RouteWriter consists of two panels. The RouteWriter panel is used to write route data to an external destination (eg. Excel). The RouteReader panel is used to create a route from pushpins in a specific order. It is described in this section, and there is also a Walkthrough Example in this documentation.
To use RouteReader, first import (or create) the pushpin data that you wish to create a route from. Make sure the pushpin s have a data field which defines the required pushpin order. Then RouteReader... from the Tools menu in MapPoint. You will be presented with a panel that looks like this:
Unregistered installations of RouteWriter will also show a Buy Now! button in the space in the bottom right.
To create a route from your pushpins, you need to select the required pushpin set and the required sort field. Select the pushpin set from the Input Waypoints list. When you select or change the currently selected pushpin set, the Waypoint Order list will be updated with the list of available fields. The waypoints are sorted according to the values in the data field that is selected in the Waypoint Order list.
Only enable the Restrict waypoints to a group check box if you wish to restrict the waypoints to a sub-group of the selected pushpin set. This is explained further on the Selecting a Group of Pushpins page. Clear this check box to select all puspins in the pushpin set.
After selecting the required pushpin set and waypoint order field, the Create Route button will be enabled. Press this to create the new route from the pushpins. Here is the route created from the example data:
Waypoints are sorted according to the selected data field. RouteReader can sort on both number and text fields. Use the Order setting to switch between Ascending or Descending sort order.
A number of other route options can be set for the entire route. Set the time period for all stop times by checking the Overwrite all stop times checkbox and entering the time period in the Time for each stop edit box. All time periods are specified in minutes.
Use the Find setting to select between Fastest Routes, Shortest Routes, or Preferred Roads for the route segments.
Check the Calculate final route checkbox if you wish RouteReader to calculate the final route after the waypoints have been inserted.
The list of pushpin data fields will always include the pushpin name. Extra fields are added by using the Data Import Wizard to read a complete pushpin set from an external data source (eg. Excel or Access). Typically one of the imported data fields will be a specific sequence number for the pushpin within the route. You then select this sequence number data field for the Waypoint Order data field.