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Lines

Draw lines on the map between two sets of longitude and latitude coordinates.

Lines representing the routes flown by airlines

Data Setup

Lines data setup

In order to display lines the following fields should be configured:

  • ID - a unique ID representing a line
  • Longitude - The longitude of the coordinate at the line start
  • Latitude - The latitude of the coordinate at the line start
  • Destination Longitude - The longitude of the coordinate at the line destination
  • Destination Latitude - The latitude of the coordinate at the line destination

It is then necessary to enable the Lines toggle in the "Data Layers" section of the formatting options of the map.

Sample data

IDLongitudeLatitudeDestination LongitudeDestination LatitudeCircle SizeH3 WeightImage / WKT / GeoJSONFeature ReferenceDaylight Date & TimeTooltips
Line1-2.57651.4810.15352.187nullnullnullnull(optional)(optional)
Line2-2.95551.332-0.18052.331nullnullnullnull(optional)(optional)

Configuration

There are a number of configuration options available for lines:

Behavioral options

Include in Auto Zoom

Whether the start and end of the line should be included in the auto zoom of the map. Can be set to yes or no using conditional formatting to apply to specific lines.

Include Tooltip

Whether to include a tooltip. Can be set to yes or no using conditional formatting to apply to specific lines.

Selectable

Whether the line can be clicked on for interaction with other visuals. Can be set to yes or no using conditional formatting to apply to specific lines.

Image at start of the line

It is possible to display an image the start of the line, without having to add it as an image with a separate row in your Power BI dataset.

Start image formatting options

Image URL at start

Specify an image to display at the line start. This can be hardcoded so that all lines display the same image, or use a DAX expression or field value for different images at each line start. URLs should start https or data. The same rules should be followed as other map images.

Image Width and Height

These settings allow you to set the size of the image and represent the width and height in pixels. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Rotation

This should represent a number between 0 and 359 and represents the number of degrees to rotate the image. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Transparency

Represents the percentage transparency of the image and should be a numeric value between 0 and 100. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Image at end of the line

It is possible to display an image the end of the line, without having to add it as an image with a separate row in your Power BI dataset.

Image URL at end

Specify an image to display at the line end. This can be hardcoded so that all lines display the same image, or use a DAX expression or field value for different images at each line destination. URLs should start https or data. The same rules should be followed as other map images.

Image Width and Height

These settings allow you to set the size of the image and represent the width and height in pixels. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Rotation

This should represent a number between 0 and 359 and represents the number of degrees to rotate the image. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Transparency

Represents the percentage transparency of the image and should be a numeric value between 0 and 100. This can be hardcoded, or set using conditional formatting from a DAX measure or field value.

Z Index

Determines the order in which layers are displayed. The higher the number, the nearer the foreground.

EPSG (Coordinate Reference System)

Allows you to specify a specific reference system for your coordinates. The default used is EPSG:4326 / WGS84 and expects longitude and latitude coordinates. You can use other coordinate systems by specifying the relevant EPSG number. For example, to use British National Grid coordinates, enter 27700. Other EPSG codes can be found here.

EPSG

Formatting

Line Formatting Options

All line formatting options can be set to apply to all lines, or use conditional formatting to apply values to specific lines.

Color

Color to draw the line

Transparency

A number between 0 and 100.

Width

The line width in pixels. This can be a decimal number to achieve thinner lines.

Line Shape

Line Shape options

Lines can be one of the following options:

  • Straight - draws a line that appears straight on the map directly between the two points.
  • Curved - draws a line that appears curved between the two points.
  • Shortest - draws a line that follows the curvature of the earth.

Dash Array

The dash array determines the pattern used for the line. It consists of a series of space separated numbers. Each value represents the length along the line that should be painted (the dash) and then not painted (the gap). Eg:

4 4

Dash Animation Speed

If a dash array is used to draw a line pattern, it can be animated to show the direction of travel. The speed can be a negative or positive number, such as 10.

Animated lines

Line Symbols

It is possible to add a symbol along the path of a line. This feature is not available for "Curved" lines, but is available for "Straight" and "Shortest".

Line symbols

Include Line Symbol

Determines whether symbols are displayed. Can be set using conditional formatting values "yes" or "no" to determine the setting for each individual line.

Line Symbol Text

The text/symbol that is drawn along the line. Use Unicode Characters to draw symbols such as planes, arrows etc. Symbols should face towards the right to show in the direction of the line. Use spaces to determine the gaps between. This setting can be determined using conditional formatting to show different text or a different symbol for each line.

Line Symbol Color

Set the color of the symbol or text.

Line Symbol Size

Set the size of the symbol/text in pixels

Line Symbol Orientation

This determines how the symbols are drawn:

  • Normal - oriented along the direction of the line
  • Flipped - rotated by 180 degrees
  • Perpendicular - rotated by 90 degrees

Line Symbol Offset

Ensure your symbols are aligned to the center of the line, or offset below or above. This value can be a negative number to draw text above the line.

Line Symbol Repeat

Determines whether one symbol is shown, or multiple. Can be set using conditional formatting using the values "yes" or "no".