Batch geocoding and data source APIs are now available to all users. Previously only available to enterprise users, all users can now geocode spatial entities and create data sources using the Bing Maps Dev Center and the Bing Spatial Data Services. For more information, see Geocoding and Managing Data Sources. Usage is subject to Geocode and Data Source Limits.
Enterprise users: The new Basic and Trial key limits also apply to Enterprise accounts. Existing keys will follow the previous limits for a limited time, so upgrade your applications that use Basic and Trial keys to use Enterprise keys to avoid any issues.
March, 2013
Make your data source publicly available or private
On upload: You now have the option to specify whether a data source is public (publicly accessible to anyone with a Bing Maps Key and the query URL) or private (accessible with the data source query key or master key only) when you upload your data and select the Publish without geocoding option. Be careful to always set the data source access value if you are updating an existing data source because it will override the current access setting.
After the data source is published: After a data source is published, you can change the data source access status from the Published Data Sources tab on the Manage my data sources page. Depending on the current access status, a Make Public or Make Private button appears for each published data source. When you click the button to change the data source access, the change takes affect within minutes.
Color-coded trial keys and key creation and expiration dates
The Create or View Keys page now shows the date you created a key and an expiration date if it is a trial key. Trial keys are shown in orange font when they are within 30 days of their expiration date. After a trial key expires, the font color changes to red.
Geocoded entity data is now available before publishing to a data source: When you upload and geocode entity data, you now have the option to download the geocoded results without publishing the data. After the entity data is uploaded and geocoded, Geocoded and Failed links appear on the Geocoded Data tab on the page where you manage your data sources. The Geocoded link downloads the entity data that was successfully geocoded. If any of the entities encountered a problem during the geocode process, you can download them separately using the Failed link. You have the option to publish the geocoded entity data to a data source, but publishing is no longer required. If you do not publish the geocoded entity data, the download links are available for 14 days.
Entity data is geocoded without changing address information: Previously, when entity address information was geocoded to get latitude and longitude values, the address information was replaced with the results of the geocode process. This process has changed so that address data is no longer updated.
Changes to the how you manage data sources: The Manage my data sources page on Bing Maps Dev Center has a new look. You will now see two tabs -- Geocoded Data and Published Data Sources. As the titles suggest, the Geocoded Data tab shows the entity data that you have uploaded and geocoded and provides links to download the geocoded results. You can publish the geocoded data from this tab. The Published Data Sources tab lists all the data sources that are published. From this tab, you can edit and download entity data, edit the data schema and delete the data source.
In addition to the ability to download geocoded data, the biggest change to the data source management process is how entity data is edited and re-geocoded. As before, you can click a data source name to start editing entity data, and then click a specific entity to edit its data fields. However, there are no Geocode and Geocode Address buttons because the entity data is geocoded when you click Update or Create (for new entities) and the latitude and longitude fields are empty. The entity address data is not changed in this process. Similarly, if you clear all of the address fields, the latitude and longitude values are reverse-geocoded to provide the address information when you click Update. As before, the changes you make are local until you publish your updates. Note that there is no longer the ability to edit your data before it’s published. The latest process is presented in the following diagram.