VitaraMap and Image Layout User Guide
Desktop Version 10.10 or newer
C.Upgrade from previous VitaraMap Charts version
2. VitaraMaps- Default Charts and Formatting Options
2.1 Vitara Charts Default Inputs:
2.5 Formatting Options for VitaraMaps:
2.6 Map type - Choropleth map and map bubble:
3. Customisation of Map chart (Creating maps other than default vitara maps):
3.1.4 ‘Dictionary key’ property:
4. Creating Map for other Countries
5. Creating Custom Map from Image Layout
5.1 Steps to Create SVG file from Image Layout:
5.2 Convert an Image Layout SVG file into json file:
5.3 Steps to Add custom map to Vitara Maps visualizations
6. Creating maps using Zip Codes
6.1 Vitara Zip code grouping tool
6. 2 Example of zip code aggregation:
7. Creating maps using US County
7.1 Vitara County grouping tool
7. 2 Example of County’s aggregation:
8. Creating maps using Generic Merge Tool
8.1 Vitara Generic grouping tool
8. 2 Example of generic aggregation:
Vitara Maps and Image Layout User Guide
Vitara Map visualization will work in web based MicroStrategy Documents, Visual Insights Dashboards and as well as MicroStrategy Desktop. The following section explains the steps to setup the plugin for MicroStrategy Web and Desktop, MicroStrategy Mobile.
Vitara Map Chart can be installed on MicroStrategy version 10.3 or higher on MicroStrategy certified configuration of web servers and has been tested on browsers certified by MicroStrategy’s release.
Installation Steps:
For instance if the Web Server is installed in the folder
c:\tomcat\webapps\MicroStrategy,
you have to place Vitara map Chart under
c:\tomcat\webapps\MicroStrategy\plugins
NOTE: If you are upgrading VitaraMaps , locate the VitaraMap plugin\Custom folder which contains all your custom images, shapes and other configurations. Backup the Custom folder inside the VitaraMap install.The ‘custom’ folder can be found in the path - plugins\VitaraMaps\custom.
Windows Path : Files\MicroStrategy\MicroStrategy Desktop\code\plugins\Vitara Map Chart
Mac Path : Contents → Resources → code → plugins → Vitara Map Chart
For Desktop use, just import the downloaded Vitara Map Chart.zip file (link at the start of the document) as a new visualization (File→ Add Visualization from File).
Now Replace the license.txt with the license file provided to you.
Also Replace the custom folder in the VitaraMap folder with the back-up created prior to upgrade.
On windows, look for the license.txt file under C:\Program
Files\MicroStrategy\MicroStrategy Desktop\code\plugins\Vitara Map Chart
On a Mac, in order to locate license.txt,
Go to Applications
locate MicroStrategy Desktop
Right click on it and choose ‘Show Package Contents’
Now navigate to Contents → Resources → code → plugins → Vitara Map Chart
NOTE: If you are upgrading VitaraMaps, locate the ‘plugins\VitaraMaps\Custom’ folder which contains all your custom images, shapes and other configurations. Backup the Custom folder inside the VitaraMap install. The custom folder can be found in the plugins\Vitara Map Chart.
The Custom folder contains all your image layout files, configurations and associations for VitaraMaps and should not be deleted or upgraded with first backing it up.
For Desktop use, just import the downloaded Vitara Map Chart.zip file. In order to import, open an existing mstr file or choose to create a new Dossier. You will see the list of custom visualizations at the bottom right. At the end, you will see a + sign to add visualizations. Click on the + sign and choose to import visualization. Now point to the Vitara Map Chart.zip that you downloaded.
Now Replace the license.txt with the version provided to you.
Also Replace the Custom folder from back-up( only applies if you are upgrading VitaraMap)
On windows, look for the license.txt file under C:\Program
Files\MicroStrategy\MicroStrategy Desktop\code\plugins\Vitara Map Chart
On a Mac, in order to locate license.txt,
Go to Applications
locate MicroStrategy Desktop
Right click on it and choose ‘Show Package Contents’
Now navigate to /Applications/Workstation.app/Contents/Frameworks/OneTierDashboardWindow.framework/Versions/A/Resources/code/plugins/Vitara Map Chart/
VitaraMaps Chart installation has three default charts; World Physical, US Physical, and US counties. The charts list can be expanded by adding other countries or other shapes of images and is explained in the subsequent sections.
VitaraMaps acts as a heatmap and color codes the map regions based on one given metric . The following section describes the inputs required .
One attribute. For world physical map, if the attribute elements contains either iso-standard country names or iso-a2 country codes format, we can directly use without any modifications.
If there is some difference between the country names in our data and shapefile country names, we have to add synonyms. This concept is explained in ‘Mapping layers’ chapter.
The following table has the list of some country names with their ISO-a2 codes as an example.
Country Name | ISO Code | Country Name | ISO Code |
Afghanistan | AF | Belgium | BE |
Albania | AL | Belize | BZ |
Algeria | DZ | Benin | BJ |
American Samoa | AS | Bermuda | BM |
Andorra | AD | Bhutan | BT |
Angola | AO | Bolivia | BO |
Anguilla | AI | Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba | BQ |
Antarctica | AQ | Bosnia and Herzegovina | BA |
Antigua and Barbuda | AG | Botswana | BW |
Argentina | AR | Bouvet Island | BV |
Armenia | AM | Brazil | BR |
Aruba | AW | British Indian Ocean Territory | IO |
Australia | AU | Brunei Darussalam | BN |
Austria | AT | Bulgaria | BG |
Azerbaijan | AZ | Burkina Faso | BF |
Bahamas | BS | Burundi | BI |
Bahrain | BH | Cambodia | KH |
Bangladesh | BD | Cameroon | CM |
Barbados | BB | Canada | CA |
Belarus | BY | Cape Verde | CV |
For US Physical map the attribute should contain US states names. The example US states names formate is shown in the following table.
Name of the State | Name of the State | Name of the State |
Massachusetts | Rhode Island | Louisiana |
Washington | Alabama | Florida |
California | Mississippi | Georgia |
Oregon | North Carolina | South Carolina |
Wisconsin | Virginia | Minnesota |
Maine | Iowa | Montana |
Michigan | Maryland | North Dakota |
Nevada | Delaware | Arizona |
New Mexico | Pennsylvania | Utah |
Colorado | New Jersey | Hawaii |
Wyoming | New York | Alaska |
Kansas | Idaho | Guam |
Nebraska | South Dakota | Tinian |
Oklahoma | Connecticut | Saipan |
Missouri | New Hampshire | Rota |
Illinois | Kentucky | Eastern |
Indiana | Ohio | Western |
Vermont | Tennessee | Puerto Rico |
Arkansas | West Virginia | Saint Thomas |
Texas | District of Columbia | Saint John |
Saint Croix | Northeast, North-Eastern States | West, Western States |
Midwest, Mid-Western States | South, Southern States |
|
Minimum of one metric is needed to draw map chart. Drag and drop a metric into ‘Color By’ drop zone. Any metric at the map region level can be used in this drop zone to create the HeatMap.
We can add any number of metrics into ‘tooltip’ drop zone. These metrics will not be use in plotting of the map, but will show their value in tooltip when we hover cursor on the map.
The following sections will explain about the three vitara default maps.
Let’s consider the population density of the following five countries - United States, Russian Federation, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom. The following is the screenshot of the data file.
Add the data file to MicroStrategy dashboard or document. Drag and drop the country name attribute and Population Density metrics into ‘Map Attribute’ and ‘color by’ of drop zone field respectively. The default world physical map will show these countries.
The below screenshot is the Vitara map chart showing Population density for all the countries.
To show this map, let’s take the example of 2014-2015 net migration for the following five states - Washington, Arizona, California, Florida and New York.
Add the dataset to MicroStrategy web or desktop. Drag and drop the attribute and metrics into drop zone. Vitara map chart will show World physical map by default. To change it to US Physical, click on ‘Edit’ button. Properties popup window will open. Go to ‘Map’ tab and expand ‘Map Layer’ tab, then select US Physical.
The following screenshot is the output of US Physical map.
By default chart will show ‘World Physical” map. Go to ‘Edit’ and change the map layer to ‘US Counties’ map. The following screenshot is from the example data for counties in US.
The below screenshot is output of the ‘US Counties’ map.
VitaraMaps comes with extensive formatting options. When user clicks on ‘Edit’ button , a popup window with all the formatting options is displayed. This is the properties editor which can be used for various properties of map chart like the palette colors, data labels style, enabling or disabling tooltip, and legend.
We can also apply Thresholds which will show the chart in a color when a specific condition is true. For this go to ‘Thresholds’ tab and apply a new threshold.
There are map specific properties in ‘Map’ tab. This tab has properties like map layer, map type, grouping and border properties.
Expand the option ‘Map layer’. You can see the three default map layers. To apply any map, our visualization should contain respective data.
Choropleth map shows metric’s data in the form of color gradients. Map chart will divide the metric data into five ranges, top 20%, 20% to 40%,, 40% to 60%, 60% to 80% and bottom 20%. Applies a color for each range. Below is the screenshot for this type of chart, which shows human population for each continent.
Map bubble shows a bubble for each attribute element and the size of the bubble is decided by the metric value.
To enable this option two attributes are needed in vitara map. One is for normal ‘Map Attribute’ drop zone which will be related to the Map type, and other is for ‘Play by’ drop zone.
Drag and drop the attribute in to ‘Play Axis’ drop zone.
The ‘Play By’ option will make vitara map chart to show ‘Map Attribute’ elements for each element of the ‘play by’ attribute at a particular time instant. We can pause the play at any time and replay it.
The following is the screenshot of a dashboard in which US States information is displayed region wise.
Common use cases for customization
To generate custom maps user has to know the following terms.
First let us know the files in map chart folder. You can find the following folders once you unzip vitara map chart plugin: custom, data, javascript, style, WEB-INF.
To create custom charts it is recommended that users may use “custom” folder to create or save any files. In ‘custom’ folder there are two important subfolders - dictionaries and shapes. The ‘custom’ folder also contain a text file - ‘mapping layers’. This is roots file form which all mapping layers are loaded.
The following section will explain the use of ‘dictionaries’ folder, ‘shapes’ folder, and ‘mapping layers’ text file.
The following is the screenshot of mapping layers text file.
The term ‘Map layer’ means a map in vitara map chart. For example, there are three default maps in vitara map chart. For each of these maps we have to define a map layer. In mapping layers text file you can see there are three definitions of map layers; world physical, US Physical and US Counties.
The following is the notation to add new map layer:
<ns>.<property>
<ns> - NameSpace, this can be any combination of alphabets, but choose a unique value for each new map layer.
The map layer should contain the following properties;
<ns>.name =
<ns>.shape =
<ns>.dictionarykey =
<ns>. dictionary =
<ns>.groups =
The ‘groups’ definition is optional.
Generally it is the name we want to give to our map. For example, if i want to create a map which shows human population for each continent, and i want to give ‘world continents’ as the name of the map, then the name property definition would be as follows:
kk.name = World Continents
Now, by using this name we can create a map which shows world continents. You can see this name in edit popup window → Map → Map Layer.
The format of this file is geojson (.json).This file contains data about boundaries of regions in a map. The shape file for our required map can be downloaded from online resources or can be created using various tools.
Reference link to download geojson shape-files: http://code.highcharts.com/mapdata/
The shape file for our example of creating world continent can be downloaded directly from the following link.
http://code.highcharts.com/mapdata/custom/world-continents.geo.json
By clicking on the above link a shape file with name “world-continents.geo” (.geo.json extension) will downloaded.
The downloaded file should be copied in to the following folder.
VitaraMaps\custom\shapes.
In the shape property definition we should give the path where we copied the shape file of our map.
For our world continents example, as we copied the shape file into VitaraMaps\custom\shapes
folder, the following is the shape property definition.
kk.shape = custom/shapes/world-continents.geo.json
All the shape files should be placed in ‘Shapes’ folder in custom folder. This is not compulsory, but in the naming convention point of view it’s better to do.
The next property in map layer definition is ‘dictionary key’. The term ‘dictionary key’ refers the unique name given to each partition of the map. In our world continents example there may be six partitions in the map representing each continent - Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America (excluding Antarctica, as no humans lives in this continent). Now each of this partition should have a unique name by which it will be identified. These unique names are defined in shape file.
For our world continents example, open the downloaded shapefile - “world-continents.geo” using any text editor, for example - notepad. Copy the entire content of this file.
To open the shapefile in json structure use any online json viewers, for example: http://jsonviewer.stack.hu/
Now in notepad copy the entire content of shapefile (.geo.json) and paste it in the “Text” tab of json viewer webpage. Now click on “Viewer” tab in json viewer webpage.
Now the geojson content will be displayed in json tree structure.
In json tree structure, one of the object is ‘features’ array. If we expand ‘features’ array we have objects for each partition of the chart. In our world continents example, as there are six partitions in the chart representing each continent (excluding antarctica), so there are objects named from 0 to 5.
Now expand any object, for example ‘0’.
Expand ‘properties’ in ‘0’ object.
There are few field which define a unique name for each partition of map chart. The name which matches with our data we can select it as a ‘dictionary key’.
For example i have the following data in which continents are represented in the form of names.
For this use case i have to use ‘name’ as dictionary key. Please refer the below screenshot.
For our world continents example, the following will be the dictionary key definition.
Kk.dictionarykey = name
To know about this property lets take a look at our world continents map data excel file.
Look at the continent with name ‘Australia’.
Now let’s compare this with the shapefile and check the unique names associated with each partition of the map.
The continents name we have in our data and the unique names in shapefile by which each part of the map was characterized are same, except Australia which is named as ‘Oceania” in shape file. For this reason Map chart does not know the name ‘Australia’ in our data file.
Map chart shows the partitions which are in shapefile. But as this partition is not matching with the name we are calling in our data file, therefore this partition does not show any data in map chart. Please see circled area in below screenshot.
Similarly if the data differs with the unique names in shapefile or the shapefile has only iso-a2 codes and our data has names of these codes, we have create a text where we list ‘synonym’ for the names in shapefile with the names in data.
Let’s create synonym for our example- World continents. We have to map the name in shapefile - ‘Oceania” with the name in data i.e. ‘Australia’.
Now the synonym for ‘Oceania’ is ‘Australia’. Like this, all the synonyms we have to list in a text file.
I created a text file with name ‘worldcontinents’ and entered the synonym ‘Oceania = Australia’, and saved this file in VitaraMaps → custom → dictionaries folder.
We can list multiple synonyms also. Multiple synonyms should be comma separated.
For example, US = United States, United States of America, America, USA
Now the dictionary property definition in mapping layer text file tells about the path of the synonyms text file where we saved it.
For our example the property definition is:
Kk.dictionary = custom/dictionaries/worldcontinents.txt
All such dictionaries files should be saved in ‘dictionaries’ folder in custom folder. This is not compulsory, but in the naming convention point of view it’s better to do.
As we added the synonym for ‘Oceania’ the map chart now shows the synonym i.e. ‘Australia’. Please refer the circled area in the below screenshot.
Till now, we had created all the property definitions for our example, world continents map, in mapping layers text file.
kk.name = World Continents
kk.shape = custom/shapes/world-continents.geo.json
kk.dictionarykey = ios-a2
kk.dictionary = custom/dictionaries/worldcontinents.txt
Save the mapping layers text file. Below is the screenshot of ‘mappingLayers’ text file after adding ‘worldcontinents’ map layer.
After saving mapping layers file, refresh your web browser.
Once the map chart renders, go to Edit → Map → Expand - Map Layers, and apply the map which you created.
.
The below screenshot is the output of map chart, showing population in each continent.
Likewise other world map projections can be downloaded from the links provided below.
Reference link to download geojson shapefiles
http://code.highcharts.com/mapdata/
Reference link to convert existing ESRI maps to geojson file
https://mygeodata.cloud/converter/shp-to-geojson
Others:
http://www.naturalearthdata.com/
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/download.html
Primary use for grouping option is to provide ease for grouping individual regions on the map as a single unit, as compared to region with single boundary. By default VitaraMap chart will draw any map for the regions defined in shapefile.
For example, in the below screenshot VitaraMap chart is showing world countries map. To draw this map we have to use world countries shapefile. Therefor by default this map chart will accept the data at Country level.
If we want to draw this map at any higher level, for example, countries organizations like, NATO, BRICS, etc., we have to enable ‘Grouping’ in VitaraMap chart.
Below is the screenshot of sample data file which has both country and organization columns.
At which level we want to show the data in Vitara Map chart we have to add that attribute to “Map Attribute” drop zone of Vitara Map chart. IF we add ‘Country’ attribute then map will show country wise data, and if add ‘Organization’ attribute then chart will show data at this level.
In the above example, as we used shapefile that has countries information, by default we Vitaramap chart will show country level data. But if we want to show the data at any higher level we have to use ‘Grouping’ property.
To group individual regions, we have to create a text file in which we have to list all the individual regions. The format of defining a group is,
Group name = List of individuals regions in comma separated format.
Save this text file in ‘dictionaries’ folder in custom folder. The following is the screenshot of group text file which i created. In our example i saved the group file with the name ‘NATOBRICSgroups.txt’.
The next step is defining ‘groups’ property in ‘MappingLayers’ file. In groups property we have give the path of groups text file where we saved it.
wp.groups = custom/dictionaries/NATOBRICSgroups.txt
The following is the screenshot of ‘MappingLayers’ file after adding groups property.
The last step to apply groups in vitara map chart is, enable Grouping” option under Map menu in property editor. (Edit → MAP → Enable Grouping). Screenshot is provided below for reference.
The below is the result of grouping in world physical map. When we hover cursor on any of the grouping regions all the elements in the group all the regions will show in a single color.
By default Vitara map chart can show US map and World Countries. But we can also draw any other country's map. Let's consider a simple example of creating a map for Countries of the United Kingdom by population. The data file i have is:
Now the first step is to download the shapefile (.geo.json file) which suits with our data. As the data is at country level, i have to search for shapefile of the United Kingdom at country level (admin-0 level).
The reference web page to download GeoJSON shape-files: http://code.highcharts.com/mapdata/
The following is the geojson file which we need for our example.
A file will be downloaded when we click on GeoJSON format type.
We have to check the downloaded GeoJSON file, whether it contains the same coordinates what we want.
For this purpose, use any online json viewers, for example: http://jsonviewer.stack.hu/
Open the downloaded GeoJSON file using any text editor, for example notepad. Copy the entire text and paste in json viewer web page.
Now click on ‘Viewer’ tab beside the ‘Text’ tab.
Now the geojson content will be displayed in json tree structure.
In JSON tree structure, one of the object is ‘features’ array. If we expand ‘features’ array we will have the objects for each partition of the chart. In our United Kingdom countries example, as there are four partitions in the chart representing each country (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) so there are objects named from 0 to 3.
Now it is clear that the shape we downloaded is what we require. Our data and the shapefile coordinates are matching perfectly.
The next step is we have to identify the ‘dictionary key’. Dictionary key is the parameter by which each partition in shape file is identified uniquely. The united Kingdom map has four partitions, and these partitions should be identified with some boundary coordinated. Each of these boundary coordinates are given one unique name. These unique names are mentioned in the ‘properties’ field of each partition of GeoJSON file. To know dictionary key expand any object, for example ‘0’ and expand ‘properties’ array.
Please see the rounded area in the below screenshot.
In this properties array there are several field which can be used as dictionary key. For example, we can use ‘hc-a2’ field as dictionary key. For England hc-a2 field value ‘EN’, for Wales it is ‘WA’, for Scotland it is ‘SC’ and for Northern Ireland it is ‘NI’. You may notice that all the fields are unique.
Here the point is you can define any field as dictionary key but it should match with our data. In our data file we have country names.
Therefor, exact matching fields in the properties array with our data is ‘name’ field.
In case if we don’t find any matching dictionary key field in shapefile with data file, we have to create the synonyms. This is explained in the section 3.1.5 Dictionary property.
After identifying dictionary key we can define a new map layer for our example. For this edit ‘mappinglayers.txt’ file, which will be in the following path in Vitara map chart installation folder.
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 8.0\webapps\MicroStrategy \plugins\VitaraMaps\custom
The following is the screenshot of ‘mappingLayers.txt’ file. There are three predefined mapping layers, world physical, US physical, and US Countries.
The following is the notation to add new map layer:
<ns>.<property>
<ns> - NameSpace, this can be any combination of alphabets, but choose a unique value for each new map layer.
The map layer should contain the following properties;
<ns>.name =
<ns>.shape =
<ns>.dictionarykey =
In ‘name’ property we define the name of the map we want to give. For example i want to give ‘United Kingdom’ as name, then ‘name’ property definition will be
kk.name= United Kingdom
In the shape property definition we should give the path where we copied the shape file of our map.
For our United Kingdom example, as we copied the shape file into VitaraMaps\custom\shapes
folder, the following is the shape property definition.
kk.shape= custom/shapes/uk-countries.geo
All the shape files should be placed in ‘Shapes’ folder in custom folder. This is not compulsory, but in the naming convention point of view it’s better to do.
Dictionary key property definition will be the unique identity field we selected in GeoJSON shapefile.
kk.dictionarykey = name
In the mapping layers text file (please refer section ‘3.1 Mapping layers text file‘ for more information) start a new map definition and define name, shape, dictionary key properties.
kk.name= United Kingdom
kk.shape= custom/shapes/uk-countries.geo
kk.dictionarykey= name
Please refer the sections 3.1.2 ‘Name’ property, 3.1.3 ‘Shape’ property, 3.1.4 ‘Dictionary key’ property and 3.1.5. Dictionary’ property for the procedure how to define these properties. After defining all these properties save ‘Mapping layers’ text file.
The following is the screenshot of mappingLayes.txt file after defining United Kingdom mapping layer.
Now create a dossier or RS document in MicroStrategy and apply Vitaramap chart. By default vitara map will plot ‘World Physical’ map. Click on ‘edit’ button, and select ‘map’ tab. Expand the ‘Map Layer’ drop down button. Here you will find the new map definition - United Kingdom’. Select this map layer. Please refer the below screenshot.
Apply required Map attribute and a metric.
We can create custom maps as per our business need and plot data using Vitara Maps .It can be any Geographical map plotting geo location or any map of Shopping center showing different segments of goods location like kids section, menswear, grocery etc.
The following are the steps to create a custom map.
1.Create SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file for map structure (Shopping center, Football Stadium, etc.)
2.Convert the generated SVG file into .json file.
3.Configure the VitaraMaps folder with all the needed files for map creation.
To explain all this process we use the example of a football stadium. We want the Vitara map chart to show the availability of seats in different seating sections in a football stadium.
1.To create SVG file for our custom map we need drawing tool Inkscape to draw different shapes of map and its free to download.
Download and install Inkscape in you system. Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.
2. When you open it looks like below ,with a blank document open by default
3. Inkscape editors provides ample full of toolset to create and design shapes.
Following is the image (.png) of football stadium i will be using to draw shapes .
4.Open the image in inkscape, it will prompt you asking the image to be Embedded or Linked,
Choose either of two (as we just need it as background to draw shapes,so doesn't matter much)
Adjust the corners of image as per your convenience to make yourself comfortable to draw shapes.
5. Form left toolbar select tool called -
"Draw bezier curves and straight lines (Shift + F6)" , and start drawing around different seating sections of stadium by clicking repeatedly around the perimeter(highlighted in red in image below).
Nodes can be removed and added if you make any mistakes.
6. In Order to distinguish this area with other lines ,in the lower left corner of Inkscape editor,you will find “Fill: None “.Click the text None to bring up the Fill and Stroke dialog
select the solid fill button(highlighted in yellow) and pick a color.
7.Next, we have to give a name and identification for the drawing . In the Object menu, select Object Properties (Shift + Ctrl + O). Set an id and a label. and click the Set button, otherwise Inkscape won't apply the information.
8.Similarly repeat steps 5,6 and 7 for creating shapes for all sections
Here we have to consider the border between the two shapes to align, so that when we zoom in we don't see borders lying close but not on top of each other. We ensure this by selecting the Snap to path button in the right toolbar
9.Once done with drawing all shapes save the file. Inkscape saves the file in SVG format by default.
10.Now go to https://cloud.vitara.co/maptools/svgconverter.html upload SVG file and wait for the svg to populate, then click on “Download Definition” to download the json file which contains shape data required to plot map using vitara maps.
Now that we are ready with our custom maps layer, we have to embedded it to Vitara maps visualization.
1.Navigate to Vitara maps plugin location in your web server
(C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\MicroStrategy\Tomcat\apache-tomcat-8.0.30\webapps \MicroStrategy\plugins\VitaraMaps)
Open folder by name ‘Custom’, all the required custom map configurations are done here.
The folders which we use in the process of defining custom images are highlighted in the screenshot below; ‘shapes’,and ‘mappingLayers’.
.
Shape folder: All the custom shapes which we create are placed in this folder ,
(the underlying code looks for shapefile here to plot the chart )
mappingLayers.txt : We can create as many custom maps charts as per our needs and each custom map is represented as one mappingLayer, so this file contains all the information of custom map charts.
2.Copy the stadium.json file (which was created in step.10) into
C:\Program Files\MicroStrategy\MicroStrategyDesktop\code\plugins\VitaraMaps \custom\shapes.
3. Open ‘mappingLayers.txt’ with any text editor to define new stadium map layer.
Here we have to provide details of mapping layer,We have to add details as .json string format, so use any unique name which is not already used as map layer here we are using
s.name = Stadium (you can also use st.name= SR Stadium or any other name )
s.type = svgmap (as we are using svg shapes, so set s.type =svgmap )
s.dictionarykey = name ( since all the shape of segments are identified by ‘name’ key ) s.shape = custom/shapes/stadium.json (here we are providing the path to access different shapes of mapping layer to look for )
5.Now that we have provided details like
s.name = Stadium
s.type = svgmap
s.dictionarykey = name
s.shape = custom/shapes/stadium.json
All the above details are required for Vitara maps to show our new stadium map layer.
Finally all put together the ‘mappingLayer.txt’ file should look like
6.Now Save all the changes and relaunch Microstrategy desktop/web.
By default the map visualization shows World map. Add the data set to your dashboard.
Click ‘Edit’ and under ‘Map’ option from ‘Map layer’ dropdown select ‘Stadium’ map layer
If everything goes right the result would be like this.
We can easily get any projection of US map using zip codes. Then we can group these zip codes to any level like county, state, or a custom region. The best use case of zip code grouping is, we can form our own regions by grouping the zip codes we want to be in that region. Finally we can draw a map which will show the level at which we grouped the zip codes.
Zip Code grouping tool merges the individual zip code into regions/states to form a single region based on a data file which contains grouping info.
Click on the link to access the tool:
https://cloud.vitara.co/maptools/zipcode.html
The below screenshot is from vitara zip code grouping tool web page.
Let us consider there are 10 zip codes. Now i want to draw a map chart in which all these zip codes should be in two regions and i have data also at region level. By grouping these zip codes into respective regions it is possible to draw a map which shows regions.
The below table has 10 zip codes and the corresponding regions.
Zip Code | Region |
29105 | 1 |
29137 | 1 |
29164 | 1 |
29801 | 1 |
29802 | 1 |
29803 | 2 |
29804 | 2 |
29805 | 2 |
29808 | 2 |
29809 | 2 |
To create a map which shows these regions, i need a shapefile (.json) of that. The following steps describes the process of generating shapefile using zip codes.
https://cloud.vitara.co/maptools/zipcode.html
After getting the json file the remaining steps will be same as we discussed when explaining world continents map creation.
The following is screenshot of Vitara map chart which is created from zip codes of the USA, grouped at state level.
Using VitaraMap tools, US Counties can be used to generate US Map with any custom grouping of Counties.
County grouping is done using the same tool used for ZipCode grouping.
Click on the link to access the tool:
https://cloud.vitara.co/maptools/zipcode.html
The below is screenshot of the tool.
Steps :
The following example illustrates county’s grouped into states (approx data for county and state grouping is used).
In the below image FIPS represents the county code and corresponding states
Now using this data, merge tool fields can be filled as shown below.
Merge & Export to generate a geojson shapefile with the given grouping info.
The following is screenshot of Vitara map chart which is created from county map of the USA, grouped at state level.
Generic merge tool helps in creating custom grouped regions using any geojson shapefile, it is just as similar as zip code merge tool except this tool can be used on any geographical map.
Generic grouping tool merges the individual regions on a map to form a single region based on a data file which contains grouping info.
Click on the link to access the tool:
https://cloud.vitara.co/maptools/generic.html
The below is screenshot is from generic grouping tool web page.
In our example we will create CBSA regions grouped from US County level geojson file
US County level geojson file is shipped with VitaraMaps package, it can be found in plugins/VitaraMaps/custom/shapes/us-all-admin2.geo.json.
Please follow below steps to create CBSA groups merged from us-all-admin2.geo.json
Step 1: To merge using the generic tool you need to convert your geojson file into topojson file format
open http://mapshaper.org/ to convert geojson file to topojson file
Below screenshot shows mapshaper webpage
Step 2: click on select button and browse to the geojson file saved in your local machine.
Step 3: click on import button
Step 4: now the webpage displays your uploaded geojson file as a map.
Step 5: now click export button which is on top left corner of the webpage.
Step 6: select required layer and file format as “topojson” and click export button as shown in below screenshot, a topojson file will be downloaded.
Step 7:now switch to generic tool webpage and upload the topojson file as shown in below screenshot.
Step 8: now we need to get the topojson object name from the downloaded topojson file
How to view json files in jsonviewer.stack.hu is described in the document above.
Step 9: enter the TopoJson Object Name fetched from json
Step 10: for the example we will use CBSA and fips codes grouping info in a csv file format.
Upload the csv file into data field in our generic tool webpage as shown in below screenshot
Step 11: now for Group By field add the column name on which grouping is done, in our case its CBSA column from the csv file
Step 11: now the next two fields are Data Prop and Shape Prop, these two are mapping fields by which a feature from shapefile and a row from data file are mapped.
So in our case Data Prop is column name from our csv file which is FIPS and Shape Prop from topojson file which is fips (please see below screenshot, how to check shape prop is also described in zip code merge example).
Step 12: Fill the data and click on Export button to merge and download the merged geojson file which can be used to create a new maplayer.
Step 13: once the geojson file is downloaded please refer to creating new map layer documentation to create a map layer using this geojson as a shapefile.
Below screenshot shows the merged output map file.
