Searching For Layers

The catalog dialog provides a powerful search panel that lets you find layers by keyword, tag, region, access tier, and map viewport. This page covers every filtering option in detail.

Text Search

Type any keyword into the search bar at the top of the results panel. The search runs against layer titles and descriptions and is case-insensitive. Results update after a short debounce delay as you type.

Examples:

  • UK postcode — finds layers with "UK" and "postcode" in the title or description.
  • France departments — finds French administrative boundary layers.
  • railway — finds transport and infrastructure layers related to railways.

Tag Filter

Click the Tags dropdown to see all available tags with result counts. Select one or more tags to narrow results. Tags are defined per dataset and typically describe the theme (e.g. "boundaries", "transport", "health", "education").

Tags and their counts update dynamically — only tags that have matching results for the current filters are shown.

Region Filter

Click the Regions dropdown to filter by geographic region. Regions are hierarchical (e.g. "Europe", "North America", "Asia-Pacific") and reflect where the dataset has coverage.

Like tags, region counts update based on the current search.

Access Tier Filter

Four toggle buttons let you filter by layer tier:

Tier Description
Basic Free layers included with every Icon Map visual.
Standard Layers available with a usage-based plan or catalog add-on user license.
Premium High-detail datasets available with a usage-based plan.
Commercial Third-party licensed datasets available under separate subscription.

By default all tiers are shown. Click a tier button to toggle it on or off.

Map Viewport Filter

The preview map on the left side of the dialog can be used to spatially filter results. Two modes are available:

  • Overlapping — returns datasets whose bounding box overlaps the current map view. Use this to find any layer that has data in the visible area.
  • Within — returns datasets whose bounding box is fully contained within the current map view. Use this to find layers that cover only the area you're looking at.

Pan and zoom the map to the area of interest, then enable one of these modes. The results list updates automatically as you move the map.

Results List

Results are displayed in a scrollable table below the filters. Each row shows:

  • Layer title
  • Access tier badge (Basic / Standard / Premium / Commercial)
  • Region tags
  • Description preview

The layer's bounding box is also drawn on the preview map when it appears in the results.

Pagination

Results load 50 at a time. Scroll to the bottom of the list to automatically load the next page.

Selecting a Layer

Click a result row to select it. The right panel switches to the info panel showing:

  • Full title and description
  • Source and licence information
  • Attribution text
  • Capability badges — visual indicators of what the layer supports:
    • Customizable — fill, outline, label configuration available
    • Data Binding — the layer can be joined to Power BI data
    • Pre-defined Styles — one or more ready-made style variants
  • Downloadable resources — links to sample PBIX files or CSV data, if available
  • Video link — a walkthrough video, if available

The preview map zooms to the layer's bounding box and renders a live preview of the layer's data.