Map charts (Marker, Circle and Heat)

Owned by Helen Gosper
Last updated: Apr 12, 2023 by Denise McGettigan
5 min read

Available in a focused view (when you select and focus on items in a dimension) in all modes except for Search, Transaction and Market.

A Map chart is a good way to see data by location at a glance. In all of these modes, the Total column is mapped.  

Types of Map charts

There are three types of Map charts as described in the table:

Map chart

Description

Example

Marker

A red 'pin' marker is placed at the address. 

In the example, the locations of three customers are marked in New York's Manhattan region.

Circle

A circle or dot is placed at the address. The size of the circle represents the total. The larger the circle, the higher the number. 

In the example, a customer in lower Manhattan has the highest sales.

Heat

A heat map is created around multiple addresses. The hotter the color (heading towards red), the higher the number in that general vicinity.

There are two options:

  • Count - based on the number of records.

  • Sum - based on the sum of the value of those records (for example, the total sales) 

In the example, there is a lot of activity on the US west coast, as well as in the south.

Tips and troubleshooting

Properties

Map charts recognize streets, zip codes, cities, states, regions and countries, so the more location details you select (via the Properties menu) the more accurate your map will be. See add properties to learn more.

Mappable properties need to be entered in a certain order when a database is built. If your Map chart is not displaying as expected, the property names might have been entered incorrectly or in the wrong order. Your administrator might be able to resolve this issue in Designer.

When designing your database, you should map properties in the following order: Address, suburb, zip, state and then country (in other words, from fine to coarse levels of data). For best results, concatenate into a single property named 'full address', as shown: 

If using individual properties, map charts recognize properties with the following names:

  • anything beginning with 'add', e.g.,  'Address 1', 'Addr 2', 'Add Del 1'.

  • 'city'

  • 'suburb'

  • 'postcode'

  • 'post code'

  • 'zip'

  • 'zip code'

  • 'zipcode'

  • 'state'

  • 'country' * (see administration note below)

  • 'latitude'

  • 'longitude'

It is important to have clean address data for best results.

If the data all belongs to a single country, it is recommended that the 'DefaultCountry' system setting is used (see Apply system-wide settings - for administrators with permission), instead of the country being supplied by a mapped property.

Also note the country 'AUS' does not map. Use 'AU' or 'Australia'.

Also see Design a database

Geocoding

Geocoding turns a regular street address into latitude and longitude fields, which is what allows a marker to be placed on a map. Phocas uses Google Maps for geocoding, and the results display using OpenStreetMap. 

You will notice a delay the first time you map a particular address, because the geocoding process is occurring in the background, and the number of 'new' addresses you can map at a time is limited to 100. Once an address has been mapped once (by any user), automatic caching makes the results display much faster. There is no limit on mapping of these addresses.

Example 1 - Get an overview of where customers are located

In the Sales database, create a Marker Map chart to visualize where the customers are located throughout the US.

  1. Prepare the data in the grid to display location information:

    1. Select the Country dimension, then select and focus on the US.

    2. Select the Customer dimension.

    3. Select Properties > Full Address and click outside the list to apply your selection.

  2. Click the Chart button in the top right toolbar above the grid.

  3. Click the Map chart category button on the left of the chart and select the Marker option.

    The map displays markers for each customer address. You can click on a marker to view the customer’s details.

     

  4. (Optional) Save the chart as a favorite or add it to a dashboard.

Example 2 - View the top three profitable customers in New York

In the Sales database, create a Circle Map chart to visualize the top three customer’s in the state of New York according to profitability.

  1. Prepare the data in the grid to display location information:

    1. Select the Territory dimension, then select and focus on the NY (New York).

    2. Select the Customer dimension. Only those customers in New York display in the grid.

    3. Select Measures and double-click the Profit option.

    4. Sort by Profit in descending order, then select and focus on the top three customers.

    5. Select Properties > Zip/Post Code and click outside the list to apply your selection.

  2. Click the Chart button in the top right toolbar above the grid.

  3. Click the Map chart category button on the left of the chart and select the Circle option.

    The map displays circles where the top three New York customers are located. The larger the circle, the higher value of that customer. You can click on a circle to view the customer’s details.

  4. (Optional) Save the chart as a favorite or add it to a dashboard.