Frequently Asked Questions

How does MPSuperShape use Shape Names?

MapPoint does not provide a unique identifier for shapes. It does provide a name property that can be used by programs, but there is no guarantee that it is unique. This name can not be directly accessed by a user, but it may be used by other third party programs.

MPSuperShape uses the name property to identify specific shapes. If a shape's name is blank or non-unique, then MPSuperShape will give the shape a new unique name. This new name will overwrite any pre-existing name. It is of the form "MPSS_n", where n is a number.

There is no guarantee which name (if any) will be preserved by a multi-shape function such as union or intersection.

Which Shape Types does MPSuperShape support?

MPSuperShape supports freeform shapes, ellipses (ovals and circles), and rectangles. The Import and Export options can also handle pushpins.

Note that MPSuperShape does not support text boxes. This is because text box sizes are specified in screen coordinates and not real world coordinates. Ie. their real world size changes according to the zoom level. This would result in inconsistent results from operations such as union or intersection. These operations would also result in the loss of the shape's text.

Other map objects will probably be included in special operations in future versions. For example, new shapes could be defined according to pushpins and their data fields.