"Shape Map Visual" preview feature not quite there

[mbbozzuto]

Hi - we have done some testing on the new "Shape Map Visual" preview feature.  Better mapping capabilities is a must have feature of Power BI.  But based on this current feature, it still misses the mark.  We have our own custom shapes that we can define in GeoJSON or WKT.

The way the feature is set now, to create a custom shape definition, we would need to load in the shapes to the visual settings and then that becomes a static layout.  However, our shape definitions can change due to back-end re-designs that flow through our data warehouse.  Based on this feature, we would need to re-load custom shape definitions into Power BI manually.

It would be preferred that the shape map could be built from a Dataset column field storing GeoJSON objects so that the shapes could respond dynamically in the visual.

[Benton]

"It would be preferred that the shape map could be built from a Dataset column field storing GeoJSON objects so that the shapes could respond dynamically in the visual." We agree, this would be the ideal scenario for storing WKT in a table in the data model. The text field length is a limitation for complex geometry with lots of vertices; it gets truncated. Hopefully, Microsoft will consider updating the max length or consider a "geometry" data type similar to SQL Server. I'll ask my team members if they have a post on here that could be upvoted for this feature request.

If it's of interest, our EasyTerritory web app can be used to manage and edit GeoJSON, and we have an API that can be called to get the GeoJSON to load into your data warehouse. We also have a data connector for PBI that pulls a lookup table into the PBI data model and the geometry into our Azure Maps-based Territory Visual through a primary key at runtime. This allows you to update your shapes and then use the approach for refreshing your data model.

Benton (from EasyTerritory)

- Sorry in advance for over posting, we're excited about bringing advanced mapping capabilities in Power BI!

[mbbozzuto]

Looks cool, will check it out.  Thanks.

[foodd · Accepted solution]

Please consider turning this post relating to enhancements to one or more Visuals into

a new Idea for consideration at https://ideas.fabric.microsoft.com/.

[mbbozzuto]

Will do.  I posted here to see in part as well if someone had a workaround or if I was missing something about the feature.