Features
MapPoint Addins and
Extensions - Nominate Your Favorite!
Since the inception of the MapPoint product, a great
number of third-party tools, both free and commercial and have been
developed for Microsoft MapPoint. In upcoming issues we will be
exploring some of these in depth, but first we want to hear what you
and other readers find most useful in your daily work.
Post as a reply to
this
thread on MapForums to share your favorite MapPoint addins or
tools. You must first be
registered in the
MapForums discussion board.
TIP 1: What Is and Isn't Exported to GPX Format
The
ability to import and export GPX format, both from within the MapPoint
application and also programmatically via new methods in MapPoint 2010,
is one of the best new features added to MapPoint.
Not everything that can be depicted in MapPoint necessarily has an
equivalent in the GPX format, so you wouldn't expect anything and
everything to be exported, so we set up a test to check it out. See the
results in this post in the
Tips & Tricks section on MapForums -
What Is and Isn't Exported to GPX.
TIP 2: Programming MapPoint Shape Colors
The Fill and Line colors for MapPoint shapes are limited to forty colors which are listed in this helpful article on MSDN -
Using Shape Color Values in MapPoint.
Pasting that code into your project and having those constants are
great, but often it's easier to work with Integer values and those Hex
values are not trivial to work with in code. It is fairly
straightforward however to convert them to Integers in Excel using some
string manipulation and the HEX2DEC function.
See this recent post -
Setting MapPoint Line Color by Variable in VBA - for more information and to download a spreadsheet with all of the Integer values.
BONUS TIP: How to Export Route Coordinates
The MapPoint Route is a special object in MapPoint,
and it is not defined as a shape. If you want to get the route shape
details, you are limited to using the Locations of stops in the list of
Waypoint, which would not include most roads or turns along the route.
Richard Marsden pointed out in this recent post -
How to Get GPS Coordinates by Interval on the Route in MapPoint
- that if you include a rest stop every minute, you can get the
Location every minute along a route giving an approximate shape for the
route!
MapPoint Consultants and Products Directories
Find developers and experienced MapPoint consultants
who can help you with your next project or program costum solutions
helping to integrate MapPoint with your business processes.
If you are a consultant who know MapPoint or Bing Maps, this is a
terrific way to read our audience and share information about your
capabilities, services, describe past projects, and communicate your
availability. You are welcome to post your resume and keep your thread
or profile updated periodically with references, new offerings, and
contant information. Get started today by posting "New Thread" in the
MapPoint Consultant Directory.
Listings are free, but there is also an opportunity to
become a sponsor for a more
prominent listing and a link from the home page.
Similarly, last year, we also started a new
Products Directory for MapPoint
Add-ins, Bing Maps tools, and related products. If you have a
MapPoint/Bing Maps Add-in or tool, list it in here to get some great
visibility and exposure for your product. To keep your product near the
front of the directory, you can post periodically updates, tutorials,
case studies, or other new information about your product.
New MapForums Twitter
Integration
Follow MapForums on Twitter! We frequently highlight
new topics via our Twitter account "
MapForums". We have also
installed TweetBoard on MapForums, a toolbar which floats on the left
side of the MapForums site, and pulls in a threaded view of Twitter
conversations related to the MapForums posts. Check it out - go to
www.MapForums.com, and click on
the tab that says "tweets" on the left.
Examples of recent posts in MapForums highlighted in Twitter and which
appear in the TweetBoard:
-
How to Get GPS Coordinates by Interval on the Route
-
Whither BusinessMap Add-On Tools?
-
Retrieve
US State from Directions
-
Matching
Census Tracts...some match, some don't-
Drawing
Lines Between City/State Pairs
-
Exporting
with new information
-
Automatically Publishing MapPoint Maps to Mobile Devices
Twitter users - keep abreast of all MapPoint news and the community by
following the MapForums twitter account.
Get Published in MP2K Magazine
If you have a MapPoint presentation, neat programming technique, or
would simply like to share the ways in which you are using MapPoint
technology or any other ideas, contact us to discuss how we can turn
your knowledge into an article and share your experience with the rest
of the MapPoint community of users and developers.
Thanks to
Marvin Hlavac for allowing us to
use the picture on the right of his Maltese puppy eating from the
MapPoint mug.