arcgis reference layer tooling

[SamTrexler]

The ArcGIS Map visual is great and will be very useful for our users. However, since the February or March update, I cannot see the tooltips for the reference layer if there is a data layer displayed at that location.

For example, I am displaying counts of an event by County and State within New York and have added the 2016 U.S. Average Household Income reference layer. Using single-select mode, if I hover over a county, I see the data layer tooltip. If I click on the county, it is selected and the data layer tooltip still displays. But I cannot find any way to get the reference layer tooltip to display. If I click a neighboring county in Pennsylvania, where I don't have any data, the reference layer tooltip displays as desired. The same behavior occurs if I use counts by city or zip code. (I currently do not have latitude and longitude for the locations - working on it.)

By the way, this worked in January - although I was having a hard time figuring out the sequence that would consistently get me the reference layer tooltips. At the same time this broke, the maps started showing a bold outline of the polygons the mouse passes over - annoying, but not a show-stopper. I have followed the steps for getting these visuals to work after the February update, but it didn't resolve the problem. And it occurs in new reports and visuals I create.

Is there any way to get the reference layer tooltip when there is a data layer value? This would be an outstanding feature for us, and used to work (more or less). I understand ArcGIS maps are still in preview - looking forward to getting the kinks worked out and making it a standard feature.

Thanks for your help.

Sam

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @SamTrexler,

Based on test, when visual data displayed as the point, the reference layer can correct displayed, but if these data displayed as filled range, reference layer tooltip cannot be displayed.

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[SamTrexler]

Thanks for the tip. Confirmed, that works for me, too and may be what I need to do. I see you have to click away from the point but within the boundary to get the reference layer tooltip.

However, in a large geographic area at a reasonable zoom level (where a user will work with data in that area), a single point is not very informative. There can also be discrepancies in placement of the point. Here is Allegany County, NY as a boundary and as a point, with the data layer tooltip:

Boundaries, showing Allegany CountyLocation as Points - the point for Allegany County is not even within the boundaries of the county!

So the point can be misleading and inaccurate, as well as not very informative. I like having the whole county shown in the color indicating the value, but if I use Points I guess I'll have to use Size as well as Color to get the point across.

I'd really prefer Boundaries. Is there a fix or work-around for this?

Thanks,

Sam

[SamTrexler]

Another disadvantage of Points - you can't set the location type. So as you zoom in furhter, smaller portions of the reference layer are selected, and the data show does not correspond to the aggregation level of the data.

Is that by design? I'd really like the aggreagation level of the reference layer to match that of the data layer. That works, if I set the Location Type to "Counties" with the Boundaries setting.

Regards,

Sam

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @SamTrexler,

Can you tell me which version of power bi desktop you used can displayed the reference data and original data in tooltips at same time?  I test a lot of versions but still can't find the specific desktop version which contains the feature you mentioned.

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[SamTrexler]

HI v-shex-msft,

I believe it was working in the December 2016 version that I downloaded on 12/5/2016. I'll try to get that version installed somewhere, give it a try and give you the exact version number.

Thanks,

Sam Trexler

[SamTrexler]

HI v-shex-msft,

I have been unable to duplicate the previous behavior in the March 2017, January 2017 or November 2016 versions, using the same PBIX file (created using the March 2017 version). I also cannot recreate the previous behavior when creating a new report using the November 2016 version.

However, I am pretty certain I saw the ability to display the ArcGIS reference layer data even with filled county shapes. In fact, it was somewhat frusatrating because I couldn't figure out exactly what sequence of events I needed to do to see this data. It seemed inconsistent and unpredictable, and when I saw the February release improved the ArcGIS visual, I was hopeful this would be solved. 

Admittedly, I saw this behavior when I was just starting to work with ArcGIS visuals, and I have since learned better how to set them up (e.g., append the state to the county name for better geolocation accuracy, set the data categorization, etc.). But I even tried to recreate it using my earlier (lack of) understanding - and haven't been able to so far.

Getting the reference data is a key feature of this visual for us and provides real value to our users - who definitely want to analyze the data relative to demographics. I may go back to non-ArcGIS maps if I can't access the reference data, and that would be a real shame. (Besides, support for this visual in the Service seems somewhat limited, and I understand it is not available with Embedded, which we are starting to test. But we could work with those limitations.) 

Thanks,

Sam

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @SamTrexler,

Since I can't reproduce your issue, I'd like to suggest you submit a support ticket to ensure the feature.

Regards,

Xiaoxin Shenng