Product Review - MapPoint 2001 -
Cool Tools
After testing the functionality of MapPoint 2001 I wanted to share with you
what I thought were it's "coolest" and most useful features.
Find Nearby Places --
Using the Find nearby places option you can easily identify features that are
within a specified radius from a given location. The example graphic
shows how we identified 54 places that are
located within 25 miles of Hymer, Kansas.
To invoke this "cool" option you simply click on the Find Nearby places icon,
enter a search radius, and click "Search Now!"
Location Sensor --
It's very simple to determine the geographic coordinates of a location.
Simply click on the Tools/Location Sensor option and
a new window opens displaying the cursor's geographic coordinates...
See Graphic
Measuring Tool --
Determining the distance between two points is made possible with the Tools/Measuring Tool option (or Ctrl E).
Once selected, you can trace the route you wish to measure.
The route is displayed with a heavy line as you go, and a
continuously-updated distance total is displayed. Double clicking ends the command.
Graphic 1 shows the
route we traced from downtown Victoria B.C to the ferry terminal in Swartz Bay.
The "units of measure" (ie. miles, km, etc.) that are continuously
displayed on your screen are always displayed based upon the user-selected
"default" setting. Please note that the "units of measure" can
be changed by clicking on the Tools/Options selection.
Once your route has been traced, you can then zoom in tighter, click on the
route, and edit the nodes to get a more accurate route.
Also, by right clicking your mouse on the route you obtain the ability
to add more intermediate nodes for greater detail and accuracy...
Graphic 1: "Before" editing and
Graphic 2: "After" editing.
MapPoint estimates that the distance from the Victoria Inner Harbour
to the Ferry terminal is 31.7 km or 19.7 miles.
Route Options --
Driving directions can be customized by pre-setting a number of variables including:
- Profile settings - set driving speed for highways and streets and duration
of driving day.
- Fuel Options - set fuel consumption and tank capacity. Optional setting to include
refuelling notification in directions!
- Costs - set fuel price or specify set cost per mile/km.
- Segments - specify custom routes and schedule rest stops.
Updates --
One data feature that I was surprised to see included was the highway construction notification.
MapPoint takes this even further by providing an option to
update the construction database. this is accomplished by chosing the route/Update Construction menu option whcih
automatically connects you to the internet and updates your database.
Find --
This function makes it REALLY easy to locate and map any commonly known place. The optional display of other possible matches
makes it easy to locate exactly what your looking for. As an example, I wanted to know where Poughkeepsie, NY was.
When I started my search I had no idea how to spell it, so I simply used the
Find/Place function, entered "poughk" (my best guess!) and was presented with a number of options.
Poughkeepsie, NY was the second result and produced
this image in the display window.
Copying Data --
MapPoint was developed specifically to integrate tightly with other office app's. Chosing the Edit/Copy Map (Ctrl E)
menu function places your current display into the Windows clip board. Open MS Word and chosing Paste places the
map neatly within a Word document... See Graphic
Next: Top 10 Features
