POI Mega File

Marvin Hlavac · #1 October 9th, 2009, 11:43 PM

Over 200 pushpin collections in a single Microsoft Streets and Trips file

Larry has been very kind to put together this Streets & Trips file containing many thousands of POI (points of interest). Feel free to download it, and use it. Credits also go to DiscoveryOwners, and many others who willingly contributed to this huge collection.

This short video shows how the POI MegaFile may be used with Microsoft Streets and Trips.

Updated Febuary 2, 2010

* Download either the first .zip file (downloads faster), or the second .est file (doesn't require un-zip)

Pegleg · #2 October 10th, 2009, 12:43 PM

Can this somehow be used with Streets & Trips 2009?

Pegleg

Marvin Hlavac · #3 October 10th, 2009, 01:05 PM

Hi Pegleg. The file itself is not openable in an older version. You could import one-by-one all of the POI collections from DiscoveryOwners.com (and/or other POI sources) into any older version of S&T, but having so many pushpins displayed on the map would slow down S&T quite a lot. This should no longer be an issue in Streets & Trips 2010 thanks to the new pushpin management features.

GeeksOnTour · #4 October 12th, 2009, 12:27 AM

Just downloaded and installed it. I really like having all the POIs available to turn on and off.
Thanks for doing this.

Larry · #5 October 12th, 2009, 04:30 PM

I love this file. Deleting any pushpin sets you don't need just takes a minute and is much easier than importing all the ones you want.

Once you have it how you like it you can save the modified est to your desktop or other location and double click on it as a way to open S&T using this file each time.

Another way is to saving it as a "New North American Map.stt". That way you'll get this map even when you launch S&T from the start menu.

Here is a blog post on How to Customize the Default Map Template for details on how this can be done.

MisterMoonlight · #6 October 13th, 2009, 02:10 AM

Pegleg said:

Quote:

Can this somehow be used with 2009

I have used the pushpin functionnality a lot in the 2009 version. Because of the feature limitation (you can not control which pushpin set easily that will be visible on the map), it is almost unpraticable to do the same things in the 2009 version. What i have done before is to have a few pushpin sets in a master .est file and then when i open it, i delete the unneeded pushpin sets to see what i want to see on the map. Possible but very annoying. Forget about having 200 pushpin sets in the 2009 version, it will fill the map completly and you will see nothing on the map. Theorically feasable, but practically unusable...

If this functionnality is important to you, the 2010 version is a must to achieve this possibility. ..

Larry · #7 November 16th, 2009, 05:35 PM

The S&T 2010 Mega POI file has been updated for November! It now contains 209 pushpin sets (on top of what Microsoft provides).

What's new?

Clearance 12' 4" Low Clearance - updated
Clearance 12' 6" Low Clearance - updated
Clearance 12' 9" Low Clearance - updated
Clearance 13' 2" Low Clearance - updated
Resorts of Distinction - updated
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Campgrounds - newly added
SKI resorts/locations - updated

Marvin has updated the zipped est file at the top of the this thread and its ready for downloading.

Tom Bernardi · #8 November 18th, 2009, 11:46 AM

Looking at the pushpin sets in this file - they seem to be in alphabetical order - how do you do this?

Larry · #9 November 18th, 2009, 01:14 PM

Hi Tom,

Prior to the S&T 2010 release order didn't matter since there was no way to hide pushpin sets. After importing 3 or 4 your map would be very cluttered.

Now that we have the show/hide feature and there is a likely a need for sorting. Currently, the order that the pushpin sets are displayed is the order that they were imported. First at the bottom - Last at the top.

As of now you cannot change this order

If you want any set of collections together one thing you could do is delete the sets (the ones you want together) then re-import them in the reverse order you want them to appear. They'll show up on the top of the list - together. You can grab the original source files from here. Choose "Text only" from the dropdown.

For more detailed instruction on how to use the Import Data Wizard to import your own POI collections see our blog post on the subject.

Tom Bernardi · #10 November 18th, 2009, 05:42 PM

Thanks Larry - that's what I thought first loaded, last on the list. I will put it on my wishlist for 2011!

SpadesFlush · #11 November 18th, 2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin Hlavac

...
S&T Team made a short video clip showing this "mega" file running in S&T 2010:
....

Somehow, I missed this YouTube video before today. It is very, very droll; congrats S&T team. You really captured the old BBC-1 style and I am hoping you will do an AutoRoute version.

SteveJonesMO · #12 November 19th, 2009, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvin Hlavac

...Streets and Trips 2010 has new features for easy pushpin management, such as Show/Hide Pushpins, and Show/Hide Info Balloons. Working with POIs has never been easier.

That discovery file is great. I have also found poi-factory.com to be a fantastic, easy to use and very up-to-date source of a massive variety of categorized POI data. It would be easy for someone to peruse it and make a custom template S&T file to fit their needs.

They have several thousand lists though, so it wouldn't be practical to combine them all into one .est file.

As an aside, I have put my ridetoeat.com list of restaurants into 2010 and 2007 files interested persons can find at http://www.ridetoeat.com/rte/downloads.

SteveJonesMO · #13 November 19th, 2009, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpadesFlush

Downloads | Ride To Eat works better...

Doh!

(fixed)

SteveJonesMO · #14 November 19th, 2009, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveJonesMO

Doh!

(fixed)

Wow, not only was that link broken, once you got to the page the links to the files on IT were broken too.

Sigh. It's all fixed now.

cookrd1 · #15 November 20th, 2009, 01:36 AM

The MS S&T Megafile is updated often, so be sure to check MAP OVERLAYS regularly. Also, you can join the Yahoo Group escapeeboondockers to get notices when updates are made. Notices are sent out as Special Notices, and you can choose to only receive Special Notices if you wish.

Also, I would like to publicly thank Larry for all the help that he provided to make the Megafile possible, and also with the Access programming.

-Bob
Currently in Pahrump, NV "Kingdom of Nye!"