When a column contains the names of geographical regions (such as countries, regions, states, provinces, counties), you can assign the column to the Map Shape zone. When a variable is dropped in Map Shape, Graph Builder looks for map shapes that correspond to the values of the variable and draws the corresponding map. The variable can have a column property that tells JMP where to find the map data. If not, JMP looks through all known map files. If you have a variable in the Map Shape zone, the X and Y zones disappear. The Map Shape zone is positional and influences the types of graph elements that are available.

For each map there are two .jmp files; one for the name data (one row per entity) and one for coordinate data (many rows per entity). They are paired via a naming convention; xxx-Name.jmp and xxx-XY.jmp, where "xxx" is some common prefix. Some examples of sample files that are shipped with the product are:

Each xxx-Name.jmp can contain any number of shape name columns, which are identified with a column property. Multiple name columns support localizations and alternate names styles (such as abbreviations), but a given graph usage uses only one column of names. The first column of the Name file must contain unique Shape ID numbers in ascending order.

Each xxx-XY.jmp file has four columns. Each row is a coordinate in some shape. Each part is made of one or more shapes. Each shape is a closed polygon. The first column is the same Shape ID as in the xxx-Name file. The second column is the Part ID. The next two columns are X and Y.