Map

Use a Map when you want to see patterns in your data by geography. Data is mapped by matching the location name on the map with a location in your data.

A map must reference at least one dimension with geographic members, such as countries, states, provinces, or continents.

The geography dimension must contain members that are recognizable as geographic entities. To determine whether a dimension is mappable, Planning Analytics Workspace analyzes a sample of members in the defined geography dimension, looking for recognizable place names. If 80% or more of the members in the geography dimension are recognized as geographic entities, a map is generated.

For more information on the languages and geographic entities supported in map visualizations, see Map reference info.

You can also integrate Mapbox with Map visualization to display custom polygons, icons, and layers. For more information, see Setting up Mapbox to work with Planning Analytics Workspace Map visualizations.

Map properties

You can customize a Map visualization using properties under Properties > Visualization properties. Here are some key properties you can use:

World View

The World View property displays disputed country borders from the perspective of different countries.

In the World View property under Chart, select a country and notice how the visualization changes the way disputed country borders display based on the selected country's perspective.

By default, the World View property is set to United States (US). Other countries you can choose from are:
  • IN - India
  • CN - China
  • JP - Japan
  • AR - Argentina
  • MA - Morocco
  • RU - Russia
  • TR - Turkey

Icons

You can select a pre-defined icon for points on a Map. Depending on whether you want to add icons to the regions or points layer of the Map, expand either the Regions layer section or Points layer section. Select an icon from the Icon property dropdown.

Icons menu in Map visualization

You can also select a custom icon.

Note: When you choose to use a custom icon, you no longer have access to the predefined icons.
To use a custom icon in Maps, make sure you set up Mapbox to work with IBM Planning Analytics Workspace. Then, follow these steps:
  1. In Mapbox Studio, create a new style using a template.
  2. Customize the selected template.
  3. Under Layers, pick the layer for your Map visualization.
  4. Under Icon, pick your custom icon. You can also upload an image that you want to use as an icon.
    Tip: Make a note of the name of the custom icon you picked or added. You will need to add the custom icon name to the visualization properties in Planning Analytics Workspace later.
  5. Publish the style.
  6. Go to the style you just created and copy the style URL.
  7. In Planning Analytics Workspace, click the visualization and go to Properties > Visualization properties > Chart.
  8. In the Map base dropdown, select Custom.
  9. Paste the style URL in the URL field.
  10. Expand the Points layer section and in the Icon dropdown, select Custom.
  11. Enter the name of the custom icon in Custom icon name field.

Allow overlap

Use the Allow overlap if you want icons to display on each point even if another element (such as point labels) is conflicting with the icons.

You can hide the default circle icon for points in the Map by setting the Transparency property to 100%.

Show map labels

Turn on the Show map labels under Chart to see background map labels.