Maps Documentation
Maps is a custom visual for Power BI designed to fulfill your geographic data visualization needs.
Maps provides access to over 200 maps covering various global and local geographic areas. It allows users to zoom, pan, select, and drill into data. Maps offers multiple geographic projections and contains built-in map material, enabling use without an Internet connection and without the connection to a map service like OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, or Bing Maps.
This documentation will guide you through the features and usage of the Maps visual, helping you to effectively integrate it into your Power BI reports.
Table of contents
Data
- Location
- Color group
- Color value
- Label value
- Chart/size value
- Hierarchy definition
- Map
Formatting
- Map & projection
- Interaction
- Labels
- Charts
- Lines
- Colors
Video tutorials
- Basic functionality
- Premium features
How to get it
You can obtain Maps conveniently by using the "Get more visuals" function in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI Service.
A dialog box will appear, displaying a gallery of popular visuals and a search field. Use the search function and type "Maps" or "pbi-consultants" to find our visual. The resulting page will provide general information, details on plans and pricing, as well as ratings and reviews. Clicking the blue "Add" button will include the visual in your current Power BI report, enabling you to use it.
Data
Assign at least a location field. An orthographic projection of the Earth will appear, and the formatting area will be populated with the visual's formatting options.
Location
The location field is essential because it is used to reference areas, points, or lines on the map. Areas are referenced using mapping attributes, while points and lines are defined by their geographic coordinates.
Mapping areas using mapping attributes
Areas are referenced using so-called mapping attributes. Each area of a map has a set of mapping attributes you can use. For example, on the default world map the United States of America can be referenced using either one of these attributes:
Use a data field containing country names, ISO codes (numerical three-digit or alphabetical two- or three-digit) to reference a single country, continent names, names of regions (United Nations grouping or World Bank grouping), or names of sub-regions to reference a group of countries. By assigning multiple data fields each referencing a different mapping attribute on a different drill level (e.g., continent and country), you can create a hierarchy, users can use to drill down. You can even define your own hierarchies.
To get an overview of available mapping attributes, assign any data to the "Location" field and toggle "Mapping info for unmapped areas" in the map formatting options.
This will display the mapping information for all areas of the map that could not be mapped using the provided "Location" data.
Projecting points by their geo coordinates
To project points on a map (e.g., cities or your company's locations), provide the point's geographic coordinates in the form [latitude|longitude]. For example, to display Berlin, Germany, on the map, use the measure value [52.52|13.40], and for New York City, use [40.75|-73.98].
Projecting lines/routes using their defining geo points
Similar to how points are projected on a map, you can also draw lines by defining their start and end points in the form of [latitude|longitude] [latitude|longitude]. For example, to draw a line from Berlin to New York City, you would use the measure value "[52.52|13.40] [40.75|-73.98]". Note that line definitions are not limited to just two coordinates, allowing you to visualize multiple connected lines (e.g., multi-stop routes).
Color group (premium)
The color group can be used to categorize locations and assign them a specific (group) color. For example, you could assign a color to your company's customer locations to represent their customer status. Group colors can be applied to areas, points and lines.
Here is an example. The countries are colored by color group "continent":
Color value
With the "Color value" measure, you can implement value-based coloration for specific map elements, i.e. areas/shapes and routes/lines. Once a color value is assigned, users can enable coloration by color value and define colors and color scales in the visual's formatting area.
Here is an example. The countries are colored by their population:
Label value
To display labels on areas/shapes, points, or lines, use the "Label value" measure. Labels can be numeric (e.g., sales for that location) or textual (e.g., the name of the location). To show multiple labels, simply assign multiple measures. They will be displayed line by line in the order in which they are assigned.
Chart/size value (premium)
For minicharts (columns or circles) on areas or points, or for conditional sizing of lines/routes, use the "Chart/Size value" measure.
Here is an example where the circle sizes represent the populations of the cities:
Hierarchy definition (premium)
As explained in the "Location" section, users can drill down along predefined hierarchies if multiple fields are assigned, each containing matching mapping attribute references (e.g., continent "North America" on level 1 and country "US" on level 2).
With the "Hierarchy definition" measure, you can define additional groups to create your own two-level drill hierarchy. To create a group, the "Hierarchy definition" measure must contain, for each "Location" value, a list of areas/shapes (with matching mapping attributes) that the group consists of, separated by "|". For example, to define a custom group NAFTA, the measure value for that group would be US|CA|MX.
Here is an example of a hierarchy definition.
Before drill:
After drill on Southern Europe:
Map (premium)
With the "Map" measure, you can dynamically override the "Map" formatting setting and automatically switch to a more detailed map during drill. Assign a field containing either the code or name of a map, as shown in the "Map" drop-down box in the formatting settings.
Formatting
Map & projection
Map
Map - Choose from over 150 maps (e.g., world, continents, individual countries with their administrative areas) to visualize your data. To use maps other than the default World map is a premium feature and you need to have a Maps premium license.
Map formatting - Define map color, opacity, and borders.
Empty areas - Toggle to display areas/shapes without data mapped to them.
Mapping info for unmapped areas - Toggle to show available mapping attributes to support data preparation and mapping.
Projection
Projection type - Choose from the projections available for the selected map. The options vary depending on the map selection.
Graticule settings - Only when using the orthographic projection, you have the option to display a graticule. If you opt to show it, define its color and stroke width (in pixels) here.
Point markers
Point markers - If your data (locations) includes point coordinates, you can define the marker format here, i.e., marker style (circle, square, diamond) and marker size (in pixels).
Lines
Lines - If your data includes lines/routes, you can define the line format here.
Line style - Options are solid and dashed.
Line width (pixels) - Default stroke width of the lines.
Arrow style - Lines can optionally have an arrow at the start, the end, or on both sides.
Arrow size - Size of the arrows (in pixels).
Interaction
General
Show interactivity controls - Toggle to display buttons directly on the visualization that allow convenient control of interaction settings. The buttons are located on the left side of the visual. For documentation on each button, see Interactivity controls. This is a premium feature.
Controls size - Define the size of these buttons.
Zoom
Toggle to enable zoom functionality on the visualization.
Show zoom controls - Toggle to display zoom buttons on the right side of the visual, allowing zoom via button clicks. If disabled, zooming is available using your device’s default method (e.g., mouse wheel, two-finger gesture).
Controls size - Define the size of the zoom control buttons.
Show zoom level - Toggle to display the current zoom level on the visualization.
Pan
Toggle to enable visual panning via drag.
Selection
Toggle to enable selection functionality within the visualization. Hold Ctrl (or your system’s equivalent meta key) to select multiple elements.
Center on selection - Toggle to have the visualization automatically center on the last selected element.
Center on slice - Toggle to have the visualization automatically center on filtered elements. This is a premium feature.
Center on highlighted - Toggle to have the visualization automatically center on highlighted elements. This is a premium feature.
Zoom on slice - Toggle to have the visualization automatically zoom in on filtered elements. This is a premium feature.
Interactivity controls (premium)
Labels
Labels can be displayed on all map elements (areas/shapes, points, and lines). They can be formatted individually for each element type.
Shape labels - Define formatting for labels on areas/shapes: color, font, background, and background opacity.
Shapes value formatting - Value formatting (display unit and decimal places) to be applied when the measure "Label value" is numeric.
Point labels - Define formatting for labels on point elements. Formatting options are equivalent to those of shape labels.
Line labels - Define formatting for labels on line/route elements. Formatting options are equivalent to those of shape labels.
Charts (premium)
Charts can be displayed on areas/shapes and points on the map. Currently, there are no charts for lines/routes. Instead, for lines/routes, the line width can be controlled by the "Chart/size value" measure.
Charts can be formatted individually for areas/shapes and point elements. The formatting options are the same.
Chart type - Choose between Column, Circle, and Bubble charts. A Column chart displays a column on each shape/area or point, with column heights representing the absolute value of the assigned "Chart/size value" measure. A Circle chart displays a circle on each chart element, with the size of the circle representing the "Chart/size value" measure. A Bubble chart displays a circle that contains the label text, with the size of the bubble representing the "Chart/size value" measure.
Chart max height or chart max radius - Maximum height (for column charts) or radius (for circle charts). Chart heights or radii will be scaled according to the "Chart/size value" measure, ranging from 0 to the maximum height/radius.
Chart colors - All charts showing positive values will have the same color. You can use color as an indicator by setting a different color for negative values.
Chart value formatting - Value formatting (display unit and decimal places) to be applied when the measure "Chart value" is numeric. It will be applied when showing the "Chart value" measure in the tooltip.
Lines (premium)
Lines data width - When toggled, lines/routes' width will represent the value assigned to the "Chart/size" measure.
Lines min. width - Width of the line/route with the lowest absolute value in "Chart/size" measure.
Lines max. width - Width of the line/route with the highest absolute value in "Chart/size" measure.
Colors
Color types
There are four "Color types" that define the basis of coloration. They can be individually selected for each element type (area/shape, point and line).
Static - Same static color for all elements of an element type.
Individual - Individual color for each single element.
Group - individual color for each color group. Elements will inherit color from their color group (see Color groups).
Value - Value based coloration (based on measure "Color value")
Depending on the color type selection the according formatting options will appear.
Video tutorials
Basic functionality
Premium features