Shapes from file

The Shapes from file layer imports geospatial files directly onto the map, without needing the geometry to be in a data table first.

Supported formats

  • GeoJSON and TopoJSON
  • KML
  • GPX
  • ESRI Shapefile
  • GeoParquet (.parquet / .geoparquet)
  • FlatGeobuf (.fgb)
  • IMDF (Indoor Mapping Data Format)

Files can be loaded from a URL or from a file in your OneLake. Icon Map auto-detects the format from the file extension and, where the extension is ambiguous, by sniffing the file's content.

Cloud-native formats (GeoParquet and FlatGeobuf)

Fabric is a Parquet platform, and GeoParquet is the geospatial industry's cloud-native vector standard - so it's a natural fit for shapes you already hold in OneLake.

  • GeoParquet - Icon Map reads the file's geo metadata to find the geometry column, its encoding, and its coordinate system. Files without geo metadata still load: Icon Map falls back to a column named geometry or geom containing WKB geometry. Files written in a projected coordinate system are reprojected to the map automatically when the CRS carries an EPSG code. GeoArrow-encoded geometry columns are not yet supported - use WKB-encoded geometry (the GeoParquet default).
  • FlatGeobuf - the whole file is read and its features drawn, with attributes available for joins, styling, and tooltips like any other format.

All parsing happens in the browser - the file is fetched over the same URL or OneLake channel as any other shape file, and its contents are never sent anywhere else.

OGC vector services (WFS and OGC API - Features)

As well as loading a file, a shapes layer can connect to a live OGC vector service and stream its features onto the map. Choose the OGC service source option and connect to either:

  • a WFS 2.0 endpoint (the service must offer GeoJSON output), or
  • an OGC API - Features landing page.

Icon Map reads the service's capabilities (or landing page), lists the available feature types / collections, and you pick one per layer. The features arrive as GeoJSON and behave like any other shapes - style them, bind them to data, label them and add them to the legend.

Fetching modes

  • By viewport (default) - Icon Map requests only the features in the current view and re-queries as you pan and zoom, retaining features up to the feature limit. This keeps large services responsive.
  • All at once - Icon Map pulls the whole set (paged in the background) and then leaves it static.

You control the page size and a feature limit (default 50,000). If a service has more features than the limit, Icon Map stops at the limit and shows a truncation warning, so a partial result is never mistaken for the whole dataset.

A Refresh button re-pulls the current features on demand.

Networking and authentication

Services are fetched directly by the browser. If the service host does not send CORS headers, Icon Map can route the request through the workload's fetch proxy - the same option and behaviour as the WMS layer. Beyond the proxy, additional authentication (for example, credentialled services) is not yet supported.

Joining shapes to your data

Imported shapes can be joined to a data source so they're styled by your data — for example, importing a set of territory boundaries and coloring them by each territory's revenue. You control what happens to features that don't match a data row (keep them, hide them, or give them a custom style).

Simplifying shapes

Very detailed geometry can be simplified from within the layer to keep the map fast, trading a small amount of precision for smoother performance.

Indoor maps (IMDF)

When you import an IMDF file, Icon Map renders it as an indoor map with stacked levels and a floor picker on the map. Rooms (units) can be joined to your data by ID for data-driven coloring, and walls can be shown in 3D. To create IMDF from CAD floor plans, use the Floor Plan Importer.

Next steps