Want a complete overview of using Shapefiles with CMaps Analytics? Visit our Shapefile Learning Center
Connect .SHP file to CMaps / GMaps Plugin
To visualize one or multiple shapefiles into your dashboard, you will first need to upload your shapefiles onto any web/application server. This needs to be a web application server that is accessible via HTTP. Ultimately, you need to be able to access the shapefile as a URL (http://yourwebserver/yourfile.shp). If you are publishing your dashboard (SWF) to a web server, shapefiles are only accessible via HTTP and will not work if the shapefile is on your local computer or file share.
For testing and development: Shapefiles can be loaded onto your local PC (FILE://yourfile.shp) for testing, though it is recommended to load the files onto your web/application server behind your corporate firewall. If you happen to use Shapefiles on your local PC for testing, you need to enable local Flash Security settings in Internet Explorer.
1. Open CMaps / GMaps Plugin Property Sheet
2. For any series, select the “Shape Data�
3. 
 Select the configuration icon
4. Select Shape Data
5. Click “OK�
With the standard properties showing you will now need to obtain a URL to a shapefile and paste it into a single cell within your Excel model. For testing you can use the following world shapefile: “http://gmapsplugin.net/shapes/countries/countries.shp�
6. Bind the “Single shape file URL� property to a URL to your URL. If you are using our Shape Data Explorer, you can utilize a URL to populate this property. Example: http://gmapsplugin.net/shapes/countries/countries.shp
Note:Â When binding a .SHP file path to your local PC:
You need to ensure that your local flash player security settings allow access to the drive for which your .SHP is loaded. Hosting shapefiles on your local machine will NOT work if your SWF file is opened from a file share, or from a server.
Note for Shapefile Server Deployment:Â
The web server will require a crossdomain.xml file for GMaps Plugin to successfully access and load the .SHP (or .TXT) file. A crossdomain.xml file should be placed into the ROOT directory of your web/application server.
Download sample crossdomain.xml policy file. If your IT organization needs an explanation of the crossdomain policy file, Adobe covers it in this CrossDomain.xml article.
7. Save your dashboard before previewing
8. Preview your dashboard to ensure the Shapefile loads in the map.