Define a Geography Data Item :: SAS(R) Visual Analytics 6.2: User's Guide

About Geography Data Items

A geography data item is a category whose values are mapped to geographical locations or regions. Geography data items can be used with geo maps to visualize your data on a geographic map.

For example, if your data source contains a CountryName column that identifies countries, then you might create a geography data item for CountryName by using the predefined geographic role, Countries. See Define a Geography Data Item By Using a Predefined Geographic Role.

You might also create a customized geography data item to identify geographic information that is specific to your organization (for example, sales regions, warehouse locations, oil platforms, and so on). See Define a Geography Data Item By Using a Custom Geographic Role.

Note: For predefined geographic roles, the values of your geography data items must match the lookup values that are used by SAS Visual Analytics. To view the lookup values, see http://support.sas.com/va62geo.

Define a Geography Data Item By Using a Predefined Geographic Role

Here are the steps to define a geography data item by using a predefined geographic role:

In the Data pane or in the Data Properties window, locate a category that contains geographic information.
Change the role for the category to Geography. The Geography Role window appears.
Select the predefined geographic role for your category:

Countries

specifies country names.

US States

specifies the names of states and territories in the United States.

US States Abbreviated

specifies the two-letter postal codes for states and territories in the United States.

US ZIP Codes

specifies five-digit ZIP codes for the United States.
Click OK to apply your changes.

Define a Geography Data Item By Using a Custom Geographic Role

Here are the steps to define a geography data item by using a custom geographic role:

In the Data pane or in the Data Properties window, locate a category that contains geographic information.
Change the role for the category to Geography. The Geography Role window appears.
Select Custom, and then specify the following:

Latitude

specifies a measure from your current data source that contains the latitude (Y) coordinate values for the geographic role that you want to define.

Longitude

specifies a measure from your current data source that contains the longitude (X) coordinate values for the geographic role that you want to define.

Coordinate Space

specifies the coordinate space (coordinate system) that is used to project the longitude and latitude coordinate values.
Click OK to apply your changes.