MapTivate 3.0
Commonly Asked Questions and Answers

 

Question:                                                                                       
What is MapTivate?

Answer:
MapTivate is a hybrid mapping and analytical tool that enables the user to easily visualize, understand and communicate their business information and conclusions to others.  It can be used to easily create local or extended area maps, locate and illustrate specific locations, or quickly identify business trends on a map, using the user's own data or detailed demographic data available from Undertow Software, or other suppliers.

Question:                                                                                       
What road network data is included with the MapTivate package?

Answer:
Being an open system, users may use any road or other data set, in one of the supported formats, to generate the maps.  The road and street network data available for MapTivate from Undertow, in highly compressed, optimized form, is based on the TIGER/Line data and the latest (2003) USA & Canada road network data from GDT.

Question:                                                                                       
What Demographic data is included with MapTivate?

Answer:
Although no demographic data is distributed with MapTivate at this point, there are a number of datasets available from other suppliers that are keyed to the census boundaries files distributed with the product.  Demographic data sets will also be produced and distributed as part of the MapTivate package in the near future.

Question:                                                                                       
Is there a way to try MapTivate before I buy it?

Answer:
Due to the size of the map data, there are no trial downloads available, but all of our products are backed by an unconditional, 30-day money back policy.

Question:
Can MapTivate use data files from MapPro?

Answer:
MapPro and MapTivate are two totally different products, developed to address different segments of the market.  As such, they use different paradigms, each optimized for the intended solution.  Data in MapPro is integrated in single state files, whereas data in MapTivate is arranged in individual layer files, thus allowing for greater flexibility and control.

The short answer is, No.  At this point, MapPro data files cannot be used with MapTivate.

Question:
What are the recommended system requirements for MapTivate?

Answer:
As with every other application, nowadays, MapTivate is happier the more resources you make available to it!  However, to effectively use it, at minimum your system should have:

• P4 CPU, 1+ MHz 
• Windows 2000 or Windows XP Operating System
• 256 Mb RAM
• 4-10+ Gb HD (depending on the licensed data size)
• Super VGA (800x600, or better) monitor with at least 256 colors
• Mouse or compatible pointing device
• Any of the following development environments: Delphi, VB, C++, .NET 

Question:
Is there (do I need) an International version of MapTivate?

Answer:
If the question relates to MapTivate's interface being in a language other than English, then the answer is no.  However, if the question has to do with MapTivate's ability to handle data outside the USA & Canada, then it should be noted that MapTivate does not impose any geographic limitations to the data files that can be loaded.  If you have data in SHP or MID/MIF format for any part of the world, you can combine it and use it with any of the data sets already distributed with MapTivate.

Question:
What should one expect in future versions of MapTivate?

Answer:
An answer we get all the time, and one that we can only answer with what is "planned" for future versions of the product.  In future versions you should expect to see: Point-to-Point Routing, additional Geographic Operations, Support for more third party data formats, statistical and analytical reporting tools, Charting Modules, and more...  The final decisions of what to include in the future will also depend on what the users are looking for, so your feedback is more than welcome!

Question:
Why should one use MapTivate instead of free maps over the internet?

Answer:
Although maps may indeed be viewed on/from the internet, for one, MapTivate launches and locates addresses instantly, avoiding frustratingly slow internet transfers.  Furthermore, printing maps from MapTivate produce crisp, vector based output, rather than bitmap dumps from the internet, through a web client.  The most important reason, however, is that MapTivate is a lot more than just a map generation engine.  It allows the user to visually present business, statistical, or other data, on a mapping paradigm backdrop, which sets it apart from "typical" or internet mapping products.

Question:
How is MapTivate Different than MapPro, or is it?

Answer:
As stated in the answer to a different question, they are two totally different products, meant to address different segments of the market.  MapPro is a highly specialized and optimized mapping product, meant for rapid development and deployment of mapping systems.  This specialization, however, comes at the expense of highly compressed, customized, proprietary data formats.  It is a "closed" mapping system, with no GIS capabilities, and no provision to use data from other providers.  MapTivate, on the other hand is an "open" system, with most of the Mapping capabilities of MapPro, and an arsenal of GIS functionality, and with the added feature of allowing the user to utilize data sets from other sources.

Question:
Can Developers sell applications created with MapTivate?

Answer:
Yes.  Once your application is completed, you would need to get a license to distribute the OCX or use it on an internet server.  Client seat pricing ranges from $120-$15 per seat based upon quantity purchased.  Server licensing is usually based on a per transaction fee for each map generated.  Call for more details and pricing.

Question:
Who can benefit from MapTivate?

Answer:
MapTivate is the ideal mapping companion to any business tool.  It helps users better visualize their business information, locate customers and competitors, analyze trends, discover problems, and communicate business information using a conduit that most people intuitively understand - location!  MapTivate, for example, could be used to:

• Make decisions about penetrating new markets
• Target new customers 
• Shift resources to respond to current customer demands
• Visualize geographic information, in reports, presentations, etc.
• Analyze demographic information
• Show the location of assets or tacking of assets
• Auto Vehicle Location (AVL)
• GPS Based applications and data collection

Question:
Does MapTivate support GPS?

Answer:
No, there is no native GPS support, although the control has built in user object management capabilities, which can be used to dynamically manage a moving map display.  Most custom applications work with custom GPS receivers which usually have their own format.  Since we can’t anticipate every possible format, we leave that up to the developer to parse the incoming data and display it on the map.

Question:
Does it have royalty free distribution?

Answer:
No.  Once your application is completed, you would need to get a license to distribute the OCX or use it on an internet server.  Client seat pricing ranges from $120-$15 per seat based upon quantity purchased.  Server licensing is usually based on a per transaction fee for each map generated.  Call for more details and pricing.

Question:
Is MapTivate a Geographical Information System (GIS)?

Answer:
When talking about GIS, users generally refer to expensive, complex and highly customized mapping applications, that require a large commitment in resources and training.  MapTivate brings a lot of the features that such systems have, to the user, while significantly reducing the resource and training requirements.  It provides features that allow users to construct their own underlying maps, while at the same time enables the built-in GIS tools to work with the underlying data. MapTivate is considered a Mid-Level GIS system.

Question:
How customizable is MapTivate?

Answer:

MapTivate is based on a robust object model that enables quick and easy development and deployment of highly customized applications that already have built-in tasks such as:

• Finding Places and Addresses
• Importing custom data (SHP, MID/MIF, CRA, TXF, GIF, BMP, DEM,...)
• Creating data maps
• Querying underlying data layers
• Thematically shading objects based on databases

Hundreds of APIs are available to the user though a collection of interdependent objects