This guide explains how to manually export floor plan data from Spaceti and upload it to Microsoft Places using the IMDF (Indoor Mapping Data Format) workflow.
The process consists of three main steps:
Prepare Microsoft Places (buildings, floors, spaces)
Export IMDF data from Spaceti
Correlate Spaceti map features with Microsoft Places IDs and upload the map
Once completed, Microsoft Places will display the building floor plan with desks and rooms correctly positioned.
Prerequisites
Before starting the IMDF export and mapping process, ensure the following requirements are met:
Microsoft Places is enabled in your Microsoft 365 tenant.
Your account has the required Microsoft Places administrative permissions to manage buildings, spaces, and maps. See Microsoft documentation on configuring admin roles:
PowerShell is installed on your machine so you can run Microsoft Places management commands.
Once these requirements are met, you can proceed with preparing Microsoft Places and exporting the IMDF map from Spaceti.
Step 1: Create Building Structure in Microsoft Places
Before uploading the floor plan, the building hierarchy must exist in Microsoft Places.
Create the following structure manually:
Building
Floor
Next, create desks and rooms either manually or using PowerShell.
Example:
New-Place -DisplayName '<desk-name>' -Type Desk -ParentId <section-or-floor-id> -Mode @{Name='Reservable'}Repeat this step until all desks, rooms, and other reservable spaces are created.
Step 2: Export Microsoft Places Space IDs
Each resource in Microsoft Places has a unique Place ID.
These IDs will be used to map the IMDF features exported from Spaceti.
Get building IDs
Get-PlaceV3 -Type Building
Export all places in a building
Get-PlaceV3 -AncestorId <building-id> | Export-Csv <path-to-export-file>.csv -NoTypeInformation
This file contains all spaces (desks, rooms, etc.) and their corresponding Place IDs.
Step 3: Export IMDF from Spaceti
In the Spaceti Admin Portal:
Navigate to Building Settings
Click Export IMDF
This downloads an IMDF package:
<spaceti-imdf-export>.zip
The IMDF file contains spatial information about the building such as:
Floors
Spaces
Desks
Layout structure
Markers
Step 4: Generate the Map Correlation File
Microsoft Places requires a mapping between IMDF features and Place IDs.
Run the following command:
Import-MapCorrelations -MapFilePath <spaceti-imdf-export>.zip
This command generates the file mapfeatures.csv.
The CSV contains all map features detected in the IMDF package.
Step 5: Map IMDF Features to Microsoft Places IDs
Open the generated file mapfeatures.csv.
Update the file manually by inserting the correct Place IDs, Name, Type from the Microsoft Places export.
This creates the correlation between:
Spaceti spatial objects
Microsoft Places resources
Step 6: Generate the Correlated IMDF File
Once mapfeatures.csv is updated, run the command again with the correlations file:
Import-MapCorrelations -MapFilePath <spaceti-imdf-export>.zip -CorrelationsFilePath mapfeatures.csv
This generates a new IMDF package imdf_correlated.zip
This file now contains the mapping between IMDF features and Microsoft Places resources.
Step 7: Upload the Map to Microsoft Places
Upload the correlated IMDF package using:
New-Map -BuildingId <building-id> -FilePath imdf_correlated.zip
Microsoft Places will process the uploaded map and associate it with the specified building.
Processing Time
After uploading the map:
Initial Microsoft Places synchronization may take up to 24 hours
Floor plans may take additional time before they appear in Microsoft Places
Result
After processing completes:
The building floor plan appears in Microsoft Places
Desks and rooms are positioned on the map
Users can locate and reserve spaces directly from the map interface