Requirements
==========
I want:
(1) a historical record of where I've stumbled that can be displayed in MapPoint 2002
(2) a real-time MapPoint display of my current location and track
Description
========
This script:
(1) maintains a database that's linked (outside of the script) to a MP map. Tracks are displayed as a series of pushpins ("breadcrumbs")
(2) draws a line on a MP map tracking the current stumble. The map is centred on the current location. The user controls the level of zoom by entering and saving a new value (representing the height, in 'GeoUnits', above the Earth's surface from which the map is viewed) in zoomControl.txt
Resources
=======
zoomControl.txt
pushpin.bmp - the icon I use for the breadcrumbs
CutTracks.vbs - a script to remove unwanted tracks from the database [not yet released]
Suggestions
=========
(1) Set the balloon properties of the pushpin dataset so that only the DateStamp value is shown. This will make copying & pasting values into CutTracks less fiddly (until I make CutTracks a COM Add-In, or something)
(2) MapPoint (at least, my "not for benchmarking" version) leaks memory at ~20MB/hour (though this could be characterised as a memory management feature that will enhance MP for the majority of users). Whatever. This feature will prevent, eventually, the real-time tracking from being updated, depending on your computer's resources.
User-Controlled Variables
==================
See the text of the script, but includes:
(1) the distance between breadcrumbs (i.e. determines when a record is added to the database) in the 'historic' map
(2) the width of the track line in the 'real-time' map
Observations
==========
Hopefully, the script will handle errors fairly gracefully; NS should keep scanning and updating the track database if MP disappears.
It is possible that, with relatively under-resourced machines, MP will get bogged down with drawing the 'real-time' track, stop resonding and NS will protest. If this does happen with your machine let me know - it should be an easy fix, at the cost of a little track responsiveness.
Screenshots
=========
How the map linked to the database looks when zoomed out . . .
http://216.26.161.121/ns/db.gif
. . . and zoomed in:
http://216.26.161.121/ns/dbdetail.gif
The 'real-time' track map (note the zoomControl bottom-right):
http://216.26.161.121/ns/track.gif
OK, I hope it works for you. I'm off for a few days so if you've got questions and/or problems I won't be around.