Forum Discussion
Filled Map
Hi all
I'm using Power BI Desktop and I'm trying to use the 'Filled Map' option in Visualisations. When I click on the 'Filled Map' icon in the visualisations pane, I get an image with strange grey and white objects in it (I would have thought it should be an empty map visualisation). As a result, if I then check 'Country' (the field in my file that contains various country names from around the world), I don't get a map of the world - the strange grey and white objects disappear and I then get an empty map visualisation, with a title of 'Country' and nothing else - no map of teh world. Is anyone aware of an issue with this feature ? Or, am i missing something here ?
Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Paul
29 Replies
Paulx99 - I have seen this intermittently and I believe that it has to do with a delay in Bing geocoding. The map visualizations use Bing to geocode data. So the weird gray and white shapes is what you should see if you have a an empty filled map visualization that you place on a page. What I have done when I get the other behavior you indicate is typically to switch to a global map visualization and then back again and this almost always fixes the issue. Once I have done this, if I put another filled map on the page and then click something like "Country", then it immediately gives me a world map of filled countries. This is why I believe it is simply a delay in utlilizing the Bing geocoding service.
Hi smoupre
Thanks for your reply - it is the only one I have received on this topic at time of writing. That said, I'm not sure I fully understand what you have said. How would I know I have a delay in Bing geocoding on my PC and how would I fix that ? Why are the weird gray and white shapes normal for a filled map ? I would have thought that the filled map visualisation should be empty, after which, when I check the 'Country' field, it should display a map of the world. How do I switch to a global map visualisation in Power BI Desktop and then swicth back again ? Becasue I can't do that, I can't try your workarond. I realise you may not be able to answer all of my questions above, but any you can answer, would be appreciated.
Kind Reagrds
Paul
So, if you have no data values selected and you choose a filled map or global map visualization, you get weird gray and white blocks, they are meant to provide a representation of the visualization that you will get, you will notice that there are dots on the global map and filled trapezoids on the filled map.
The global map visualization that I am referring to look like a globe. See the highlighted visualization below:
Can you post a picture - showing the filed map and the visualizations and fields you are using
Hi Sean
Thanks for getting back to me. It's real late here right now. I'll try and find some time tomorrow to post a screen of what's going on with the Filled Map. That said, please refer to my most recent post to 'smoupre'. Creating a Filled Map should be as simple as clicking on the Filled Map icon (and, assuming you have a file with a field called 'Country' or something similar, with actual country names or recognised abbreviations in it), then just checking the box next to 'Country' and a map of the world with your filled countries should appear ! Why that is not happening is what I'm trying to get to the bottom of.
Paul
