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 Thursday, November 4, 2004
What's New at MP2K Magazine 
Welcome to another issue of the MP2Kmag Update. If you voted or have been following the U.S. Presidential election, I hope your candidate won. As it appears George "Dubya" Bush will be occupying the White House for another four years, this is used as the example in this issue's installment of Programming With MapPoint and Excel.

MP2K Magazine is your source for independent news and information about MapPoint technologies and products and is home to the popular web forum for MapPoint users and developers. This month we feature an article from Keith Armonaitis, the President and Co-Founder of Cubistix, who discusses the challenges and pitfalls surrounding a implementation of the MapPoint Location Server.

This Issue's Contents at a Glance
 - features: The House of Dubya, Programming Challenge, Upcoming Articles, Winner in Reader Poll
 - articles: MapPoint Location Server Integration, Pocket Streets 2005 FAQ, Interview with Michael Graff
 - news: Pocket Streets 2005, CacheMinder, KeyNote Helps MapPoint Web Service, Free MapPoint Developer Seminar
 - forum: Forum Highlights, Google Search Tool, Nearly 8,500 posts and Over 1,500 Registered Users

Happy Mapping and please forward this newsletter to anyone who would be interested!

Eric Frost, Editor, MP2K Magazine
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Features

Developing with MapPoint and Excel, Part II - Mapping An Address

In the last issue we showed how to set up a VBA macro to instantiate MapPoint. However, we did not do anything useful! In this mini-tutorial we will demonstrate how to read an Excel cell's contents and use it as input to geocode a location on a map. This could be the start of a Excel-based batch geocoder or an element of an Excel application which may perform routing or batch distance calculations. The possibilities are endless.

So that we are on the same page, start by downloading this worksheet: House_of_Dubya.zip You may substitute your own name or address as desired - or needed if you are using the European maps. Next turn on the Visual Basic menu and open the Control Toolbox. Now click on Command Button and draw a button directly onto your Excel spreadsheet. With design mode still on, click away from your new button and then double-click on the button. This should open the Microsoft Visual Basic window and as in the last tutorial you could see the code:

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()

End Sub

Again, go to Tools | References and include the Microsoft MapPoint 11.0 Object Library. Compared to the last tutorial, there are several things added to the code. The Method we are most interested in and want to take a look at is FindAddressResults.

object.FindAddressResults([Street], [City], [OtherCity], [Region], [PostalCode], [Country])

Here is the complete code, replace the default contents of the Visual Basic window with the lines below.

Dim oApp As MapPoint.Application

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()

  Set oApp = CreateObject("MapPoint.Application.NA.11")
  oApp.Visible = True
  Set objMap = oApp.NewMap
 
  Set objLoc = _
  objMap.FindAddressResults( _
    Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 2), _
    Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 3), , _
    Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 4), _
    Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 5))(1)
 
  objMap.AddPushpin objLoc, _
  Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(2, 1)
  'objMap.DataSets.ZoomTo

End Sub


Close the Visual Basic window, turn off design mode, and click on your button. If you run the code exactly as shown above, you should see a small Pushpin near Washington D.C. Now uncomment the last line and run the code again. It should zoom into the heart of Washington D.C. and center on the Pushpin. You have located Dubya's home for the next four years. See the help file for more examples and detailed descriptions of the parameters for the statements above.

In the next issue we will show how to add a textbox to the maps. Again, if something is not working right or you need additional help, feel free to post your question in the forum area for this mini-tutorial. Also, let me know if there's any technique or topic you would like to see in future installments of Programming MapPoint and Excel.

 - Eric Frost

BONUS TIP: It's a little late to be of use to anyone in the United States general election earlier this week, but this map uses simply a list of states and url's in a text file + MapPoint 2004 to create a hyperlink map linking to information on how to determine your polling place in each state.

Interested in authoring a "HOW TO" article or tutorial about working with MapPoint? Inquire about our submission guidelines.

MapPoint Programming Challenge - Submit Your Solution and Win!

Time to show off your MapPoint development skills! Take a look in the forum at this MapPoint Route Optimization anomaly for your chance to receive recognition and win prizes.

Route Optimization in MapPoint will sometimes hang. Often it is due to a bad stop which can be detected and adjusted, but it can also occur even when all the stops check out as OK. Share your solution on the best way to handle these situations.

0MP2K Magazine Upcoming Articles

Next month we will be publishing Part II of Richard Marsden's popular article on creating maps of earthquake hazard data and recent earthquakes. Also look for articles on Creating a MapPoint Add-in,  using MapPoint in PowerBuilder, and programming MapPoint 2004 with Python.

If you have a MapPoint presentation, neat programming technique, or would simply like to share the ways in which you are using MapPoint technology, 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.

Reader Poll and Drawing - How Do You Use MapPoint?

Large MapPoint MugCongratulations to Brian McGrath who wins a Large MapPoint Mug for having responded to our poll - How Do You Use MapPoint? Brian uses MapPoint as the GIS brains of an Emergency Services dispatch training simulator that operates as an interface to a computer-aided dispatch system. More details can be found on his web site - http://www.brimacsystems.com.

Would you like a mug? For your chance to win, please share how you use MapPoint.

 - Fleet / Vehicle Tracking and Management
 - Site Selection or Demographic Analysis
 - Professional Developer / Varied
 - Real Estate
 - Health Care Industry
 - Delivery Routing or Analysis
 - Marketing
 
Click here to respond to the poll and enter this month's drawing.
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Articles

Pechter's Microsoft Location Server Integration: A Project Manager's Perspective

MLS, being a Web service, is pretty straightforward from a programmer's perspective. But for a project manager, there can be other tricky issues. Here's a peek at a real-world project.

"As developers, we often want to jump right in and start coding; it is our passion, and often our most comfortable way of looking at the projects we deal with. As a project manager, though, I cringe when I see developers on my team start with this code-centric approach to projects (although, in all honesty, I have been guilty of it myself). With certain technologies, however, there are concerns that must be addressed well in advance of implementation, or you run the risk of having issues take over that are outside of our sphere of control..."

  More Full article text Discuss Discuss this story


Pocket Streets 2005 Microsoft Pocket Streets 2005 FAQ

Pocket Streets 2005 offers map guide functionality for Windows Mobile Devices. This software makes it possible to create customizable maps, prepare complete itineraries, and locate places of interest such as restaurants, ATMs, shopping centers, transportation, tourist attractions and more.

"Q: What’s new with Pocket Streets 2005?
A: New features include the following:
• Retail availability. Microsoft® Pocket Streets 2005 is available as a stand-alone product in major retail stores and contains the Windows Mobile™-based Pocket PC and Smartphone versions. Previous versions of Pocket Streets were only available by purchasing a downloadable version from Handango.com or with the purchase of a Microsoft mapping product, such as MapPoint®, Streets & Trips or AutoRoute™. The retail version of Pocket Streets 2005 will come with approximately 300 maps of North America and 275 maps of Western Europe in the box..."

  More Full article text Discuss Discuss this story

Michael Graff With Microsoft’s MapPoint Division, Location is Everything

Q&A: Microsoft recently released Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator, a new consumer mapping and trip planning package that includes the company’s first Global Positioning System device. Michael Graff, leader of the MapPoint Business Unit, shares the company’s vision for the future of location-based technology.

"AAA estimates that a record-number 34.1 million Americans took to U.S. highways over the Sept. 3-6 Labor Day holiday weekend, a 2-percent increase over last year. Auto travel reigned supreme with more than 84 percent of all holiday weekend travelers preferring their cars over all other modes of transportation. Although recent travel research indicates that four out of five Americans experience elevated levels of stress during summer driving vacations, only a quarter of drivers hit the road prepared, according to ARA Content Research..."

  More Full article text Discuss Discuss this story

Submit an article for publication and receive a free Large MapPoint Mug!


MapPoint News

Pocket Streets 2005Pocket Street 2005 Available As Stand-Alone Product
The latest version of Pockets Streets is now available as a stand-alone boxed product. While originally introduced as a free product, it was later available for purchase as a software download through Handango. Notably, the map areas available for Pocket Streets continue to expand internationally.

Pocket Streets 2005 Now for Smartphones and Pocket PC's
From Digital-Lifestyles.info - Pocket Streets 2005 "is an ideal companion for any tourist visiting a city for the first time. You can locate the nearest ATM or service garage, in fact Pocket Streets has an extensive in-built list of bank ATMs and public transportation sites. You can customize maps with personal points of interest, and a new measurement scale feature is expected to determine the distance between locations more accurately."

Pocket Streets 2005 Downloadable Maps
Several hundred maps for Pocket Streets 2005 are now available. Maps for Australia, Brazil, and also Athens, Greece are among the maps available in .mps format. The full list and links to download the maps can be found on Microsoft's Download Center.

Pocket Streets 2005 Hits the Road
From infoSync World - Pocket Streets 2005 offers GPS support for both Pocket PC and Smartphone devices, and will be compatible with new downloadable maps available only to Pocket Streets 2005 customers for more than 575 cities in North America, Western Europe, Australia, Brazil and Greece..

KeyNoteKeynote Helps MapPoint Web Service Performance
Keynote Systems announced that Microsoft Corp.'s MapPoint Business Unit has chosen Keynote Performance Scoreboard and Keynote Diagnostic Service to track service level compliance in the unit's MapPoint Web Service operations center. Keynote Performance Scoreboard is a customized portal for companies with multi-location and multi-property environments for the visual management of service level objectives.

Microsoft Across AmericaFree MapPoint Developer Seminar from MSDN
Microsoft will be offering a free demonstration on how developers can get started with the MapPoint Web Service as part of the the MSDN Web Application Development Series that is crossing the nation in Oct/Nov/Dec. In addition to covering aspects of ASP.NET and VS.NET development, this half-day seminar will dedicate a full hour on how to unleash power of location with the MapPoint Web Service.

Winwaed Releases v1.1 of the GridImp Utility
New Features in v1.1 include improved polygon optimization (this results in much faster drawing, as well as faster MapPoint operations with the resulting map), improved extrapolation (extrapolations from a relatively small area to a much larger area are now much faster), support for Unix/Linux data files, and an improved XML parser.

MapPoint Location Server Gets Plug in InformationWeek
From InformationWeek - "Before year's end, Sprint is expected to introduce a service that uses Microsoft's MapPoint Web Service and MapPoint Location Server to let companies track field-service representatives, vehicles, or other assets as they move around the United States. Businesses can expect to see a growing number of similar offerings from other location-service providers..."

New Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 With GPS Locator
Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator, a product that combines the company's first GPS hardware device with the latest version of the best-selling mapping and travel planning software for the United States and Canada. Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator provides real-time GPS tracking and a comprehensive array of maps, driving directions and points of interest to help travelers know exactly where they are and where they are headed at all times.

Map MonkeyCacheMinder v1.0.0 Now Available
CacheMinder is a database application based on ADO.NET technology that is capable of performing powerful database operations with geocache data. It is designed to assist in managing geocaches while catering to your personal preferences and criteria. If a valid installation of MapPoint 2004 is present on your system, mapping features are automatically enabled allowing viewing and editing of geocaches directly on the map within a custom mapping interface.

Submit your press release or news item!

Microsoft and Technology News

Tele AtlasTele Atlas Location Content Powering Top Internet Portals
Tele Atlas, a provider of digital map data and location content, is delivering mapping data to drive the top Internet portals and other important consumer services. Among the leading portals and travel sites using Tele Atlas content are MapQuest, Yahoo!, MapPoint and Switchboard. Top wireless companies, including Verizon, Cingular, ATTWS and NEXTEL have also launched applications that utilize Tele Atlas data.

Google Acquires Keyhole Corp
"With Keyhole, you can fly like a superhero from your computer at home to a street corner somewhere else in the world - or find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. "This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest."

Whereify WirelessWorld's First, Smallest and Lightest, Global Locator Phone
Wherify Wireless demonstrated the Wherifone G550 for the first time at the CTIA IT & Entertainment business show last week. Wherify plans to begin manufacturing the Wherifone G550 this year for international distribution, followed by additional location-based products for valuable assets, cargo, vehicles, and pets.

Identify Geographical Location of Internet Address Space
IP2Location is a database product that enables Web sites to identify the geographic location of their visitors using IP addresses. The database is used to match an incoming IP (internet protocol) address to the country, region, state, city, latitude, longitude and Internet service provider (ISP) of the Internet user.

NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge
NAVTEQ, a provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, has joined forces with influential location technology and media companies to sponsor the Global LBS Challenge: a contest that challenges developers to build location-enabled applications for wireless devices. The corporate sponsors include ESRI, Microsoft Corp., SiRF Technology, Inc. and Telcontar.
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Forum Highlights

Some notable posts and solutions from the forum over the past few months are listed below. Keep up with the latest news and information about MapPoint by bookmarking the forum and visiting regularly. There are now nearly 8,500 posts and in the forum and over fifteen hundred registered users.

In addition to the Search function built into the forum near the middle-top of the page, forum members frequently use Google to search the MP2Kmag forum. You can now find a search box at the bottom of the forum to aid in your searches and make your hunt for valuable MapPoint knowledge a little easier.

Tuesday, November 2nd

ActiveX Performance with .NET
TIP: Creating A HyperLink Map to Find Polling Place
Correlation Between MapPoint FIND function and MPC???
Secure access to map [1 reply]
Having Problems Getting Location from Pushpin
ASP & KIOSK integration [1 reply]

Monday, November 1st

Stop User from exiting [1 reply]
Adding pushpins by lat/long or address using MPC in MSAccess

Sunday, October 31st

Looking to Hire MapPoint Web Service Developer
Microsoft Pocket Streets 2005 FAQ
Tele Atlas Location Content Powering Top Internet Portals

Saturday, October 30th

Reverse Geocoding with c#

Friday, October 29th

Making MapPoint talk / Driver-friendly MP? [1 reply]
Problem with VB.Net [9 replies]
MapPoint Installed Detection [1 reply]
Import data from a file into Map Point using VB Code?..... [1 reply]
ActiveX Calculate function have a bug?
What is the diference between MapPoint versions [1 reply]
Fleet definition [3 replies]
Drawing in MapPoint 2004 [2 replies]

Thursday, October 28th

Placing PushPins using VBA programing [3 replies]
Pocket Streets PSP file
MapPoint shortcomings
Northern Ireland Postcode Districts
Long/Lat from click. [7 replies]

Wednesday, October 27th

MapPoint-ZOOM [1 reply]
Person Tracking
C++ and passing Variant Arrays [3 replies]
Can you change the style of a map?
How can I export POI data? [3 replies]
Map for tracking on the sea [1 reply]
New feature request
How can I link an Excel pivot table with MapPoint?
How can I link MapPoint with Excel? [1 reply]
MapPoint & Excel

Tuesday, October 26th

Printing a Corresponding list of Addresses from Pushpins
How to get the Locations for the 4 vertices of a Square?

Monday, October 25th

Event gets called when pushpin is deleted [1 reply]
Difference Between MapPoint 2002 and 2004 in lat/lon. [4 replies]

Sunday, October 24th

Link Data Wizard fails

Friday, October 22nd

Unable to add Mapinfo files to MapPoint via Com Add-In
Lat/Long with Pushpin -- question? [2 replies]
MapPoint 2004 and Delphi 5 [2 replies]

Thursday, October 21st

Cut and Paste Problem with Word 2003 and MapPoint 2004
Hide Canada and Mexico [3 replies]
MapPoint ActvieX and .Net Web Application [1 reply]
VBA help needed using MapPoint.Application object
MapPoint question please help!!! [2 replies]
How can I refresh the data link from VB [2 replies]
Mappoint ActiveX control 9.0 [1 reply]
Mppoint object library [1 reply]

Wednesday, October 20th

Creating a static info balloon from data queried from a terr
Copying the Legend to paint or MS PowerPoint [1 reply]
Name of Cities
Find streets in a selected area
DriveTimeZone Delphi
Returning the Latitude & Longtitude in VBA

Tuesday, October 19th

Show mappoint map on web page [4 replies]
Location. StreetAddress is nothing
Performance: UDL vs Access Linked table
Mappoint 2004 - ActiveX -- Print dialogue [1 reply]
Keynote Helps MapPoint Web Service Performance
FindPushpin problem [2 replies]

Monday, October 18th

Bad Coordinates returned by imagebutton on dell d800
Trapping Bad Routes in VB6 [4 replies]

Saturday, October 16th

Cacheminder v1.0.0 Now Available
Zip Code Update

Friday, October 15th

NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge

Thursday, October 14th

Visual Studio [1 reply]
Set Map Title with VBA?
Arrow size
Programming multiple pushpins with MapPoint Webservice

Wednesday, October 13th

VC++ OnSelectionChange event
Postal Code [1 reply]

Tuesday, October 12th

MapPoint EULA Question [1 reply]
Order a recordset? [3 replies]
Delphi iterate pushpin dataset [1 reply]

Monday, October 11th

Making Sq. kilometre territory's [3 replies]

Sunday, October 10th

Print a map area according to block and lot(nyc) [1 reply]
Importing X and Y Coordinates [2 replies]

Saturday, October 9th

Help Again?

Friday, October 8th

Problem linking MApPoint DB2 - UDL

Thursday, October 7th

Please help a desperate student!! [1 reply]
How to save map as *.ptm programmatically in MapPoint? [3 replies]

Wednesday, October 6th

Automating Mappoint using VB [1 reply]
With Microsoft's MapPoint Division, Location is Everything [2 replies]
New Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 With GPS Locator
How to make embedded MapPoint File Menu accessible
Driving distance between two postcodes [2 replies]
Connection between Microsoft Access and MapPoint [1 reply]

Tuesday, October 5th

Lat / lon [1 reply]
Some interesting geo facts [1 reply]
Mappoint 2004 won't load after install. Any ideas? [6 replies]
Find city name & state name on mouse move event [2 replies]
Labelizing the Map [3 replies]
Question on Legends

Monday, October 4th

Imported data 132 addresses not matched [1 reply]
Identify Geographical Location of Internet Address Space

Sunday, October 3rd

I can't find the MapPoint COM library [4 replies]

Friday, October 1st

Importing maps to show vehicle movements in an unmapped area [1 reply]
Map Coord
MapPoint and Map&Guide [3 replies]
Drawing user area [4 replies]
Problem with FindAddressResults [1 reply]

Thursday, September 30th

Can someone help me please??
Getting the Handle of the MapPoint Control... [1 reply]
MapPoint Graphics Control

Wednesday, September 29th

Triggering Events in MapPoint...
Unmapped UK Addresses
Preventing Display of menu on R. Click of MapPoint Control [1 reply]
Developing with MapPoint and Excel - Getting Started [1 reply]

Tuesday, September 28th

Mapping the Parkfield Earthquake + Aftershocks
MapPoint logo obscuring pushpin [1 reply]
Point interpolation [3 replies]
How Do You Use MapPoint? [8 replies]
Removing State Names from Map [1 reply]
Microsoft Forgot About Bits of Europe?
MapPoint Runtime [4 replies]
Mapping the ongoing Mt. St. Helens Earthquake Swarm

Previous issues of the MP2Kmag Update are available in the newsletter archive.

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