Adding a geographic dimension to data stored in a worksheet or database table can make a world of difference when you're analyzing the data. MapLinx, a newcomer to the Mac's desktop-mapping-software arena, stakes a claim at the low end of the field. By providing an inexpensive, accessible tool for mapping geographic data, such as customer locations and sales territories, MapLinx is an excellent choice for business pros who have little or no experience with mapping software.
Online Atlas
MapLinx for Macintosh is a port of the very successful MapLinx for Windows 3.0. But Mac aficionados won't be disappointed by the interface -- MapLinx for Macintosh gathers all the features available in the Windows program and wraps them up in a nicely designed Mac interface.
MapLinx is essentially an electronic road atlas equipped with a mapping engine. Priced at $149.95, it's an attractive alternative for business users to mapping programs that are more expensive, more complex, and harder to use. For example, it lacks the built-in database and programmability of ArcView and MapInfo, two of the Mac's most sophisticated and expensive mapping programs. And compared with those of Geoquery, a midrange program that also lacks a database, MapLinx's mapping capabilities aren't as detailed or as accurate. Geoquery can map data right down to the street level, whereas MapLinx begins to lose its effectiveness for maps that go beyond county-level detail. Geoquery also works in conjunction with more-robust database programs, such as ACIUS' relational 4D, than the flat-file-database-oriented MapLinx and provides more-powerful analytic tools.
Because it doesn't have a built-in database, MapLinx is designed to take in data from a database program, such as FileMaker Pro. You can also use it to map data stored in a contact manager, a spreadsheet, or some other data-analysis application. To get your information into MapLinx, you can either copy it to the Clipboard and paste it, export it as a tab-delimited text file and import it, or publish the data and subscribe to it from within MapLinx. Plan to allocate about a megabyte of memory for every 7,500 records.
MapLinx's main window initially displays a map of the United States. You can zoom in on any area for a more detailed view of a state, county, or metropolitan area. Views displaying county, state, and interstate highways are also available. To map your data, you construct one of two kinds of maps -- one displays data by using pushpin points, the other uses shaded regions.
To locate data as pushpins, MapLinx uses U.S. ZIP codes, a method that results in fairly accurate, but not exact, positioning. Although professional cartographers will not find MapLinx accurate enough for their purposes, the program is precise enough for most sales and marketing applications. Shaded maps, which use different colors and patterns on map regions to correspond to different ranges in a variable, are particularly useful if you're looking for a way to spot trends in your data.
Analytic Tools
Once you've mapped your data, MapLinx can help you answer questions about it. Measuring and query tools can tell you something as simple as the distance between one point and another or as complex as the number of Product A buyers located within 5 miles of a specific store location. You can summarize the results of your investigations in a report, which can provide subtotals by data type or geographic region, or in a list of data records.
We found MapLinx's mapping and analytic tools a snap to use. The program's interface resembles that of the Windows version, but dialog boxes are clearly Mac-style and the Mac version substitutes a floating tool palette for the Windows version's fixed icon bar. The palette has a ruler, box and circle selection tools, a zoom tool, a grabber tool, an information tool that displays the label for a selected point on a map, and a snooper tool that displays the record associated with a selected pushpin on the map. You click on a tool once to use it once and double-click on it to use it more than once.
Most of MapLinx's tools work as you'd expect, but if you get confused, you can view a short description of each tool by turning on Balloon Help. Unfortunately, MapLinx does not support Apple's useful Apple Guide help system.
To make maps that have lots of objects more manageable, MapLinx lets you organize objects into layers, which work just like their clear-plastic-overlay counterparts. For example, you can have a separate layer for each of the following map elements: interstate highways, state routes, landmarks, counties, cities, and phone exchanges. Not only can you manipulate groups of objects easily by using layers but you can also format objects, as well as control the scale for zooming in and out, independently according to layers.
Although MapLinx does not support AppleScript, it can work directly with other programs, using Apple events. In addition to providing basic System 7.x Apple events such as Launch, Open, Print, and Quit, MapLinx provides a set of custom Apple events that allows the easy and direct exchange of data and query results with other applications. Programs that currently support MapLinx Apple events are 4D, ACT!, Control Classic, and Datadesk. MapLinx's Apple-events support is a boon for users who work with data that changes frequently.
Overall, we found MapLinx a capable performer for the price. Our one complaint is that objects we positioned in detailed views often shifted their location slightly when we zoomed in and out.
The Bottom Line
MapLinx for Macintosh is not a mapping program for professional cartographers -- it lacks a built-in database, and it's not programmable. However, it costs a fraction of what you'd pay for a high-end mapping program and its tools are powerful enough to help you make sense of many types of geographic data. The program's easy learning curve is another plus for business users. All in all, we recommend MapLinx -- it's a welcome addition to the Mac's data-analysis arsenal from the Windows side of the tracks.
MapLinx for Macintosh
Rating: Outstanding (4 of 5 mice)
Price: $149.95 (list).
Pros: Affordable and accessible. Apple-events support.
Cons: No Apple Guide support. Can make scaling errors.
Company: MapLinx, Dallas, TX; 800-387-2162 or 214-231-1400.
Reader Service: Circle #409.
Combining an electronic atlas with a mapping engine, MapLinx is an accessible tool for businesspeople who want to analyze geographic data. The program can construct pushpin as well as shaded maps to let you view your data.
Measuring and query tools help you answer questions about the data you map with MapLinx.
