Hi,
You can use MapQuest's custom mapping/routing CGIs that run on client
side servers. When I was working there, I had clients a few clients
using ASP and ColdFusion. Mostly NT clients were using those
applications--and increasingly each day.
The only problem with the MQ CGI is that it must call/display the map
through the path of the cgi (i.e.
http://your.site.com/cgi-bin/mqinterconnect.exe?city-seattle&state=WA)
because the maps are returned in an encrypted string that only the map
CGI can translate.
When you're using ASP or ColdFusion, I believe you have to call your web
pages through that specific CGI that is dynamically generating your
sequential html pages (i.e.
http://your.site.com/cgi-bin/myprogram.asp?blah or
http://your.site.com/cgi-bin/myprogram.cfs?blah).
So...one way to deal with that is to create a virtual browser session to
request the maps from and take the returned snip of html code containing
the map from that session to paste into your .asp of .cfs generated web
page. The downfall to that is that it creates yet another loop, so you
take a few more milliseconds waiting for your returned map request.
I've worked with Vicinity's mapping software too. (competitor of MQ)
Vicinity, I believe, uses ETAK data versus MQ uses mostly GDT (where
data is limited, they use other sources...USDB, TIGER, ...). I think
aesthetically, MQ's map look nicer. One thing I prefer about Vicinity
though is that it is written in Perl and thus, uncompiled. MQ is
written in C and compiled. Vicinity can run on Linux!! :-) A BIG PLUS!
MQ only supports NT, SunSolaris and IRIX platforms with an IIS, netscape
client(last I heard anyway).
Well, I'm just about to get my hands on some of this MapXtreme
Stuff...then I'll be able to compare and contrast the usability of MI's
products compared to MQ and Vicinity.
Oh, MQ's latest product is the MQ server. They actually package up and
sell the map generator server (quite expensive!) so that you don't have
to wait each time for your CGI to call their servers and for them to
return a map. With the MQ server, you serve yourself your own maps so
the draw time is much quicker not having to go through the network--this
also allows for you to host your own static geocoded points of
interest(database) when doing more than just on-the-fly geocoding.
www.yahoo.com is the first and only client I know of that uses this new
product. Excite.com still uses just the custom CGI that MQ sells to
everyone else. Smaller sites like www.innsandouts.com, www.chevron.com,
www.avis.com have typical implementations of the MQ custom CGI.
Other new features MQ's finally accommodating are proximity searching
based on non-geographic data. (i.e. show me the closest 10 restaurants
to ZIP that serve Chinese food and miniature golf).
Vicinity has been doing that for a while, but then, Vicinity does most
of the customization and hosts the mapping portion of the sites for
their clients. whereas MQ allows the client to run the CGI and mapping
templates all on their own server.
well, I have rambled on here and I could ramble for a while longer, but
I don't really have any direction here. Perhaps I've opened up some new
doors of interest and curiosity for some of you.
--Jane Jones
-----Original Message-----
From: Marjorie Roswell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 1999 9:32 PM
To: Mapinfo
Subject: MI More internet thoughts
Anyone else out there addicted to the internet? I am. My newest plan is
to
learn ASP. (Apparently drumbeat 2000 has a component that links to
MapQuest. That should be interesting.) All these years, and the farthest
I've gotten so far (beyond my web page links) is clickable maps. A cute
quiz at http://www.umbc.edu/~roswell/map.html (years old, now) and some
borrowed gifs underlying http://www.mdlcv.org/maps/mdmap.htm
Okay: so who's got a clickable map generator that actually works? My two
prior queries to the list went unanswered. There was one linked to my
web
site: it generated the image map from a MapInfo boundary file. But
alas:
I never got it working.
See: I want the clickable map to be generated form the object itself:
not
from handdrawn shapes on top of the polygons.
I also want to go beyond clickable maps, but MapInfo's web products seem
too difficult, or too expensive, or too limited. I still haven't settled
on anything, but I'm focusing on ASP for the moment. Data-enabled web
sites may be less cool than map-enabled, but it's bread and butter at
this
point. Bread and hummus. Pita and hummus.
My passion for environmental protection, and protection from toxic
environments led me to MapInfo in the first place. I'm at the same place
with ASP now that I was with MapInfo about 6 years ago. I opened the new
MapBasic manual and laughed. I had never written a program in my life,
but
I learned how.... I went home for Passover armed with books about
Qbasic,
and MapBasic. Now it's Visual Basic I'll need....
My parents home have this wonderful rug: perfect for stretching out with
a
good bunch of computer books. And so, between Passover meals... Does
anyone else besides me spend too much time at this stuff? (Does anyone
else admit it?) If it weren't for my plans to launch two environmental
web
sites with national concern, this would feel crazy.
Your tales of woe (or clickable maps, or ASP, or map-enabled web sites)
welcome, but send to me if it's too far afield from mapping concerns.
Margie
_________________________________________________________
Marjorie Roswell, Spatial Analyst
UMBC Center for Health Program Development and Management
1000 Hilltop Circle Fx: (410)455-6850
Baltimore, MD 21250 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ph: (410)455-6802 http://umbc.edu/~roswell/mipage.html
_________________________________________________________
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