Coming from 2004 I see that the driving speeds are now sliders going from Slower to Faster instead of actual values. So you have no clue as to what speeds are used. I note that the driverprofile method still seems to work for Routes but what about Drive Time Zones? A drive time zone without knowing the speeds is almost useless for anything other than casual driving. And for casual driving I can't see any use in a drive time zone!

Is this a move to limit the use of Mappoint for commercial applications, since you now can't specifically apply the latest average road speeds.

I don't think Microsoft ever said why they made this change, but yes it is a bit impractical. In some ways a slider is easier to use than an edit box or spin button, but it would be very useful if there was a readout of the actual numeric speed!

Paul Larson wrote an add-in that lets you set the different speeds as numbers. It is freeware and can be downloaded from my Mapping-Tools site, here:

DriveSpeed: Easy Speed Entry in Microsoft MapPoint 2006


Richard

Thanks for this - it looks useful. The real question is how is this done in code since the only access to the speed is through the driverprofile which requires a Route. I will have to experiment.

Nick

Out of interest if you run drivetime zones via code, and set up the driver speed profile as part of that code, then the drivetime zones appear to reflect those speeds. For example in excel vba

Code:

Private Sub DriveZone_Click()

  Dim objApp As MapPoint.Application
  Dim objMap As MapPoint.Map
  Dim objRoute As MapPoint.Route
  Dim objFindResults As MapPoint.FindResults
  Dim objPin As MapPoint.Pushpin
  Dim objLoc As MapPoint.Location

  Set objApp = CreateObject("MapPoint.Application.EU.16")
  objApp.Visible = True
  objApp.UserControl = True
  Set objMap = objApp.NewMap
  Set objRoute = objMap.ActiveRoute
  
  '---- Specify speeds by different class roads ----
      
    objApp.Units = geoKm
    objRoute.DriverProfile.Speed(geoRoadInterstate) = 85 ' Motorways
    objRoute.DriverProfile.Speed(geoRoadLimitedAccess) = 65
    objRoute.DriverProfile.Speed(geoRoadOtherHighway) = 34 ' Major Roads
    objRoute.DriverProfile.Speed(geoRoadStreet) = 25
    objRoute.DriverProfile.Speed(geoRoadArterial) = 30 ' Minor Roads
    
  '---- Locate address as hub for drivetime zone ----
 
  Set objLoc = objMap.FindAddressResults(, , , , "E4 7JA", geoCountryUnitedKingdom)(1)
  Set objPin = objMap.AddPushpin(objLoc, "Drivetime Hub")
  objLoc.GoTo
  
  '---- Generate drivetime zone ----
    
  Set objShape = objMap.Shapes.AddDrivetimeZone(objLoc, 45 * geoOneMinute)
      objShape.Line.ForeColor = vbBlue
      objShape.Line.Weight = 2
      objShape.SizeVisible = True
  
  '---- End program ----
  
  Set objApp = Nothing
  Set objMap = Nothing
  Set objRoute = Nothing
  Set objLoc = Nothing
  Set objPin = Nothing
  Set objShape = Nothing
  
End Sub

Thanks davidb! What I see is that there is an ActiveRoute object even when no route has been defined. And as you say, and as I have noticed, this determines the drivetime zones. I think having the speeds, and presumably all the other 'driving' parameters as properties of the 'Activeroute' is slightly confusing. It explains why you get to these via Route and 'More Options' (2004) rather than under the Tools/Options menu, though. Conceptually I think I was expecting a Map level DrivingProfile object(s).

Whilst I can see that you couldn't easily assign drivingprofile objects to Routes and that the two are closely linked, the DriveTime Zone is not associated with a Route but still requires the DrivingProfile. A bit of a fudge, but in terms of Mappoint issues a fairly minor one.

Interestingly if you change any of the speeds this clears the Route but it does not clear the DriveTimeZone . Because after creation it is just a shape I guess.