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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
6 years ago

Using .shp files in Power BI to create maps

Hi,

 

I have an SHP file that I am able to view using QGIS. I need to use this file to create a shape map in PowerBI.

I have converted the file to .geojson and then to TopoJson as suggested by many threads. I am unable to move forward from this point. 

 

This is what I see when I upload the TopoJSON file

After I convert it to a table.

I am stuck at this point and don't know how to expand this into a table contianing all my information and being able to plot the shape map. 

 

I have tried this solution but it doesn't seem to work for me. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or if it is the wrong approach entirely for my case.

 

Any help is highly appreciated! 

TIA

Need Help

4 Replies

  • v-yingjl's avatar
    v-yingjl
    Community Support
    6 years ago

    Hi Anonymous ,

    To create shape maps by using your custom topojson files, you can try the following steps without uploading it to Power Query Editors:

    1. Using the latest version power bi desktop,( https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=45331) ,enable Shape map features (Files > Options and settings > Options > Preview features > Shape map visual).
    2. When you create a shape map, in Format menu, under Shape options, select ‘+Add map’ and choose your custom .json file.

    For further information about shape map, you can refer the following Microsoft document that can also help you:

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/desktop-shape-map

     

    Best Regards,

    Yingjie Li

     

    If this post helps then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

    • TDouglass's avatar
      TDouglass
      Frequent Visitor
      3 years ago

      HI, Sorry to bring this up again, but I have a similiar situation. I have done the above steps using the custom maps, however the Map contains Alaska and Hawaii.  In R, it looks like a filter can be applied to the shape map.  Is that possible in Power BI?

    • nadav_navon's avatar
      nadav_navon
      New Member
      1 year ago

      Thank you for this explanation. 

      I'm very new to PowerBI, and tried to upload a shapefile just as a test run.

      As I understand, a data sheet must be loaded in order to visualize any type of map. 
      I loaded a "dummy" excel file with 1 row, but when opening a new shape map, I don't have the option to "add a map type". 

      Any tips on it? I'm really struggeling to load any shapefile to a project.