Uploading a Data Source

IMPORTANT: MapPoint Web Service was retired on November 18, 2011. Please see https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd877180.aspx for a list of current Bing Maps APIs.

To access your custom location or polygon data through the MapPoint Web Service API, you must upload it to the MapPoint servers. MapPoint provides three ways to upload files—programmatically through the Customer Data Service API, from the command line by using the data upload client that is included as a sample application with the MapPoint SDK, or by using the tools on the Bing Maps Customer Services site (CSS). Generally, you should use the API if you want to automate the upload process or if you are uploading very large data sources.

Each entity (point) in a location data source must be geocoded; that is, assigned latitude and longitude coordinates. MapPoint geocodes location data source files as part of the upload process if the Latitude and Longitude fields do not contain values. If an entity already has latitude and longitude coordinates, the MapPoint geocoder accepts those coordinates as correct. For more information, see What is Geocoding?.

Important

If you upload a location data source and then modify it by using the tools on the CSS, you should download the data source and then update your local copy of the file. Otherwise, your changes will be lost the next time you upload the data source.

Each entity (polygon) in a polygon data source must be assigned at least three pairs of latitude and longitude coordinates in the ExteriorRing field prior to upload. These latitude and longitude coordinates are not affected by the geocoding process.

Polygon data sources must also have Latitude and Longitude fields for each entity. If these fields are empty, MapPoint defines a rectangle that contains the polygon (a bounding rectangle), and finds the center point of the rectangle. The geocoder populates the Latitude and Longitude fields with the values for the latitude and longitude coordinates of that center point. Because polygons can have irregular shapes, the center point may not be within the polygon. If the Latitude and Longitude fields already contain values, the geocoder accepts those values as correct.

For data sources of either geometry type, the uploader clears invalid entries, such as letters in a field defined as long or Number, and entries containing a CTRL character, angle bracket (< or >) or semicolon (;).

See Also

Concepts

What is Geocoding?
Requirements for Location Data Sources
Requirements for Polygon Data Sources
Uploading a Data Source Using the Command Line
Uploading a Data Source Using the CSS