MapForums

When geocoding with MP2002 I have found when using Canadian Data, MP2002 does not seem to want to geocode to the address level and reverts to the postal code level. Even though the address was pointed to, the Geocoding engine seems to ignore the fact that address data at the street level is visable. However when re geocoding the data with the Postal code stripped out leaving street level information and city information MP2002 then proceeded to geocode to the city .
Does MP2002 possess the ability to geocode to the street address level in Canada and if how so does this work?
Also when looking for specific location the goeocoder misplaced the location and placed the address requested at the start node of the street.
I wonder whether this is the result on not being able to include address information in the product. If so the product is very easy to use and displays data at the postal code layer which is very similar to the desire to geocode to the Zip Code level in the US. MapPoint 2002 has lots of promise,it has taken the mystery away from GIS and put some very powerful analytic tools in the hands of neophytes. It can only get better, and with the application development tools available for third party application developers, it may become the product of choice for the masses. Microsoft works on volume. Prices reflect volume and introduce spatial data analysis to untold new users who otherwise would have never seen their data because of price restrictions of data and software.

As I understand it, to match Canadian addresses at the street level, you
have to use a Country of "Other" in the import wizard. Why? I have no
idea.



As far as the placement of addresses is concerned, I'd have to see an
example. I checked a randomly selected area of Winnipeg and the
distribution of addresses looked reasonable. Some some areas in the U.
S. maps also have unreliable address placement based on how the street
segment is defined or if data just isn't available.



I totally agree with your general comments about MapPoint. I had
previously used MapInfo, but found it less than intuitive and I didn't
like the look of the maps much. It was also much more difficult to
manipulate programmatically. I also attempted to use a trial version of
ESRI ArcView, but found it totally incomprehensible. MapPoint is a
quantum leap forward in GIS ease-of-use and ease-of-programming.

- Walt Cygan