In Open Source BI Helical Insight, the Shape property in map charts is used to control how data points (locations) are visually represented. This helps in differentiating data clearly on the map using various shapes.
How to Access the Shape Property
To access the Shape property in a map chart:
- Hover on the Meatball icon (three dots) beside the Filters option and click on Properties.
- In the Properties panel, locate the Bar section.
- Hover on the Meatball icon beside Bar.
- From the options, select Shape.


Default Shape
The Default Shape option allows you to set a common shape for all data points in the map.
If no Shape field is added in the Marks section, the selected default shape (such as Dot, Triangle, Hexagon, etc.) will be applied to all points.
View this video to get idea about Marks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_RG0W-l01M&t=33s
However, if a Shape field is used in Marks, then the Default Shape setting will be ignored, and shapes will be assigned based on the data.

Show All
The Show All option is used to display all possible values from the Shape field in the map visualization.
To use this feature, you must enable the Show All toggle. Once enabled, all shape categories will be displayed, even if some data points are not present in the dataset.
There are a few important conditions:
- URLs must be provided for all values in the Shape field.
- If any value is missing a URL, the report will not generate properly.
- After adding or updating URLs, the report must be regenerated for the changes to take effect.

Summary
The Shape property enhances map visualization by allowing either a uniform shape across all data points using Default Shape or a categorized representation using the Shape field. The Show All option ensures complete visibility of all categories but requires proper configuration, including providing URLs for every value and regenerating the report.
