The MapPoint .Net development key

MapPoint .Net is not Microsoft's first attempt at providing mapping capabilities to developers. MapPoint, the desktop mapping app in Microsoft Office, uses ActiveX to embed maps in applications. In many ways, MapPoint .Net behaves as would a hosted copy of MapPoint, with an important distinction: MapPoint's ActiveX interfaces offer far more functionality than the initial release of MapPoint .Net. Packaging MapPoint .Net as a Web service frees users from having to run MapPoint, or even Windows, to access Microsoft's extensive cartographic database.

Getting started as a MapPoint .Net developer requires subscribing to the service. Microsoft grants customers a 30-day free trial. During the evaluation period, applications can access the full suite of MapPoint .Net services, but may only submit a limited number of transactions.

Every transaction -- a SOAP call to the Find, Render, or Route service-- specifies a data source. For example, the MapPoint.NA data source connects apps to location data, street-level maps, and driving routes for the United States and Canada, with highway data for Mexico. MapPoint.EU contains similar data for Europe.

Each transaction requires authentication, but interestingly, Microsoft has decided not to use Passport. Instead, MapPoint .Net authenticates subscribers using the encrypted HTTP Digest method. Microsoft maintains a secure extranet for customers to upload logos and icons, run reports, or change passwords.

Documentation and sample code are available in Microsoft's free MapPoint .Net SDK, downloadable from www.microsoft.com/mappoint/net . The SDK is strictly for users of Visual Studio .Net, but MapPoint .Net publishes WSDL service descriptions that can be used to automate development in Web services-aware tools from vendors such as IBM and Oracle.

-- Tom Yager