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Getting Started

Yellowfin has the capability to render GIS data (points and polygons) into an image which can be overlaid with your report data. To enable GIS reporting you must have GIS data available in the databases you wish to query for reporting.

GIS from a Non-GIS Supported Database

Not all databases support GIS natively. However, Yellowfin can convert VARCHAR fields into polygons. So if your data base does not have a GIS field type you can still store your GIS polygons in that database as a VARCHAR.

This Section shows you how to format a field with a polygon stored as a VARCHAR.

1. Double Click the Geo Polygon to format the field and set the geometry. You will see that it is a CLOB field type.

2. Navigate to the Data Conversion tab for the Conversion.

3. Select the WKT Geometry Converter from the list.

4. Set the format as Longitude/Latitude, the Cache Field to Country (this should be a unique identifier for the polygon).

5. Click Add to add the converter to the field.

6. You should now see the WKT Geometry Converter in the Converters list.

7. If you return to the Definition tab you will see that under the Data Type there is now a Converted Data Type of GIS Geometry listed.

8. Save your field. You can now begin creating your report.

GIS from a Supported Database

If your data source supports GIS columns such as MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL or MS SQL Server 2008 you can connect to these directly for reporting.
This type of field is not available in the Tutorial database but below is a quick guide to setting the field types at the view.

1. Once you have attached your fields to the view double click the field to set the GIS Format.

As seen on the right the field is a GIS Multi Polygon.

2. Navigate to the Format tab and set the Format to either Latitude/Longitude or Longitude/Latitude depending on the order of the points within the data.

3. Save the field settings and then save your view. You are now ready to use these fields for reporting.

GIS Map Tutorial

1. Click on the Create link and select Report to begin building your report.

2. You should now be on the Initialise Report page. Select the Drag and Drop Builder as the build tool.

3. Select Ski Team as the View.

4. Now click the button to proceed.

5. Drag in the Country and Geo Polygon fields.

6. Now drag in your metrics, in this example Invoice Estimate is used three times, as a MIN, MAX, and AVERAGE.

7. Set the report to display as a Chart Only.

8. Click the Next image to continue.

9. On the output page click on the Chart Icon to edit the chart and set up your GIS Chart.

10. From the Chart Menu select Map. Next, select the GIS Map type. Click Save to save your selection.

11. You will now see the Chart Data section updated with fields relevant to GIS Maps.

12. Select:

GIS Field: Athlete Geo Polygon
Metric: Max Invoice Estimate
Label: Athlete Country

13. Click Refresh to generate the map.

14. In the Chart Format options, select Visible Series Selection.

15. You should now have a map like the one pictured here. Much like the raster map, this one needs resizing so that the legend is closer to the highlighted areas.

16. Now add a layer to the map that will fill in all the country polygons that contained no data.

17. Click on the Add Layer link

18. Select the GIS World Background report that comes with Yellowfin.

19. Set the colour of the new layer to a light grey and click Refresh.

20. You should now have a map that looks like this.

21. Save and Close your map.