Filtering on your map

Setting your filters in the Mapping Sheets add-on

In the add-on sidebar you must set the main Filter and also optionally (basic and premium) define any additional filters.

There are also optional filters you can configure in the add-on Preferences > Filters, Map sections.

Main Filter

  • The main Filter would be the column header you choose in the add-on sidebar.

  • It is recommended to use a column that provides a general categorization and also includes a fairly small number of unique values

  • The color of the location icons will depend on the values under that Filter column, either when using default or custom colors

Additional Filters

The number of additional filters is set under the add-on Preferences > Filters. It is zero by default, so you have to change that number before being able to use them.

  • After changing the number of additional filters, save the Preferences and reopen the add-on sidebar for it to take effect

  • Then in the sidebar, you can select the column header and the type of filter to use for each of them

  • The type of filter could be: checkboxes, checkbox-list, slider, slider-right, range, date, date-range, select, select-multiple, select-dynamic (some of them might not be available yet)

Optional Filters

Under the add-on Preferences (several sections) there are a few other optional filters to choose and configure, like the following and others to come

  • Search (Filters) to find matching text across all the data or just within specified headers

  • Find a place (Map) on the map with the option to filter locations within a circle on a click

  • Find me (Map) my location on the map with the option to filter locations within a circle on a click

Read more details under the Filter section from the Preferences support page

Using your filters in the Mapping web app

The filters available on each map depends on the options set by the map's owner under the Mapping Sheets add-on Preferences.

When viewing your map, you would have all your filters on the left, from top to bottom in several sections like: Find a place, Search, Main Filter, Additional Filters, Shapes, Find me

The filtering logic works as follow

  • Within each section: an OR logic, meaning that any location that passes the filter test in one section, it would continue to the next section for validation

  • Across each section: an AND logic, meaning that when a location fails the filter test in one section, it would be excluded (hidden) from the map

  • That means that only the locations that passes the filter test in all the sections will be showing on the map

Assuming you have set all the possible filters, find some details below as how they would show in the Mapping web app Filters section on the left, from top to bottom and a screenshot at the end on how they work for a specific filters combination

Find a Place (a location)

It is a special text input where you can start typing and it would show a list with any matching places or addresses within the current map view port. The list will be sorted as they best match what you are typing. This is a feature powered by Google Maps Api

The screenshot below is showing the best matches as just typing 'to' in that input box.

  • You just need to pick your choice from that list and the Mapping app will center the map and drop a small circular icon at the selected location

  • A click on that icon would show/hide a circle around the selected place with the specified radius

  • As well as filter out any locations outside that circle, if you set that option under Preferences > Map

  • You can change the radius of that circle by clicking (then drag n drop) on any of the four anchors around the circle

  • The default radius value and units are set under Preferences > Map

  • The circle and the Filter results would change as you modify the radius value

Search (text)

It is a text input box that filters the locations on the map, as you type there

  • It will look for matches across all the content in your datasheet or just under selected headers

  • It ignores case (either lowercase or uppercase would be considered)

Main Filter

The main filter will be a list of check-boxes with the unique values under the column you choose as Filter in the sidebar

  • Each unique value defines the color of your icons

  • For easier visualization, the specific icon for each value is shown right besides the check-box value

  • Avoid using too many unique values for better navigation and performance

Additional Filters

The additional filters could be of several types, as listed below (some of them might not be available yet)

  • checkboxes: usually text with a few unique values, that allow for grouping your locations in a meaningful way

    • checkbox-list: similar to checkboxes but showing one value per line

  • slider [left]: numeric values in a range, where the filter would show locations with a value in the selected left range (<=) - non numeric values will pass fail the filter test

  • slider-right: similar to above slider, but using the selected right range (>=)

  • range: similar to above two sliders combined, but with two knobs and using the selected center range (>= left value and <= right value)

  • date: it works only with values formatted as "Plain text" in your datasheet and following the date ISO format as YYYY-MM-DD, filtering the locations with the selected date

  • date-range: similar to above date, but two of them (from and to), filtering the locations with a date within the from-to dates range

  • select: it would show a searchable sorted list of the unique values for that column, for you to choose only one of them

  • select-multiple: similar to above select, but with the possibility of choosing multiple/several values

  • select-dynamic: similar to above select-multiple, but with a dynamic list showing only the available values for the current visible locations

Find me, Follow me (my location)

It would work in a similar way as "Find a Place", just that Place will be the current user's location on the map.

  • It would show at the bottom right besides the filters sidebar, as part of the map controls

  • It could be a good feature when going around

Shapes Filters (∗)

Drawing shapes on the map with the option to filter locations within

  • Shapes could be a circle, rectangle, polygon or even a freehand contour

  • Select a shape icon from the drawing toolbar (top center) to start drawing on the map

  • Click a shape to switch filter within on and off

  • Plus several other options like edit, drag, name, remove, download and upload

See more details and examples on this post.

Combining several Filters on your map

On below screenshot we are using several filter sections and the map is showing the locations (33 out of 101) that passes the specific filters combination:

  • within a circle of 2 km around "Toronto, ON, Canada" center

  • with any Category values but Accusantium and Veritatis

  • with any (all) Feature values

  • with Range values between 10 and 90 both included

  • with any Choice values

Background Notes (TL;DR)

required values and format, not too many unique values ...

how it works? async, debounce, order, etc