>>>The user wants a map of the USA on a form. She would like to click on states and get data for those states. It amounts to making buttons that are state-shaped. I only know how to make rectangular buttons, which is fine for Colorado and Wyoming, but not many others. Can it be done?
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>>what about a map of the US. based on mouse location when click, show data for state mouse is on. we have something like that here, but not readily available (don't remember where it is)
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>That sounds simple enough. Ideally, there would be a way to define the states as objects somehow, so that I could explicitely program Texas.click or Utah.mouseover. If I have to relate x and y position of the mouse to the complicated shapes of states based on a huge set of numbers, it sounds inefficient.

Did you check third-party vendors, e.g. www.mapx.com or www.esri.com. They deliver Active-X components which are probably exactly what you are looking for.