Programming MapPoint in .NET [Paperback]

Chandu Thota (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596009062 | ISBN-13: 978-0596009069 | Publication Date: December 16, 2005 | Edition: 1

Interactive web maps generated by MapPoint-Microsoft's popular mapping technology are crucial for businesses in a number of fields, including real estate, package delivery, and commercial air travel. In a word, MapPoint provides businesses with "location." Specifically, it provides an integrated set of products, servers, and services to enable a business to track the precise location of remote assets, thereby reducing operational costs and improving productivity. Whether the asset is a truck, a taxi, or even a field rep, MapPoint can tell you exactly where it is at any time.

Programming MapPoint in .NET from O'Reilly shows you how to use MapPoint to build custom applications for the desktop, the web, and mobile devices. The book also explains how to analyze and share data generated from a wide range of maps, including those that show demographic trends, population density, and sales potential. Chandu Thota, one of Microsoft's main MapPoint developers and the book's author, has organized the material into four major sections, each dedicated to a different MapPoint technology:

• MapPoint 2004 - calculating routes, rendering data maps, integrating with Global Positioning System (GPS) for obtaining real-time location
• MapPoint Web Service - techniques for finding points of interest, creating applications using the Find APIs and Route APIs, rendering LineDrive maps and polygons
• MapPoint Location Server - deployment scenarios, getting real-time location using mobile phones, managing contacts and privacy settings
• MSN Virtual Earth - the basics of programming with new MSN Virtual Earth APIs

The book provides a jumpstart for working with these technologies, including in-depth discussions about the core concepts and sample code provided in C#. It's ideal for anyone who wants to develop locations-based applications with MapPoint technologies.

The next time you follow online directions to the airport, you can chalk up an assist to MapPoint's state-of-the-art interactive mapping abilities. Better yet, you'll know how to create that same type of map yourself.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chandu Thota is Microsoft's point man on MapPoint. You can see his picture at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint/. His weblog at http://blogs.msdn.com/cthota/ is a key resource for MapPoint developers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (December 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596009062
• ISBN-13: 978-0596009069
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,006,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOCATION! LOCATION!, July 27, 2006

By 

John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming MapPoint in .NET (Paperback)

Do you want to develop a location-based application? If you do, then this book is for you! Author Chandu Thota, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that provides an integrated set of products, servers, and services that helps enterprises improve their customers' experience by applying mapping and location.

Thota, begins by introducing the MapPoint suite of products and technologies, setting the stage by discussing the basics of each technology and usage scenarios. Then, the author covers programming with the MapPoint 2004 ActiveX control and MapPoint 2004 object model for rendering maps, finding places and addresses, and calculating routes. Next, he covers dealing with business data, rendering data maps, and adding thematic shapes using geographic data. The author then covers integration with GPS for obtaining real-time location and extending MapPoint capabilities by writing add-ins. He continues by introducing the basics of programming with MapPoint Web Service. Then, the author shows you how to create applications using the Find APIs of the MapPoint Web Service, including techniques for finding places, addresses, and nearby points of interest. Next, he covers programming with the Route APIs, such as calculating routes and getting driving directions. The author then covers programming with the Render APIs available with MapPoint Web Service, including rendering maps, routes, LineDrive maps, and polygons. He continues by covering the basics of programming with Microsoft Location Server and deployment scenarios. Finally, he covers programming with the Location Server Web Service to get real-time location using mobile phones.

This most excellent book provides a jump-start for working with the preceding technologies, with in-depth discussions about the core concepts and sample code provided in C#. More importantly, this book covers the most common application development scenarios with the MapPoint platform.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best MapPoint / Virtual Earth book for developers, June 18, 2006

By 

Gilles Kohl (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming MapPoint in .NET (Paperback)

OK, that's relatively easy to say since there aren't a whole lot of them. So why did I give Chandu Thota's book five stars?

Because of both what is included and what isn't:

- Breadth of coverage. The author manages to cover every single Microsoft mapping technology (of interest to the programmer), including the CD-based MapPoint 2004, the Location Server, the Web Service, and the new Virtual Earth control, and do so well.

- Concise code snippets. They are plentiful, well explained, and never longer than a page or so. All of those I tried _did_ work.

- No marketing fluff. Although Chandu Thota works for Microsoft, we don't see any of the "product brochure" type of language that maybe convinces execs but fails to impress developers.

- Focus. The author assumes that we can program, know C#, and have at least a basic grasp of maps and such things as lat/lon, and spares us lengthy introductions on these subjects.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MapPoint 101, January 29, 2006

By 

Daniel McKinnon "Dan" (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Programming MapPoint in .NET (Paperback)

MapPoint by Microsoft (who else) is an outstanding tool to be able to use all types of geographic/demographic data in a myriad of different ways. Before the book 'Programming MapPoint in .NET' there weren't any good resources out there on the market for learning how to use this amazing bit of code, but now that has all changed. With this text you will quickly learn the ins and outs of MapPoint, from being able to generate maps in your own application to talking to MapPoint web services to be able to output driving directions, demographic data... whatever you can think of!!!

It's quite clear that MapPoint is a tool that will be growing every day, and with the importance of up to date geographic data, it's a niche that Microsoft was smart to get into. My only "complaint" about this book is that it seems a little light in the source material (API calls, examples and such), but I don't think this is any fault of the author or the programmers. Simply MapPoint is still a fairly new tool and it will take time to document and create examples for all the cool stuff that this application can do. If you use MapPoint, you would be wise to pick up this book and read it cover to cover.

**** RECOMMENDED