Import Wizard Re-orders Routes in Microsoft Streets and Trips

Pardon if this has been asked before but I searched and did not find it.

When I import a set of push pins using the Import Wizard, S&T orders them into an order other than the order they were originally when they are converted to stops. I need it to just import them and to leave the order the same as the original import file.

At the moment, this does not seem possible or is it?

Is there a utility that can sort the stops? I have a numeric identifier on the beginning of the stop name that can be sorted if there was a way to effect the sorting function.

Thanks.

If possible, could you tell me what file format you have saved your stops in, ie txt., est., xls., etc? Depending on how the information is saved would probably determine how or by what method you will be able to get it sorted. As far as S&T reordering your stops when you import the data, again what format is the data saved in? As a side note if the stops don't change very often, it might be easier to do a template and work off of it rather than make a new map.

Originally the stops are in a comma delimted txt file in the proper order with a numeric identifier at the front of the name. i.e. 123 Stop Name.

After importing and conversion to stops, the stops are then out of order. S&T orders them by some black magic method. I can then manually sort them in the route stop list but as the list is 100 or more stops long and there are many separate lists, this is cumbersome. After manually sorting, the route is saved as an est file.

If there was a utility to sort the stops in an est file by the stop name, that would work fine. Or if there was a way to keep S&T from re-ordering that would be fine too.

I've played with using Mappoint and a 3rd party add in (both in free trial mode). Mappoint does the same thing that S&T does but the 3rd party add in can sort them back to the original order. Only problem is that Mappoint is much more expensive plus the cost of the 3rd party utility. And we have to have numerous copies for different people around the country so the cost is multiplied. Not sure if Mappont 2009 will have a different behavior or not.

Hope this explains our issue better. Thanks.

rondawes, to the forum! This is a "missing" feature users occasionally talk about. I somehow doubt it will be added to MP09/S&T09. But Microsoft MapPoint 2009 is only few weeks away, so we shell see soon. If the feature should miraculously appear in MapPoint 2009, then most certainly we would see it in Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009, too.

Thanks for the welcome!

I was hoping to find that some intrepid person had created a utility for S&T like the one for MP.

Ron