MPSuperShape

MPSuperShape is a shape manipulation tool for Microsoft MapPoint. MPSuperShape can combine shapes, find overlaps, find boundaries, and import/export various files.

Pros: MPSuperShape is a Geographic Information system(GIS) tool. It can manipulate shapes created by analysis. You can enhance these analyses by combining shapes differently. This is an application built on MS MapPoint. You can import shapes from ESRI Shape (SHP) files, MapInfo MIF files, Keyhole (KML), and GML. Export to KML and GML are possible as also to web pages that uses Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth (`Live Local`). The kind of analyses that can be done are diverse. For example, combining drive-time areas to find the total area covered by existing depots or finding areas which meet multiple characteristics or finding territory overlaps are some examples. Other examples include finding territory boundaries around groups of customer pushpins, transferring shapes to/from other GIS systems etc. You are able to create maps on web pages from MapPoint shapes and pushpins provided by users. MapPoint 2006 (or later), .NET Framework 2.0 (or later), and Windows XP or Vista required.

Cons: This is not for ordinary users. You have to have understanding of GIS to be able to use this effectively.

Overall: This has a nice set of features and a very useful tool for mapping applications that are appearing increasingly on websites. It is easy to use and rates a overall 4 star easily.

MPSuperShape is a shape manipulation tool that can combine or intersect multiple shapes, as well as calculate boundaries around groups of pushpins, simplify shapes, and to change the colors of multiple shapes with one operation. MPSuperShape can also import/export GML, KML, ESRI Shapefile, and MapInfo MIF files. Ability to create webpages that use Microsoft Virtual Earth or Google Maps. Support for different projections and coordinate systems.