🆕OS Maps for Power BI Visual FAQs

This page provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about using the OS Maps for Power BI Visual product.

FAQs

Is the visual free to use?

During its beta phase, OS Maps for Power BI Visual is free to use; however, to get an OS basemap to generate in the visual, which is needed to make it work, an appropriate API Key is needed (see the Installation page of the Getting Started Guide for more information).

For public sector customers who have signed up to the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA), all zoom levels of the basemap that this API Key generates are free; however, for non-public sector customers who are not signed up to the PSGA, the maximum zoom levels will incur a cost as they are classed as Premium data. A Premium data toggle is present within the visual to control this, so you can choose whether to use Premium data or stick to free OS OpenData.

For more information on which zoom levels are OS OpenData and which are Premium data for the OS Maps API, please see the tables on the OS Maps API Layer and Styles page.

You can check if your organisation is a member of the PSGA on the OS website.

How many points/polygons can be displayed on a map?

Power BI allows up to 30 000 individual points and / or polygons to be displayed on a map at any one time. However, attempting to display even this number will likely cause performance issues.

How many layers can be displayed on a map?

It’s possible to display one point (point layer) and one polygon (features layer) combined on a map.

For the Features Layer polygon this can done either using the Features Layer: GSS identifier field or the Features Layer: GeoJSON or WKT field. They can’t be combined.

Note: It’s possible to combine a Reference Layer polygon with a Features Layer polygon (either using the GSS identifier field or the GeoJSON or WKT field) on a map. See the page on ‘How to add a polygon reference layer to the map’.

Can I drilldown into a map?

Drilldown refers to being able to interact with a boundary area on the map representing a specific geography (for example, a local authority) and then having the map drilldown and show the smaller boundary areas (wards) that make up that local authority.

What’s a GSS identifier?

Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes are nine-character codes which correspond to geographies for which national statistics are published, such as Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) and Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). You might also see them referred to as Census or Administrative boundary codes.

Is there a list of boundaries supported by Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes?

Boundary	GSS Code Prefix
Census Output Area (OA)	England - E00, Northern Ireland - N00, Scotland - S00, Wales - W00
Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA)	England - E01, Wales - W01
Middle layer Super Output Area (MSOA); Intermediate Zone (S)	England - E02, Wales - W02
Civil Parish (E/S); Community (W)	England - E04, Wales - W04, Scotland - S35
Ward or Electoral Division	England - E05, Northern Ireland - N08, Scotland - S13, Wales - W05
Unitary Authority	England - E06, Scotland - S12, Wales - W06
Non-Metropolitan District (two-tier)	England - E07
Civil Parish (E/S); Community (W)	England - E04, Wales - W04, Scotland - S35
Ward or Electoral Division	England - E05, Northern Ireland - N08, Scotland - S13, Wales - W05
Unitary Authority	England - E06, Scotland - S12, Wales - W06
Non-Metropolitan District (two-tier)	England - E07
Metropolitan Borough	England - E08
London Borough	England - E09
County	England - E10
Metropolitan County	England - E11
English Region	England - E12
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency	England - E14, Northern Ireland - N06, Scotland - S14, Wales - W07
European Electoral Region	England - E15, Northern Ireland - N07, Scotland - S15, Wales - W08
Community Safety Partnerships	England - E22, Wales - W14
Police Force Areas	England - E23, Northern Ireland - N23, Scotland - S23, Wales - W15
National Parks	England - E26, Scotland - S21, Wales - W18
Registration Districts	England - E28, Wales - W20
Travel to Work Areas	England - E30, Northern Ireland - N12, Other - K01, Scotland - S22, Wales - W22
Fire and Rescue Authorities	England - E31, Northern Ireland - N31, Scotland - S38, Wales - W25
London Assembly	England - E32
Welsh Assembly	Wales - W09, Wales - W10
Scottish Parliament Constituency	Scotland - S16
Workplace Zones	England - E33, Northern Ireland - N19, Scotland - S34, Wales - W35
Census Merged Wards	England - E36, Wales - W39
Local Enterprise Partnerships	England - E37
Clinical Commissioning Groups	England - E38
NHS England Regions	England - E40
Census Merged Local Authority Districts	England - E41, Wales - W40
Non-Civil Parished Areas	England - E43
Public Health England Centres	England - E45
Public Health England Regions	England - E46
Combined Authorities	England - E47
Integrated care boards (formerly Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships)	England - E54
Strategic Clinical Networks	England - E55
Cancer Alliances	England - E56
County Electoral Divisions	England - E58
Local Planning Authorities	England - E60, Northern Ireland - N13, Scotland - S44, Wales - W43
Local Resilience Forums	England - E48
Greater London Authority	England - E61
2022 Built Up Areas	England - E63, Other - K08, Scotland - S45, Wales - W45
Scottish Parliament Electoral Region	Scotland - S17
Local Health Boards	Wales - W11

Why aren't all of my ONS polygons displaying on the map?

The visual only supports the latest Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This means that historical codes are not supported, and the polygons for those geographies therefore won’t display on the map. Please check on the ONS website if the codes being used are historical ones.

Is Northern Ireland base mapping provided?

No, Northern Ireland base mapping is not supported by the visual.

Will GSS codes for Northern Ireland render on the map?

Some Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes for Northern Ireland are supported and the visual will display the appropriate polygon (for example, Police Force Areas). Please check which boundaries are supported by the visual, which can be found under the FAQ – Is there a list of boundaries supported by Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes?

Does the visual work offline?

No. As the visual relies on external OS and Office for National Statistics (ONS) APIs, it won’t work offline. If using the visual where an internet connection is unreliable, it may not perform adequately.

I can’t get access to Dropbox to download the installation file. What should I do?

Please speak with your IT team about getting an exception made for OS’s secure Dropbox as there is currently no other way to get access to the visual.

I can’t get access to the OS Data Hub to get an API Key. What should I do?

If your organisation already has an OS Data Hub account, then your organisation’s OS Data Hub Administrator needs to approve your access. Your OS Data Hub Administrator is probably within your GIS / Geospatial Team. If you want to know the contact details of your OS Data Hub Administrator, please reach out to [email protected] or your OS Account Manager.

Do you store any of my data?

OS doesn’t store any of your organisational data that you use within the visual or send to our external services. We log information such as the API Key you use, the time you make a request to an external service, the volume of points you require to be geocoded, and the OS data you use. This is done to ensure that we can identify anyone abusing these services so that other customers don’t experience any disruption.

Does the visual use any external services?

There are three external services involved:

• The first external service uses OS Maps API to render the basemap. The API Key is created via the OS Data Hub and used within the OS Maps for Power BI Visual.

• The second external services uses an API from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to get boundary polygon data (for example, if you wanted to display Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) / Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) polygons or any other ONS-supported boundary on the map). The only bit of data exchanged with the ONS is the nine-digit code they use to categorise the polygons. This service is powered by ESRI’s ArcGIS Online and uses a US-based server for operations.

• The third external service is for geocoding postcode centroids or Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs). Here, the only data sent is the postcode or UPRN in return for x / y coordinates to be displayed on the map. Even if a user tried to send non-postcode / UPRN data, the visual would detect this and NOT send the data externally – so it's only ever possible to send a postcode / UPRN. We don’t store any of the data you send us. This service is powered by ESRI’s ArcGIS Online and uses an EU-based server for operations.