Supporting Geographic Maps :: SAS® Visual Analytics 7.4: Administration Guide

Introduction

Use of geo maps requires a connection to a supported geo map server.

Note: If the geo map server URLs that you use are not in your deployment’s cross domain proxy servlet whitelist, geo map functionality might be incomplete. See Configuring the Cross Domain Proxy Servlet through a Whitelist in the SAS Intelligence Platform: Middle-Tier Administration Guide.

OpenStreetMap Server

Hosted by SAS

By default, SAS Visual Analytics retrieves mapping tiles from OpenStreetMap servers that SAS hosts. The OpenStreetMap servers that SAS hosts support replication and failover, providing reliable and dependable access.

Maps are rendered internally within SAS Visual Analytics. Only the following information is exchanged:

Requests for tile numbers (in a URL format) are sent from SAS Visual Analytics to an OpenStreetMap server.
Map images are returned from an OpenStreetMap server to SAS Visual Analytics.

To change the protocol that SAS Visual Analytics uses to connect to the OpenStreetMap servers that SAS hosts, set the property va.SASGeomapCommunicationProtocol.

Note: The OpenStreetMap servers that are hosted by SAS log each request that is made. Each log entry includes only the requesting IP address and the specific tile that is requested.

Hosted Elsewhere

As an alternative to using the OpenStreetMap servers that SAS hosts, you can install, configure, host, and maintain an OpenStreetMap server at your site. This is a complex task that should be attempted only after you have carefully evaluated the requirements, needs, benefits, and maintenance responsibilities at your site. For information about OpenStreetMap servers, see www.openstreetmap.org.

To reference an alternate OpenStreetMap server from SAS Visual Analytics:

Set the property va.GeoMapServerUrl.
1. On the Plug-ins tab in SAS Management Console, navigate to Application ManagementConfiguration ManagerSAS Application InfrastructureVisual Analytics. Right-click, and select Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, in the va.GeoMapServerUrl property, specify a comma-delimited list of alternate URLs.
  
  Note: The protocol that you specify (http or https) determines the protocol that SAS Visual Analytics uses to connect to the alternate OpenStreetMap servers.
On the SAS Application Infrastructure node, update the advanced property sas.web.cdps.knownHosts to include the alternate URLs.
Restart the SAS Web Application Server.

Esri Server

Using an Esri server is an optional additional configuration. In deployments that reference an Esri server, the explorer and the designer provide user preferences and per-object settings that determine which server (OpenStreetMap or Esri) is used.

Note: Only Esri maps published using the WKID (well-known ID) format are supported.

To reference an Esri server from SAS Visual Analytics:

Set the property va.SASGeomapEsriURL.
1. On the Plug-ins tab in SAS Management Console, navigate to Application ManagementConfiguration ManagerSAS Application InfrastructureVisual Analytics. Right-click, and select Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, in the va.SASGeomapEsriURL property, specify a URL that includes a protocol, the Esri server’s host name, and the REST endpoint of the server.
  
  You can reference an Esri server (ArcGIS for Server, 10.1 or later) that you install, configure, host, and maintain at your site. For example:http://my.arcgis.com:6080/arcgis/rest/services
  
  You can reference public ArcGIS Online sample map services that do not require authentication. For example: http://services.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services
  
  You cannot reference an ArcGIS site that requires authentication.
  
  You cannot reference an individual subfolder or map service. You must reference the REST endpoint of the server.
  
  The protocol that you specify (http or https) determines the protocol that SAS Visual Analytics uses to connect to the Esri server.
On the SAS Application Infrastructure node, update the advanced property sas.web.cdps.knownHosts to include the Esri URL.
Restart the SAS Web Application Server.

Geographic Data Sets

SAS provides data sets that contain geographic information for several geographic domains (for example, states in the United States and ZIP codes for cities in the United States). The data sets (ATTRLOOKUP and CENTLOOKUP) are in the SAS configuration directory at your equivalent of/SASApp/Data/valib/. A corresponding library (for example, SASApp - valib) is registered in metadata.

In addition to the predefined geographical roles that use the SAS geographic data sets, you can define custom geographical roles for your data. If your data contains latitude and longitude values, then you can assign custom geographical roles using those values.

For instructions for the explorer, see Define a Geography Data Item By Using a Custom Geographic Role in the SAS Visual Analytics: User’s Guide.
For instructions for the designer, see Create a Custom Geography Data Item in the SAS Visual Analytics: User’s Guide.