How do I geocode addresses using Bing?

Prior to version 1.2 of Cartographica, geocoding required you to gather street data to serve as a basis for determining addresses.    With version 1.2, ClueTrust has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to provide users with access to the Bing Geocoder service for 1 year with a purchase of a Cartographica full or academic license.   The previous geocoder (now with expanded capabilities) is still available for those who need finer control or who are geocoding historical data, or in areas that are not well covered by Bing Maps data.

This entry will cover importing data from a file, but you can perform the same import functions on a database using the Acquire Database Data... item from the File menu.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for geocoding a file containing address information:

  
1. The first step i s to configure the geocoder.  The only configuration for Bing Maps is to make sure that it is the selected geocoder, which it should be by default. Choose Tools > Geocoder Options... and make sure that the Bing Geocoder is selected.   This setting is per mapset.
2. Choose File > Import Table Data... 
3. Select the file you wish to import data from and change any necessary options
4. When the Importing File sheet comes up, choose the Geocoding tab.
5. Find each field that corresponds to an address field and set the Map To column to an appropriate value.   For example, a column with city data should be mapped to City, etc.
6. Click Import 

That's it.   As the data is imported, the Bing Geocoder will be contacted and asked to locate the data for each item in the table.