Geo Maps for Australia

[OscarBoots1]

Hi Forum,

I am using SAS VA vers 7.2, I have some data containing Postcodes & Lat/Long details as well as some Customer Metrics I want to display as Size of sales across the country.

I've been reading up on the best way to do this, such as add a Stored Procedure to VA that can create the Map from so I can overlay the figures.

Can anyone point me to a concise description of all (or some) the steps & files required?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks   

[MichelleHomes]

Rather than creating a stored process to achieve the map you are after, you may want to look at creating custom AU regions to use the SAS Visual Analytics geomap. There is a thread discussing this with a reference to @AngelaHall's SAS Global Forum paper at https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Visual-Analytics/US-County-Level-Map-in-SAS-Visual-Analytics/td-p...

Kind Regards,

Michelle

[OscarBoots1]

Thanks Michelle,

I had a look at the post but the outcome didn't seem to be what the poster needed?

I'm happy to use any method that is accurate.   :   )

[BobW_HBF_Oz]

I found the best way to start is to make sure that your map actually works using something like Enterprise Guide with the data you have available.

After you have a successful piece of PROC GMAP code (use the Enterprise Guide  under Tasks > Graph > Map Chart), then you should be able to register the code as a Stored Process and call it from VA.

I have had no problem creating parameterised detailed region maps using this method, but I am still struggling with getting custom region maps working in VA (as per the current issues being experienced on the thread that Michelle mentions).

Once I get this working, I will try and produce an end to end Australian example of all the steps necessary.

I have noticed Marcel's comments on projecting the data, a step I have not performed.

At this point I suspect that I need another Web Service restart to pick up the changes I have made, which is a step I need to schedule with our users.

Cheers

Bob Whitehead

[MichelleHomes]

Nice work Bob! Hope to catch up soon

Kind Regards,

Michelle

[OscarBoots1]

Thanks Bob,

I ran this problem past someone who has shown me a way to get this to a Lat/Long co-ordinates view.

First up, as I added the Geo Map to the report area, the USA map comes up. (But looks can be deceiving)

I used one of my fields to create a Geog Custome field - 'State', right clicked on it & navigated to the 'Custom' option.

This brought up a dialogue box where I could add my Lat & Long fields.

I found I could use the Zoom bar on the map to expand the view until I found Australia!

So, no Stored Procedures or other work required.

Can someone advise if this is the way to go or have I done this incorrectly?

I'd also like to know if I can do something to get a view down to SA2 (Postcode sort of...) type areas.

Thanks again.   

[SASKiwi · Accepted solution]

This is exactly what I did to display earthquakes on a map of New Zealand:

https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Communities-Library/North-Canterbury-New-Zealand-Earthquake/ta-p/...

So you are definitely on the right track. The use of a Geographic custom category doesn't appear to be well-documented. I couldn't find this in the VA User Guide.

[OscarBoots1]

Thanks SASKiwi!

It's curious that it's not more widely circulated.

This is far easier than a Stored Procedure or other method.

Could any SAS Employee Gurus comment on this & about why this is so difficult to find?

Thanks.

[Sam_SAS]

Hi @SASKiwi, @OscarBoots1, I am a writer for the VA User's Guide. Can you give me a little more information about the problem addressed in this thread?

We are always looking for ways to improve the documentation, so "I couldn't find this in the doc" tends to get our attention 🙂

Thanks,

Sam

[SASKiwi]

Hi @Sam_SAS,

Looks like the information I needed was in the User Guide after all. I did a search through the document and found this:

http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/vaug/68648/HTML/default/viewer.htm#p1ql9ufve83ojen1qoqux...

And I see there is a link to this page from the "Working with Geomaps" page. I guess I missed this link when I was looking earlier and ended up guessing what I needed to do.

I do think it would be helpful to use more screen shots to help with interface navigation though. Also a worked example of defining a custom geographic role then applying it to a geo map would be great as you have to tie the two separate sources of information together to make it work.

Thanks

@SASKiwi