Generating Geo Shapes

To enable users to view maps of territories within Align, map shape information, known as Geo Shapes, must exist for the geography records used by the territory. For certain countries where postal code geographies are used, Veeva provides out of the box Geo Shape information. However, for other countries, as well as for countries using bricks-based geographies rather than postal codes, the Geo Shape Generator enables users to generate approximated map shape information for entire countries.

For example, the Align admin wants to generate Geo Shapes for Luxembourg in order to enable other Align users to visualize the territories in Luxembourg. After ensuring all address__aln records in Luxembourg contain the appropriate information, the admin initiates the generation process. Once the process is complete, users can view territories based on the geography records assigned to them.

This feature only supports generating Geo Shapes for Veeva-provided country__aln records.

Configuring

To configure this feature:

  1. Grant users Edit permission to the shape_identifier__aln field on the country__aln object.
  2. Place the shape_identifier__aln field on the country__aln object page layout.

Address Record Requirements when Generating Geo Shapes

The algorithm used by the Geo Shape Generator derives shapes based on address__aln records within the country. For shapes to be generated effectively, these address__aln records must meet the following prerequisites:

  • The country__aln field must be populated
  • Either the brick__aln or postal_code__aln field must be populated, depending on the type of geographies assigned to the country’s territories
  • The latitude__aln and longitude__aln fields must be populated. More precise values in these fields result in higher quality generated Geo Shapes

Generating Shapes for a Country

To generate Geo Shapes for a country:

  1. Navigate to the appropriate country__aln record.

  2. Populate the shape_identifier__aln picklist with the appropriate value. Available values are:

    • postal_code__aln – Generates shapes based on groupings of address by postal code
    • brick__aln – Generates shapes based on groupings of addresses by bricks

  3. Select the Gear button.

  4. Select Generate Geo Shapes.

Users are prevented from generating postal code Geo Shapes against countries where postal code Geo Shapes are already provided by Veeva, for example, the United States.

The generation process can be monitored in the My Tasks tab.

Viewing Generated Geo Shapes

Once the generation process is complete, navigating to any territory__aln or model_territory__aln record within the selected country displays the territory’s shape in the Map section.

Selecting the map displays a more detailed view of the territory with outlines of each geography comprising the territory.

Erasing Shapes for a Country

Users can also erase generated Geo Shapes:

  1. Navigate to the appropriate country__aln record.
  2. Ensure the shape_identifier__aln field is populated correctly.
  3. Select the Gear button.
  4. Select Erase Geo Shapes.

The process can be monitored in the My Tasks tab.