Sachin Walls
Tableau is a powerful tool for data visualization and geographical analysis, offering support for worldwide airport codes, cities, countries, regions, territories, and more. With its mapping capabilities, users can gain insights into location data and create meaningful representations. Tableau's recognition of location data allows for the automatic generation of maps with latitude and longitude coordinates, enabling users to explore and analyze spatial information effectively. Through the use of map layers, spatial parameters, and geographical calculations, Tableau empowers individuals to uncover relationships between data sources and perform dynamic queries based on distance and region comparisons. This introduction sets the stage for exploring the capabilities of Tableau in mapping airport codes and utilizing its features for geographical analysis.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location Data Supported | Worldwide airport codes, cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county-equivalents) |
| US-Specific Data Supported | Area codes, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), Congressional districts, Zip codes |
| Coordinates Supported | Latitude and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees |
| Map Creation | Double-click on a geographic field to create a map; Tableau will generate latitude and longitude fields |
| Map Layers | Introduced in version 2020.4, enabling layering of multiple sources of spatial data |
| Spatial Parameters | Introduced in version 2024.3, allowing dynamic control of values and selection of points, lines, or polygons for calculations |
| Spatial Functions | MakePoint, Buffer, MakeLine, Distance, Area, Spatial intersection joins |
| Unrecognised Location Data | Assign geographic roles to fields, edit location names, custom geocode data, blend geographic data, use spatial data |
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What You'll Learn
Tableau supports worldwide airport codes
Tableau is a powerful tool for mapping and geographical analysis, and it supports worldwide airport codes. This means that users can create maps and visualise data related to specific airport locations around the globe.
Tableau's support for airport codes is part of its broader capability to handle various types of location data. In addition to airport codes, Tableau can work with cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, and even some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county equivalents). It also supports U.S.-specific location data, such as area codes, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), Congressional districts, and Zip codes.
The software is designed to automatically recognise location data and assign geographic roles to fields. This enables users to easily build map views by simply double-clicking on a geographic field. Tableau then generates latitude and longitude fields to create a map, and users can encode geographic points or areas with measures from their data. For example, one could map population density data onto boroughs in a city, creating a visual representation of demographic variations.
Tableau also offers advanced mapping features, such as map layers, which were introduced in version 2020.4. With map layers, users can layer multiple sources of spatial data on maps, creating comprehensive geographical views. For instance, a map of a city can include layers for population, transportation networks, and parks, providing a more nuanced understanding of the area. Furthermore, Tableau's spatial parameters, introduced in version 2024.3, enhance geographical analysis by allowing for dynamic control of points, lines, or polygons and enabling calculations like Symdifference, Intersection, and Difference.
Overall, Tableau's support for worldwide airport codes and other location data empowers users to create detailed maps and conduct sophisticated geographical analyses. By visualising data in this way, Tableau makes it easier to explore and communicate spatial information, facilitating better decision-making and understanding of the world around us.
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Map layers
Tableau supports worldwide airport codes, cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, and some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county-equivalents). It also supports U.S. area codes, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), Congressional districts, and Zip codes. Additionally, any latitude and longitude coordinates are supported, as long as they are in decimal degrees.
When you need to add multiple layers of geographic data to a map, use marks layers in the Marks card. Marks layers act like transparent overlays. Each layer functions independently and can have its own mark type, captions, and color. Marks layers can only be used with geographic data.
To create a map with multiple layers, first build your base layer. Then, drag a geographic field into the view. The "Add a Marks Layer" control will appear in the top left corner of the view. Drop the geographic field onto this control. A new marks layer will be added to the Marks card and the layer will be displayed in the view.
After you create a map with multiple layers, you can change the layer order, rename layers, remove layers, or hide layers. Tableau renders the layers based on their order in the Marks card. Marks in layers at the top of the list will be displayed over marks in layers that are lower in the list. To change the layer order, click and drag a layer name in the Marks card until the orange indicator arrow appears. Drop the layer in its new order location.
By default, when you add a new layer to a map, Tableau will include all marks in the view. If there is a large difference between the scale of marks, the desired detail can be lost. To resolve this, deselect "Add to Zoom Extent". With the advent of Geographic Layers for Maps, you have the ability to create dense and information-rich views. However, these views may become difficult to navigate as the number of layers and marks increases. The Layer Control is a panel that expands in the view when selected, displaying all the geographic data layers, and giving you quick access to each marks layer. By using the Layer Control, you can hide or disable interactions on each layer, as well as save that selection as a custom view.
The 2020.4 release of Tableau introduced the "Multiple marks layer support for maps" feature, which allows developers to add more mark types onto maps, providing greater flexibility. With this feature, you can add an unlimited number of layers to the map and visualize multiple sets of location data in context with one another. You can also toggle the visibility of each layer, showing or hiding each layer as needed.
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Spatial parameters
Tableau supports worldwide airport codes, cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, and some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county equivalents). It also supports US area codes, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), Congressional districts, and Zip codes. Additionally, any latitude and longitude coordinates are supported, provided they are in decimal degrees.
In 2024, Tableau introduced spatial parameters, making geographical analysis quicker and easier. Spatial parameters enable the selection of one or more points, lines, or polygons that can then be used in calculations, including Symdifference, Intersection, and Difference. This feature becomes particularly powerful when combined with parameter actions, allowing for the exploration of relationships between data sources that do not support joins. For example, you could use a parameter action to select an area of land from one spatial file and use that parameter in an Intersection calculation to show all the buildings in that area.
Spatial functions allow users to perform advanced spatial analysis and combine spatial files with data in other formats, such as text files or spreadsheets. For instance, a spatial file of city council districts and a text file containing latitude and longitude coordinates of reported potholes can be joined using a spatial calculation to analyze which district takes the longest to repair potholes.
Spatial joins originally only supported joins between point and polygon geometries. Now, the combinations of geometry types that can be used have increased to include polygon/line, polygon/polygon, and line/line, enabling a wider variety of use cases. For example, with a shapefile containing line geometry of roads and a second shapefile with polygons of states, a join could be created to determine which lines cross state boundaries.
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Location data not recognised
Tableau supports worldwide airport codes, cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, and some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county equivalents). It also supports U.S. area codes, Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), Congressional districts, and Zip codes. Additionally, any latitude and longitude coordinates are supported, provided they are in decimal degrees.
If Tableau does not immediately recognize your location data, you won't be able to build a map view. In this case, you will need to assign geographic roles to your fields. This procedure only works if your location data is supported by Tableau.
If your data isn't supported by Tableau, there are a few workarounds you can try:
- Edit location names in your data source to match Tableau location names.
- Custom geocode your data.
- Blend your geographic data.
- Use spatial data to build a map view.
If you have locations that Tableau can't map, such as street addresses, you can custom geocode those locations. Custom geocoding involves assigning latitude and longitude coordinates to your locations so Tableau can plot them accurately. It also allows you to create custom geographic roles that you can use when creating map views.
For example, if your data contains country, state/province, and street address data, Tableau Desktop will geocode your data to the country and state/province level but won't recognize the street address data. In this case, you can create a custom geographic role for the street address data so that you can plot it on a map view.
To custom geocode your data, follow these steps:
- Check out the "Assign Geographic Roles" topic to learn more about geographic roles and the types of data Tableau recognizes.
- Create an import file containing your custom geocoding data. This file should be saved as a Comma Delimited (.csv) file (or Windows Comma Separated if on a Mac).
- Open Tableau Desktop and navigate to a new or existing worksheet.
- Select "Map > Geocoding > Import Custom Geocoding".
- In the Import Custom Geocoding dialog box, click the button to the right of the text field to browse for your import file.
- Click "Import".
- Assign the imported custom geographic roles to fields in your data source.
- Start building your map view using the custom geographic roles.
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Latitude and longitude coordinates
Tableau supports worldwide airport codes, allowing users to map this data. When working with latitude and longitude coordinates in Tableau, it is important to ensure that the data is formatted correctly. The latitude and longitude fields in the data source must be numeric data with one decimal place, following the "'Decimal Degrees" (DD) format. This format excludes text characters like ° or N. For example, a value in DD format like 45.7811111° N can be converted for Tableau recognition using the calculation: FLOAT( LEFT( [Latitude], LEN( [Latitude] ) - 3 )).
If the longitude and latitude data is in another format, a more complex calculation may be required for conversion. For instance, converting from Degrees Minutes Seconds (DMS) to DD necessitates the formula: DD = degrees + (min/60) + (sec/3600). It is worth noting that Tableau may not always automatically recognise location data, and in such cases, users can manually assign geographic roles to their fields.
To manually assign a geographic role, users can follow these steps: in the Data pane, click the data type icon next to the field, select 'Geographic Role', and then choose the appropriate geographic role. For latitude and longitude coordinates, the data type should be set to 'Number' (decimal), the data role should be set to 'Measure', and the Latitude and Longitude geographic roles should be assigned.
Once the data is correctly formatted and the geographic roles are assigned, users can proceed to create a map view in Tableau. This can be done by dragging the latitude and longitude fields to the Columns and Rows shelves, respectively, and then adding the desired location data to the Detail on the Marks card. By following these steps, users can effectively work with latitude and longitude coordinates in Tableau, ensuring accurate mapping and analysis of their location data.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Tableau supports worldwide airport codes.
To create a map, double-click on the field in the data pane and Tableau will create a map using generated latitude and longitude fields.
Tableau supports cities, countries, regions, territories, states, provinces, and some postcodes and second-level administrative districts (county equivalents).
If Tableau doesn't recognize your location data, you'll need to assign geographic roles to your fields. This can be done by following the steps outlined in the "Assign a geographic role to a field" section of the Tableau help page.
Tableau has introduced several new spatial functions such as MakePoint, Buffer, MakeLine, Distance, and Area. These functions allow users to create spatial points, buffers, lines, calculate distances, and determine surface areas, respectively.
