If your business data makes more sense presented geographically on a map than numerically in a table or worksheet, GeoQuery may be just what you need. The latest version features System 7 support, which allows for more-powerful links to source data contained in spreadsheet and database programs as well as extended mapping tools and the unique ability to shade maps according to ZIP-code-based data.
Mapping business data often helps answer such questions as "Where did the best response to the last direct-mail campaign come from?" or "Which state tallied the highest number of sales of a particular product?” more quickly than if you viewed the data in table or worksheet format. GeoQuery uses two basic map types to present business data geographically. Pushpin maps show the location of individual data records, such as manufacturing plants, with symbols. Shaded maps use colored regions to represent statistical data. The package’s built-in map collection includes all U.S. states; a collection of county-level maps is optional. GeoQuery also provides a "snooper” tool that displays the data record or data set beneath a pushpin or shaded region,
GeoQuery lacks the powerful database and dam-manipulation tools included in high-end mapping packages such as Strategic Mapping’s Atlas Pro. As a result, most people will complement the program by storing and manipulating data in stand-alone database or spreadsheet programs and then importing the data into GeoQuery as text files or linking to the data by using System 7's publish-and-subscribe. The program's support for Fairfield Software's ClearAccess provides access to data stored in remote-mainframe SQL databases.
GeoQuery now features a $20 optional set of external routines that allows 4th Dimension programmers to use Apple events to the GeoQuery to 4D databases. Although this requires advanced 4D-programming skills, the combination of the two programs allows for live two-way links between them.
Once it has acquired the appropriate data, GeoQuery uses ZIP codes or region designations to map it. By limiting its focus to mapping tools and leaving data manipulation to other programs, GeoQuery offers several advantages, particularly to mobile sales professionals. The program’s streamlined interface and modest appetite for memory and disk space make it ideal for PowerBook users. However, be forewarned that the flip side of GeoQuery's minimalist approach is that it requires you to continually switch back and forth between GeoQuery and a database or spreadsheet program in order to view all the data you're in the process of mapping.
Several new tools beef up GeoQuery's data-analysis capabilties. You can use the Find Nearest command, for example, to automatically locate the customer or prospect nearest to a specified point on a map. Like previous versions, GeoQuery can combine geography into lerritories, making it a great sales-management tool The new version lets you append a territory' name to each record in a data file mapped with GeoQuery, a handy feature if you need to sort data by territories. Most impressive, however, is GeoQuery's unique ability to shade maps from ZIP-code-based lists by establishing links between individual data records and geographic areas on a map.
Finally, the new version includes interstate and intrastate road-mapping capabilities, U.S. interstate highways are included in the package, and U.S. routes and state roads are sold separately, priced at $150 for each of the six regions of the country or $495 for the entire continental United States,
The Bottom Line
At $395, GeoQuery is a bargain, but users doing more-sophisticated county-level or specialized boundary analysis will need optional atlas files, $100 to $295 each. These extras push the price of GeoQuery into the range of high-end packages such as Atlas Pro, from Strategic Mapping, and MapInfo, from MapInfo Systems. If you need more-sophisticated mapping features such as dot-density, bivariate, graduated-circle, or street-mapping capabilities, a high-end package is a must, because GeoQuery lacks support for such advanced features.
However, GeoQuery's streamlined approach to mapping gives it one big advantage over more-sophisticated programs. The software is small enough and fast enough to run comfortably on a PowerBook, making it a good choice for mobile professionals. If you can do without the data-manipulation tools that are built in to the high-end packages, GeoQuery is an excellent choice for viewing and analyzing data geographically,
Steinber, Jeffrey A. (October 1992). GeoQuery. MacUser. (pgs. 58-59).
GeoQuery Corporation
Applications
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GeoQuery.img__0.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Basilisk II
