Can't manage to make pushpins invisible/ transparent.....

Hi everybody..there is another question that I have.....Been trying to display pushpins as invisible so that all I can see are e.g. territories on the map without any pushpins. I tried to use that certain bpm file labelled as 'hide', about which has been talked on this forum in several topics. When chosing that bpm file as custom file in order to have a transparent pushpin it just doesn`t work.
I use MapPoint directly and I`m not doin anything with sql nor active x......any way to get transparent pushpins? Please help me out....
Thx.....Rodde

Hi,

The top/left pixel (0,0) in the BMP is the transparant color.

Could you go a little more into detail please? I`d
exactly like to know how to get that bmp into the list of pushpins by chosing 'custom symbol'....still don`t know how to do it.....all I can see on that 'hide.bmp' is a small black stripe in the middle......do I have to use a certian type of program in order to be able to import the file into map point or something......
thx....rodde

Hi Rodde,

I hope I did understeand what you try to do because my English is poor.

To make a custom imported bitmap transparant you first have to open it with your favorite editor, eg paint.exe. The color of the top - left pixel is the transparant color. So if you bimap has a blue backgound then be sure the top / left pixel has the same blue color, and then the blue background is transparant on the map.

OK, when editing the bmp in e.g. paint I can see that pixel on the very left on the top....what to do now?

Here is what I did......and I still don`t have it....
well I have 8 different pushpins with ´diffrent clours in my map. Lets say I wanna make the red pushpins invisible.......
So I open the bmp file with paint (editor)...........then I click on colors-> edit colors..then I`d chose red...........I save the bitmap.....then I chose it in map point as custom symbol...but nothin changes....the red pushpins are stil there..........

Right, I think I am a step further now..quite close to the end....
my problem is that I cannot change the color of the pixel on the very top left (0/0)..its always black....doesn`t matter whether I click on 'edit colors' on paint.exe. And even when I tried it with the black pushpin, which was supposed to work out then, I wasn`t successful..nothing happens..nothing in the black pushpins ain`t transparent....

Hi,

I think you are trying to change Just one PushPin on the Map!
This will not chage the other pushpins having the same color.
What you have to do is to select the SET of pushpins you want to change.

For that, in the Left of your Map you have a tree where you have the list of
your SETS OF PUSHPINS

You Left-click on the SET you want and choose Properties and then,
I think it's intuitive... Choose your new pushpin and so on...

I did the experience and it works..

What's important is to make pushpins belonging to different
SETS, so you can change all the pushpins at the same time

I hope this giives some help!
Bye

I mean

You RIGHT-click on the SET

intead of You Left-click on the SET

Sorry

Sorry Mohamed this doesn`t help me at all.
There are 8 diffrent outlet types in my map, each of which has its own pushpin colour. All I can do is right klick on em ('format legend') or double click on a pushpin in legend and then I can change colour of each pushpin type in ´the range window......don`t know what you mean by sets.....and the main problem still is how to make map point accept that 'hide bmp' as transparent colour..please read through my problems with paint as editor as well.............

Hi,

Ok.

I was thinking that you want to change a lot of pushpins at the same time.

To make a hide picture, just open any picture you have with Paint Editor.

Fill all with the same color. and the job is done.

Pixel(0,0) means that the color you have in pixel(0,0) is the hided color.
If your Pushpin is a blue car with a red forecolor, the pixel(0,0) has to be red if you want to see just the blue car without any red forecolor.
The interest of that, is that you can see the red forecolor if you put a green color in the pixel(0,0).

I hope it's clear for you.

( Reading all your posts, in the purpose to help you, I still don't understand very well what you are doing. Are you changing manually pushpins one by one? )


Rgds

Thx for the answer Mohamed.
Well lemme explain this to you briefly again.....
I have a map here displaying a certain sales territory of the company I work for. This territory contains 8 different outlet types. Each Outlet type is symbolized by a different pushpin colour. O fcourse, there are about thousands outlets in each of one of the 8 diffrent outlet types....I imported the data from microsoft access........the data is sorted by street adress and postecode.....and shown by outlet type. In conclusion I have 8 different pushpins (--> Map Type: Multiple Pushpins)...each pushpin colour representing one of the eight outlet types...........and morethen 15 thousands different outlands located in that map.I haven`t arranged each outlet type by a set of pushpins, because that would mean too many queries in microsoft acces, which is too complicated for the simple purpose of the map.
Now all I want is to be able to make one of the 8 different pushpin types invisible........by reducing the range from 8 to 1 I`d be able to display all pushpins as invisible, provided that I am able to make the pushpin ranged 1 invisible......
Got me now?
Next point: I`m still not quite sure about how to deal with the editor..I use paint as editor here...........ok lets say I`d like to make all red pushpins in my map transparent......that means that pixel 0,0 has to be red as well....I save it as bmp and import it as custom symbol when right clicking on the red pushpin on the legend and clicking on 'import custom symbol'..........
Thats where I am so far.......the problems start to appear when it comes to changing the color of hat 0,0 pixel.....it always black, even though I selected red in as colour in the paint editor..........
Hope you can aunderstand me in a better way now..thx.... :)

Ok,

I understand Now. This would be very easy with some programming.

Never mind, let's see first the problem with pixel(0,0):

When you right-click the Red pushpin in the legend, click Properties.
There you click the List SYMBOL.

In That list you have all the Mappoint pictures.
You have a button "CUSTOM PUSHPINS"
Below this button, do you see a hide picture in the list of CUSTOM Pushpins?
Is it hided or it has some color?

OK.....well when I right cik the red pushpin on the legend and select properties, there is no 'symbol field' in the up popping window.
As I've said before, those 8 pushpins derive from 'MUltiple Pushpins'and no pushpin set....-> it says 'TYP by Street Adress' above those 8 pushpins..maybe the word pushpin is a bit confusing here because I could change the symbol into a circle, a square etc...........
I know one can right click on the pushpin of a certian pushin/data set--> (Map Type Pushpin and NOT Multiple Pushpin') and do what you`ve just said..
but how to deal with those 8 different data symbols of a 'Multiple Pushpin' Map type? How to get at least one of them transparent?
Thx, Rodde

well, I know that I can change the pushpin symbol anytime by just double clicking on one of the 8 symbols that I wanna change..........I click on the symbol field and there I can chose custom symbol......I have to use the right directory and then to chose the corresponding bmp file and that should be it...but nothing happens, because I am not sure how to deal with that hide.bmp file for the reasons mentioned above......

Hi Roddle,

There is something I like to clarify first because I thnk I did misundersteand something:

Do you wants to:

- Hide a pushpin
- Make a transparant color on a pushpin

It's because reading all these mails make me doubt :)

Hi Wilfried!
WEll, I`d like to be able to hide all of the pushpins.
There already were at least two questions about this on this forum, and people were giving transparent pushpins as solution..........
well I don`t mind what to do, all that matters is that I can make them disappear in order to have a better view on the territories.....
Nothing really complicated I think, but somehow yes......
So what to do?
Greetings, Rodde

Hi Rodde and Wilfried,

It's somehow complicated because some tasks are difficult without direct
programming.

Rodde,

Why not to do something very simple:

- First method :You do your query in ACCESS only for the outlets you want and save the map as MAP_QUERY_OUTLETS_1_2_3.ptm

- Second Method :
You have a map with all the pushpins, save it as MAP_ALL_OUTLETS.PTM
In that map delete the outlets you want and save it again as MAP_PART_OUTLETS_1_2_3.PTM, and so on.

Bye

Sure that would be possible as well, but I don`t lie to have too many additional maps for one sales territory.
OK, I start to be interested in programming those features.......is it really complicated? Could you explain me what to do for that? O rdo I have to be very experienced with programming..othwerwise it would be great if you coud show me the commands and then I simply copy and paste em:)
Just tell me which prgram I have to install..I think Active X, right? Which version then?
Greetings, Rodde

Good idea,
Nothing is impossible when you have some motivation!

The activex name is MapPoint.Control.11

I don't think I will have enough time to give you a complete assistance on that. Sorry for that! My Holidays are finishing tomorrow and the Mappoint project for my business is running now !!!

I started with the "Mappoint for dummies" book, it's useful for European people also!.

This forum is very rich, you will find a friendly assistance here.

I think, without having experience in programming, you can start
with Excel or ACCESS if you know how to add VBA code in Excel.

See for example this topic:
http://www.mp2kmag.com/mappoint/discussion/viewtopic.asp?t=7175&highlight=excel

Good luck

Ok, thx anyways, Mohamed. I`ll see how I get along, that book is already ordered.
Peace