In order to use the Ultimate RV Parks & Campgrounds Directory in Microsoft Streets & Trips, you will need to either open the incluses Map file, or install one or more of the import files of the list into Streets & Trips as a custom Pushpin set. Using the included Map file is the easiest, but it includes every entry in the directory. If you want to load a custom subset of the directory, then you’ll need to import the CSV files into Streets & Trips. This is a simple process and will only take a few moments. Please follow the steps below to install files from the list and begin enjoying this product.
When you installed the list to your computer, the installer created a folder on your hard drive at C:\CoolRVToyz\Streets & Trips\RV Parks & Campgrounds. This is where you’ll find the files you will need to import into Streets & Trips. There is a folder inside the RV Parks & Campgrounds folder named CSV Files. These are comma-separated-value (.CSV) files that contain all the information you need for installation. The following instructions use Streets & Trips 2007 as an example, but the process is very similar on other versions.
Installing the Map File in Streets & Trips
The CoolRVToyz Ultimate RV Parks & Campgrounds Directory includes a Map file with the entire Directory already pre-loaded. This file was created with Streets & Trips 2007, so it should work with 2007 and all later versions.
- Start Street & Trips
- Under the File Menu, choose Open. Navigate to the C:\CoolRVToyz\Streets & Trips\RV Parks & Campgrounds folder and select the CoolRVToyz Ultimate RV Parks & Campgrounds Directory.est file.
- Select Open to load the pre-loaded map into Streets & Trips. You can make changes to the map. If you do, we suggest you save it under a different folder in order to keep the originial map as a backup.
- See the section below or your Microsoft Streets & Trips documentation for some tips on changing the display to better suit your needs.
Manually Importing the CSV Files into Streets & Trips
- Start Streets & Trips.
- Under the Data Menu, select Import Data Wizard…
- In the Import Data Wizard dialog, locate one of the files in C:\CoolRVToyz\Streets & Trips\RVParks & Campgrounds\CSV Files, select it and click the Open button.
If you don’t see any files in the dialog box once you’ve selected the C:\CoolRVToyz\Streets & Trips\RVParks & Campgrounds\CSV Files folder, it may be because your file types are not set correctly. For example:
Note the Files of type: box at the bottom is not set to locate .CSV files. Click the down arrow to the far right of the Files of type: box and select Text files from the dropdown menu. The files should then appear.
In this example, we’ll be loading the Commercial Campgrounds list.
- The Import Data Wizard will now ask you to select the separator character.
- Make sure Comma is selected and click the Next> button. The Import Data Wizard will show you the columns it will import.
- Make sure the Country/Region reads United States and the box for First row contains column headings is checked. The remaining settings will all be set properly because the import file from the list has the correct headers. Click the Finish button to start the import. You will see a progress indicator as the parks are being imported into Streets & Trips.
- When the import is complete, your map will contain all the entries from that list.
- Notice the Legend and Overiew Pane on the left side of the screen? You now have a Pushpin data set named Commercial Campgrounds in that list. Complete instructions on the use of Streets & Trips is far beyond the scope of this document; you should consult your Streets & Trips documentation for that. We will however, point out a few tricks here to make your map easier to use, especially if you continue to load additional categories.
- Using your mouse, right-click (using the right mouse button, not the left one) on the Commercial RV Parks Pushpin set in the Legend and Overview Pane. From the pull-down menu that is displayed, select Properties and click it (with the normal “left” button). This will display the Properties dialog box for setting the properties on this Pushpin set.
- If you’re planning to load more than one list onto the same map, you’ll probably want to change the Symbol on General Tab. Simply select the down arrow at the right of the Pushpin symbol and select an appropriate symbol for this list.
We’ve selected the Blue Camping Symbol here for illustration. The symbol you select is completely up to you.
- Now click the Hyperlink Tab at the top of the dialog box. You’ll notice you have some options for the parks in the list that contain hyperlinks to the park’s website. Many of the parks and services in the list have hyperlinks.
Select the second radio button down from the top labeled, “Use hyperlinks from the imported data:” if it’s not already selected. When you do you’ll notice the text box below it that reads <None> will now be available (not grayed out). Click the down arrow to the right of the text box and select Website from the dropdown list that is displayed. Your dialog should now look like this:
- Next, select the Balloon Tab at the top of the dialog box to display the field that are available to be listed in the balloon when you select “Show Information” on the map.
Only some of the data items will be checked. Whatever you check here will be displayed in the information balloons when you select “Show Information” on the map. We recommend you select them all, or at least check the Website box. By selecting the Website box you’ll be able to jump to the CoolRVParkz.com detail page for each park and see much more information on the park.
Don’t forget to roll the scroll bar on the right all the way down and get the ones you can’t see on the initial list. When you do, your list should look like this:
- That’s it. Click OK and the dialog will disappear and you’ll be back to your map. The Pushpins on the map, and the Pushpin next to Commercial RV Parks will now be your new symbol.
- You can repeat steps 2 through 8 for as many of the lists as you want. Giving each of them a different symbol will help if you have several of them loaded. If you load several of them, they will all show up as separate Pushpin sets under the Legend and Overview Pane. Here’s a map with all 12 categories loaded.
If you selected all the data fields in step 8d above, your information balloons will contain all the information from the list:
By clicking the hyperlink in the information bubble, you can jump directly to that park’s detail page on the CoolRVParkz.com website.
- We recommend you save this map after loading the lists you want by selecting File, Save As … from the top menu. You can then reload it any time you want to use the list. Or you can start with a clean map and simply repeat the Data Import each time you start Streets & Trips.
Happy RV’ing!
Phil King
