CHAPTER 8 ?– USING THE ASP.NET AJAX CONTROL TOOLKIT (PART 2) 204
AJAX-Style Mapping Using the
Virtual Earth SDK
One of the first mainstream uses of AJAX in web applications was mapping. AJAXenhanced
maps are significantly more user friendly because they enable the user to have
a much richer, smoother, and interactive experience with the maps. Mapping functionality
based on Virtual Earth packaged in script files was shipped with some of the earlier
beta bits of ASP.NET AJAX (also known as Atlas) but was removed from the final release
of the product. Microsoft Virtual Earth, which is now part of the Windows Live family
of products, provides a comprehensive SDK (available at http://dev.live.com/
virtualearth/sdk/) for developers to integrate AJAX style maps right into their web applications.
This includes support for all the cool features, including 3D maps and bird??™s
eye view (where available). In this chapter, we will examine the Virtual Earth SDK along
with some of its basic functionality and discuss how you can leverage it in your own
applications.
Introduction to Microsoft Virtual Earth (VE)
Mapping is a major part of the new Windows Live Local web application, which is essentially
powered by Virtual Earth (VE), the core of Microsoft??™s online mapping offering.
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