Creating a Map widget for the iPhone or iPad

The Map widget allows users to search and view information based on locations on a map. Locations on the map are displayed using map markers when the widget is displayed on an iPhone or iPad with MicroStrategy Mobile. Selecting a map marker displays an Information Window with additional details about the selected location.

For example, in the image below, stores are displayed as markers in the Map widget. When a user selects a marker, an Information Window for the store is displayed, with the store's name, address, and distance from the current location of the user.

Example of a Map widget for the iPhone or iPad

You can use static images as map markers in the widget, or display the map markers as dynamic bubbles. The size of each dynamic bubble is automatically determined based on the value of the metric on the columns of the widget, with the largest bubbles being displayed for the largest metric values.

You can allow users to select a map marker on the iPhone or iPad to open a link to a report or document. To do so, add the link to the report or document to the location attribute on the Map widget's Grid/Graph. For steps, see Linking in documents.

You can format a Map widget to:

The following table describes how Map widgets can be displayed in different MicroStrategy Web modes. For steps to change the display of widgets, see Determining how a widget is rendered in non-Flash modes.

Mode

Display Options

Design Mode

  • Empty grid or graph report

Editable Mode, Flash Mode

  • Grid or graph report

Express Mode, Interactive Mode, or when exported to PDF or Excel

  • Grid or graph report

  • Placeholder

  • Hidden

iPhone and iPad

  • Widget

  • Grid or graph report

Adding thresholds

You can also define a threshold on a metric in the widget, to do the following:

For steps to apply threshold formatting to a Map widget, see Formatting a Map widget for the iPhone or iPad. For an introduction to thresholds, with examples and images, see the Basic Reporting Guide.

Filtering locations

You can filter the locations displayed on a map to view only those locations that meet certain criteria. For example, if store locations are displayed on a map, you can use a Geo Location prompt to use the current location of the iPhone or iPad, to display only those stores within the current city, state, or zip code.

You can also create a filter or prompt to display data only for locations within a specific distance from the current location of the iPhone or iPad. For steps, see Filtering data based on geographical distance from an iPhone or iPad.

The following procedures provide separate steps to display a report as a Map widget, or add a Map widget to a document.

To create and add a Map widget to a document

Prerequisite

Note: For more information on the requirements for the location information, see the MicroStrategy Project Design Guide.

  1. Open the document in Design or Editable Mode.

  2. From the Insert menu, point to Widgets, then iPhone/iPad. Select Map.

  3. Click the location on your document where you want to place the widget's Grid/Graph. When the widget is displayed on an iPhone or iPad, this Grid/Graph will not be visible to the user. If desired, resize the Grid/Graph by clicking and dragging its handles.

  4. From the Dataset Objects panel on the left, select attributes and metrics, and drag them on top of the widget, as described below.

  5. Right-click the widget, then select Properties and Formatting. The Properties and Formatting dialog box opens.

  6. From the left, select Widget.

  7. Click the Widget Properties icon Widget Properties icon. The Map Properties dialog box opens.

  8. You can choose to provide the location information of each map marker using attributes, or attribute forms within a single attribute. Do one of the following:

  9. You can choose to provide the location information as a separate latitude and longitude, or a geographical point. Do one of the following:

  10. By default, if multiple locations in the widget have the same latitude and longitude, a separate map marker is displayed for each location. For example, several different stores are located in the same building. You can choose to display a separate map marker for each store, or display a single map marker for all of the stores in the building. This option is only available if the Use Attribute or Form option is set to Use Attribute. Do one of the following:

  11. You can use static images as map markers for locations displayed in the Map widget, or display the map markers as dynamic bubbles. The size of each dynamic bubble is automatically based on the value of the metric on the columns of the widget's Grid/Graph. Do one of the following:

  12. From the Default View drop-down list, select one of the following.

  13. You can define a threshold on a metric in the Map widget, then choose to enable the display of thresholds in the widget, to change the color of dynamic bubbles or replace a map marker with a static image based on the value of a metric.

    To change the color of dynamic bubbles, you must define a threshold that formats the font color in which metric values are displayed. To replace map marker images, you must define a threshold that replaces metric values with an image. The image should be 50 x 60 pixels, with 72 dpi. Sample images are located by default in Program Files\MicroStrategy\Intelligence Server\images\quickThresholdImgs. For detailed steps to define a threshold, see Creating a conditional format using complex conditions.

    Do one of the following:

  14. By default, selecting a map marker displays additional information about the location in an Information Window. You can define a layout in the document to use as a custom Information Window, and format its appearance. To select an existing document layout as a custom Information Window, perform the following steps:

    Note
    : To define a custom Information Window, you must first enable the layout to be used as an Information Window. For detailed steps to define and format an Information Window, see Defining an Information Window in a Map widget.

    1. Select the Display Information Window from document layout check box.

    2. From the Select Layout to use drop-down list, select the name of the layout to use as the Information Window.

  15. Click OK to return to the Properties and Formatting dialog box.

  16. Click OK again to save your changes.

To display a report as a Map widget

Prerequisites

  1. Click the name of the report to run it.

  2. From the Tools menu, select Custom Visualizations. The Custom Visualizations dialog box opens.

  3. Do one or both of the following:

  4. Click the Widget Properties icon Widget Properties icon. The Map Properties dialog box opens.

  5. You can choose to provide the location information of each map marker using attributes, or attribute forms within a single attribute. Do one of the following:

  6. You can choose to provide the location information as a separate latitude and longitude, or a geographical point. Do one of the following:

  7. By default, if multiple locations in the widget have the same latitude and longitude, a separate map marker is displayed for each location. For example, several different stores are located in the same building. You can choose to display a separate map marker for each store, or display a single map marker for all of the stores in the building. This option is only available if the Use Attribute or Form option is set to Use Attribute. Do one of the following:

  8. You can use static images as map markers for locations displayed in the Map widget, or display the map markers as dynamic bubbles. The size of each dynamic bubble is automatically determined based on the value of the metric on the columns of the widget's Grid/Graph. Do one of the following:

  9. From the Default View drop-down list, select one of the following.

  10. You can define a threshold on a metric in the Map widget, then choose to enable the display of thresholds in the widget, to change the color of dynamic bubbles or replace a map marker with a static image based on the value of a metric.

    To change the color of dynamic bubbles, you must define a threshold that formats the font color in which metric values are displayed. To replace map marker images, you must define a threshold that replaces metric values with an image. The image should be 50 x 60 pixels, with 72 DPI. Sample images are located by default in Program Files\MicroStrategy\Intelligence Server\images\quickThresholdImgs. For detailed steps to define a threshold, see the Basic Reporting Guide.

    Do one of the following:

  11. Click OK to return to the Custom Visualizations dialog box.

  12. Click OK again to save your changes.

Related topics