Customize OpenStreetMap Geo Map Visual

[irachyq]

Hello,

I hope you are well.

The situation is urgent and could potentially lead to a political crisis, given that our client is a public administration.

We have deployed SAS Visual Analytics in a client's production environment and created the Geographical Map Chart using the OpenStreetMap API. However, we are facing a significant issue with OpenStreetMap in SAS and I have 2 questions ?

1- Is there a way to hide country Names for the Geo Map Visual. Or any other way.

2- We noticed that the OpenStreetMap on their website helps u choose from multiple Layers and SAS VA uses the standard Layer by default. Is there a way to use another layer ? for example the ÖPNVKarte Layer.

Best regard

[FalkoSchulz]

Hi! Unfortunately - the answer to both your question is no. The underlying OpenStreetMap tiles are hosted by SAS and pre-generated with country labels shown by default and a specific style set applied. Depending on your version of SAS Visual Analytics there are different style variants to select from (standard, light, dark, high contrast). If your use case requires a special map design or features - you can look into hosting your own OSM map tile server or consider utilizing Esri ArcGIS Online services (subscription required). There are also a number of free Esri ArcGIS Online maps available (satellite, street maps, etc.) - each with different styles and features (you can select an alternative map in the map service selector in the options pane). Maybe you can use one of those maps instead? Hope this helps. Falko

[irachyq]

Hello Falko, thank you for your reply. I wanted to ask if I can customize the map by following the steps in this documentation: https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/vacdc/7.5/vaag/p08efjonz1ulbbn1u3pd15ky8ttc.htm

[FalkoSchulz]

The link you sent covers the steps required to create custom polygons which is different to the actual map background (e.g., OSM/Esri). Custom polygons can be used to render your own geographical regions as one of the geo map overlays (for instance a custom sales region or US counties, etc.). The actual geo map background (showing rivers, roads, etc.) is provided by a map tile server hosted outside of your VA environment. By default VA uses a SAS hosted OSM map tile server (opnst[a|b|c].sas.com). As mentioned, if you want to create your own custom map tile service, you will have to host your own OpenStreetMap tile server and reference your service in VA's maps setting service https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/bicdc/9.4/vaag/n1oaashorywocun10c5epp8z9r97.htm#n0zuheptvxl4... (va.GeoMapServerUrl in VA 7.5 or earlier) or https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/calcdc/3.5/calconfig/n08000sasconfiguration0admin.htm#n08043... (property customOSM.servers in VA 8.5 or later). Hosting your own service is a bit of effort to setup and deploy but gives you the freedom to create your own custom map styles. There are plenty of guides available - maybe start with a google search such as 'osm tile server install' or similar.

Alternatively, you can consider a subscription for Esri ArcGIS Online services. Once you have access to an ArcGIS Portal (either Online or Enterprise) - you can configure VA (via property localEsriServicesUrl) to use it. Any custom map tile service in that Portal can be used as geo map background in VA. Esri provides desktop tools such as ArcMap or ArcPro to customize maps.

Hope this helps! Falko