The CDXZipStream toolbar looks a little different now with the addition of the Application Settings icon that’s located fourth from the left, as shown below: 

Click on the icon and you’ll see the dialog box below:   

The “CDXZipStream Settings” control shown here provides access to settings associated with the main CDXZipStream dialog, used for obtaining demographic information.  These are also still accessible by choosing “Settings” on the main dialog.  The “Route Settings” control accesses settings for the CDXRouteMP function, for performing route calculations and optimization.  Route settings are also accessible from the CDXRouteMP dialog.  Note that although these controls both duplicate capabilities available outside the CDXZipStream toolbar, a number of our clients had requested an additional, centrally located approach for modifying these settings, and this is the end result.

The “MapPoint Version” setting is a new feature that supports the ability to toggle between versions of MapPoint.  If you have installed both MapPoint North America and Europe on your computer, you can now choose which version will be applied when performing worksheet calculations with CDXZipStream functions CDXRouteMP and CDXLocateMP.  Choosing “Default” will default to the last version used by CDXZipStream.  If you have only one version of MapPoint installed, you don’t need to set this; the program automatically will look for the current version.  If you don’t use MapPoint, this feature will not be visible.  

Keep in mind that if you're performing an analysis for locations in Europe, and the MapPoint setting is North America, CDXZipStream will not work.  If you find that "Data Item Not Found" is being returned consistently for the locations in your worksheet, please check that the correct MapPoint version is selected.

Our Microsoft Excel add-in CDXZipStream can now create drive time maps working with Microsoft MapPoint in the back ground.  Drive time maps delineate areas within a specific driving time of a location, and can be very useful in planning delivery routes and customer service and sales zones.  CDXZipStream makes creating drive time maps a snap, inserting the maps into Microsoft Excel for easy access and analysis.

To create a drive time map, right-click on any cell in an Excel worksheet, click on “CDXZipStream Functions”, and select “Insert CDXRadius Function”.  Input a target zip code (which will act as the center of the map), the desired drive time (in minutes), and specify the resulting output as “Insert Drive Time Map.”  For a 20 minute drive time around the zip code 21201 in Baltimore, Maryland, the map looks like this:

The drive time area is shown in red and is typically a polygon, reflecting variations in road conditions and driving speeds.  For instance, the driving area will tend to be further from the center point along main highways where driving speeds are highest.

Drive time mapping is just one more mapping feature available with CDXZipStream, which also works with Microsoft MapPoint to create location, route, and zip code radius maps in Excel.  For a short tutorial on these other mapping options, please see the YouTube video “Map It in Excel”.