Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with maps and API

How to use google maps API to create new functions?

figTree — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:42:50 -0800

How would one go about creating new functionality with google maps API?(eg. create a button that controls the zoom interface in order to with the click of one button zooms out then zooms in a new location at some preset speed, or perhaps flies you to several locations with one button click) Im more a scripter than a programmer and am especially interested if there is already some sort of open source library of tools that have been built for this kind of idea.

Im not sure how intense such a project would be if doing it from scratch and what combination of tools would be optimal. Im also not sure if there are any legal points to consider when hacking API?

I Don't Want The World, Just Your Half

rokusan — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:01:52 -0800

Looking for guidance on using Google Maps, or a workalike, for a non-map (blueprints) application. I'd like to use the basic UI of Google Maps (or some other free/open workalike) to web-ify some blueprints so that building stakeholders can annotate and add their own 'markers' and notes.

I have looked through Google's Maps API and many online tutorials and such, but all seem to be about adding functionality to the existing geo-models (layers, notes, vectors added to street maps, etc). I've also, yes, read the previous AskMes on related Maps issues, but they're all world-map-related.

The big difference is this: I don't need the Earth, here, or geographic "infrastructure" at all: just my own large flat graphics to be navigated, zoomed in/out, and annotated with little points of interest + notes. There are no corresponding real-world locations to "overlay" this onto. It would be nice if the visibility of these annotated points could be turned on/off, layers style, too, so that comments from different people/teams could be shown or hidden, so the blueprint graphics could be viewed "clean" or marked up in various ways.

I think I have seen this done with the Maps API before (a print catalog? magazine? something) but I can't find the example now, nor any tutorials or samples.

I need very basic Maps stuff: just navigation, zooming, and point/note adding.

Again, this could be via Google Maps in some way I don't quite grok. If so, I just need a shove in the right direction or a simple, studyable source example to learn from. Or it could be some other library that provides the basic functionality of nav/zoom/add-point/add-note.

I already have very large graphics of the blueprints in question, which I can convert to any format, and I'm competent with JavaScript. I refuse to believe I should write my own framework from scratch here.

What next?

How can I use Google Maps on a secure page?

odinsdream — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:41:18 -0800

How can I include a Google Map on a secure page? I'm including a Google Map on a page where users can sign up for a service. The page is accessed via SSL, and before I included the map, the entire page was transmitted securely. Now, however, browsers complain that portions of the page (the map) are transmitted insecurely. I understand the user information is still secure, but my users probably won't.

How can I change this page so that the google map is still available and users may still interact with it, but the entire page is delivered via SSL?

Additionally, I had to change firewall rules for the users' subnet to allow access to google.com to load the map. Is there a way to rework this such that the server does the work of loading the map and presents it to the users?

Thanks!

How do I include a link to driving directions in an embedded Google Map?

designbot — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:55:08 -0800

What is the best way to embed a Google Map of a business's location, including a link to driving directions? This is for a small business's website. All I want is a small embedded map of the business's location, with a standard pop-up flag including links for driving directions, the address, etc. (Basically like what you see here, but without the extra search results on the left-hand side.

If there's a better input method for requesting driving directions, that would be fine too.

I would think that providing a map & driving directions to a specific business would be one of the most common uses of the Google Maps API, but I don't see any examples of what I'm looking for. Surely, there must be a simple, standard way to provide driving directions on your website… Right?

How can I automate "white pages" lookups?

Vorteks — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:53:34 -0800

Is there a free (or cheap) API or public database that can be used for "white pages" lookups? I have a list of the names of about 500 people who live in a small 3-city area, and I've been given the assignment of basically looking up their exact address, and sorting them into categories based on what sub-region they live in. Is there a way I can do this programatically? I know I can do it manually using something like whitepages.com and Google Maps, but that seems really tedious. I'd like to be able to write an application that will look up the person's address using their name and the city they live in (I have that information already), and from there I can probably use the Google Maps API to get an approximate enough location. Does anyone know of an API or public database that my application can use to look this information up? Thanks in advance!

Connect the dots on a map

furtive — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:37:53 -0800

If I plot directions on Google Maps between two places it works well, except that one of the places is actually a few 100m away (enough to throw people off). Is there a way for me to correct this? Replot the position? Are there other services that might be of better use? I'm just using maps.google.com right now but I am competent enough with the maps API that I could go that way if need be. I really just want to show driving directions between two points. I've thought of just incrementing the address a bit more, but unfortunately it's a long winding road with only one or two addresses on it.

I can elaborate with specific details if needed.