Why maps visualize location data in Tableau - Formula Trace Breakdown

Sample Data

This data shows three cities with their latitude and longitude coordinates.

Cell	Value
A1	City
B1	Latitude
C1	Longitude
A2	New York
B2	40.7128
C2	-74.0060
A3	Los Angeles
B3	34.0522
C3	-118.2437
A4	Chicago
B4	41.8781
C4	-87.6298

Formula Trace

MAKEPOINT([Latitude], [Longitude])

Step 1: MAKEPOINT(40.7128, -74.0060)

Step 2: MAKEPOINT(34.0522, -118.2437)

Step 3: MAKEPOINT(41.8781, -87.6298)

Cell Reference Map

    A          B           C
1 | City     | Latitude  | Longitude
2 | New York | 40.7128   | -74.0060
3 | Los Angeles | 34.0522   | -118.2437
4 | Chicago  | 41.8781   | -87.6298

References: Latitude (B2:B4), Longitude (C2:C4) feed into MAKEPOINT function.

Latitude and Longitude columns provide location data for the map visualization.

Result

• New York plotted near east coast

↓

• Los Angeles plotted on west coast

↓

• Chicago plotted near Great Lakes

The map shows points placed accurately on the map for each city using their coordinates.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the MAP function use to place points on the map?

A City names only

B Latitude and Longitude values

C Random numbers

D Population data

Key Result

MAKEPOINT function uses latitude and longitude pairs to plot points on a geographic map.