Each subsequent line represents the actor name, and corresponding latitude and longitude for a single actor. Actor names in the actor file must match the names provide along the first row and column of the tie file.

Figure 4. Design Network Graph Screen

This screen of Sonoma allows for the designing of the network graph layer. A user can specify the shape of vertices, along with fill color and diameter for all vertices. For network ties, the option to specify a tie color scheme is provided (see the Define Color Scheme screen). The color scheme allows for the gradational coloring of ties based on tie weight. In addition, the type of scaling for mapping (e.g. linear or cubic) tie weights to line colors can be set. To calculate color scaling, the input range (i.e. the minimum and maximum) values of tie weights must be specified. Similarly, gradational thickness of ties can be set based on tie weight. Scaling type and input range can be set for tie widths similarly to tie colors. An output range (in pixels) is also provided for tie weights to provide a minimum and maximum value for the possible widths of ties based on the tie weights found in the user’s data. Output range is not provided as a text field for color scaling because the “color scheme” tool automatically provides the output range for coloring ties.

Figure 5. Design Color Scheme Screen

This screen of Sonoma allows for the designing of the color scheme for coloring ties based on the tie weights found in the user’s network data. The abstract space of colors can be described in three dimensions- hue, saturation, and intensity. The “select base color” square represents the matrix of hue and saturation values across the horizontal and vertical axes respectively. Below the color square, a slider allows for setting the third dimension of intensity on the Select Base Color square. By clicking on a point in the square, the user can choose the base color for the color scheme. While rolling over the color square, text below the square will display the current hue, saturation, and intensity values being navigated over. Once a base color is chosen, the “color scheme” bar on the right will be filled. By default, the base color will be shown with varying levels of intensity. The type of color variation can be reset to either hue, saturation, or intensity by using the “Vary Color By” dropdown. Based on the choice of this dropdown, the color scheme bar on the right side will change accordingly. Sliders on the top and bottom of the color scheme box allow for the setting of colors for the minimum and maximum tie weights. Since both sliders can be moved to either end of the color scheme box, users can specify that colors depict weights in either ascending or descending order of variation (i.e. whether colors go from light to dark in intensity, or dark to light in intensity) The numeric fields that represent the color scheme selected will be displayed below the color scheme box. Users can press the “Ok” button to return to the Design Network Graph screen.

Figure 6. Tie File

The file above represents a sample tie file in matrix format. The file is a unimodal version of the network data provided by Katherine Faust in her chapter on affiliation networks in Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis (2005). Sample data can be found as part of the “samples” folder included with the SNMT installation.

Figure 7. Actor File

The following is an example of an actor file that provides actor names (country names) along with the latitude and longitude of each country’s capital city.

Figure 8. Map View Screen

This screen appears when a user selects the “View Map” button at the bottom of any of the main screens. If the user has not selected an actor or tie file, the preview window will only show an image of the map layer of the visualization. If both files are provided, and all map and network attributes entered, the map and network graph layers appear in the window. Files are presented in PNG format, and can be saved and repurposed from this window by right clicking on the image. The image above represents the data from the Faust example mentioned in Figure 5. An orthographic projection of the globe is used where the longitude 0 value is set to -90 degrees, and where ties vary in color by intensity in a linear fashion, where darker colors represent stronger country-to-country ties.