In reply to Alan X Moreno.

Hi Alan -
Yes, it is possible to create a geomap in VA using census tract data derived from a shape file. In this situation, two (2) datasets must be imported into VA: 1) the shapefile of the census tracts (see step 2 of this post) and 2) the business data you wish to display on the map.

The imported shapefile dataset containing the census tract boundary definitions is then referenced when the custom map provider is defined during the geovariable setup process (step 4 of post). The critical step in creating a custom map provider, is that the shape data (census tract shapefile in this case) has a column that must also appear in the Business dataset.

In this scenario, a logical choice would be the census tract id value. When the provider and geovariable are defined in VA, it is creating the equivalent of an SQL join between the two datasets. If they do not share a common column, the 'join' is not possible.

I hope this helps. If you have further questions, please reach out to Tech Support for additional assistance.