My company is looking at purchasing a new mapping program. And I was wondering if MP2K is the right program for our application. We would need to import our data from an AS400 and be able to use the information to create 3 different maps by county of approximatly 50 different regions. They would be by sales volumn, units sold, and dealer concentration. Each region would need seperate maps for each catagory. Also if it can be done would the maps be updated automatically once the download is complete.

I don't know if I can answer this simply. Your last sentence is a little confusing for me. Wouldn't you download all of the data before creating the maps?


There seems to be a need for answers to a number of questions. For example, where will maps link to for the data? Will the data be downloaded to text files? Will you use SQL Server and DTS to put the data into a database before creating the maps? Do you want to create MapPoint .ptm files that get distributed to the users of the map? Do you want an automated process to print the maps for distribution?


From the information you have provided though, MapPoint can certainly be made to do these types of things. If you use the ActiveX control in a VB program, you can automate an amazing number of mapping tasks. I would suggest that you get a copy and start to play with the object model in VB. Use the articles on this site, like Using a DSN-less connection to a SQL Server database to get data for maps to help you get started.


You can also find a lot of help on the microsoft.public.mappoint newsgroup.


Have fun!


- Walt Cygan"