Forum Discussion

KDS's avatar
KDS
Helper I
4 years ago

maps using shape files

I've been tasked with recreating in Power BI a map my team created in Tableau.  I've never used Power BI for shape maps. 

 

The Tableau version uses a shape files (.shp) from the NOAA website, joins is to a zipcode (.shp) shape file (unclear where they got this) on geometry (full outer join), and then joins the zipcode file to a "fact" table based on the zipcode (full outer join). 

 

I read through some old posts and learned that I needed to convert the .shp file to TopoJSON, which I've done using mapshaper.   Here's the issue I'm running into:

  • I thought I read somewhere that .shp files are only supported in Desktop and not the server.  Is that correct?
  • The TopoJSON file imports as an object but I can't figure out how to expand it so I can get to the data I need for the joins. Expanding the records and lists only results in a bunch of empty rows, none of which look remotely like the preview of the .shp files that I see in Tableau.

Below is a screenshot of what I'm trying to display for reference.  The dots are locations we're trying to display by tier.

Need Help

2 Replies

    • KDS's avatar
      KDS
      Helper I
      4 years ago

      Thank you, but I tried that.  What I have at the moment is 2 separate shape map visuals (hurricane path on the top, US zipcodes on the bottom).  The View Map Type Key link won't open anything when I select it and I have no way to join the shape files the fact table so I can isolate the area that I want to display.