Ruby Forum Ruby on Rails > google map plugin(insert name here) vs this

hi,
i found 2 plugins that incorporate google maps into a rails 
application(cartographer and ym4r(misspelled)).

i just came across this 
http://earthcode.com/blog/2006/04/rails_geocoding_and_google_map.html

now i am confused. what does the 'plugins' do vs the code found at the 
above link? in terms of taking a basic address and creating a map?

koloa wrote:
> hi,
> i found 2 plugins that incorporate google maps into a rails 
> application(cartographer and ym4r(misspelled)).
> 
> i just came across this 
> http://earthcode.com/blog/2006/04/rails_geocoding_and_google_map.html
> 
> now i am confused. what does the 'plugins' do vs the code found at the 
> above link? in terms of taking a basic address and creating a map?

If all you are trying to do is create a map from a single origin and 
destination address then you don't need either!  You can do something 
like this and not have a need for an API key:

*********************************************************
              <td valign='bottom' nowrap align='center'>
              <% if @lead then %>
              	<form action="http://maps.google.com/maps" 
target="_blank" method="get">
									<input type="hidden" name="saddr" id="saddr" value="<%= 
@lead.origin_zip && @lead.origin_zip.length > 0 ? @lead.origin_zip : ( 
@lead.origin_city.to_s + ', ' + @lead.origin_state.to_s ) %>" />
									<input type="hidden" name="daddr" value="<%= 
@lead.destination_zip && @lead.destination_zip.length > 0 ? 
@lead.destination_zip : ( @lead.destination_city.to_s + ', ' + 
@lead.destination_state.to_s ) %>" />
									<input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /></p>
									<input type="submit" value="Show Map" />
								</form>
							<% end %>
              </td>

************************************
If you need something more elaborate then I can let you know that I just 
integrated with ym4r last night and am quite pleased with it.

Regards,

Michael

well what i would like to do is convert addresses in my database to 
google maps and embed them in a 'details' page about the user. what do 
you think is the best method to do this?


it seems like all i have to do is make a call to a webservice and get 
the address converted to lat/long and pass that to google?


thanks.

That seems to be the best way,
as google doesnt seem to provide an address to long/lat conversion

..as far as I know...

for instance, if you had an array of addresses you wanted to put pins of 
on
a map you need the long/lat data

Clayton Cottingham wrote:
> That seems to be the best way,
> as google doesnt seem to provide an address to long/lat conversion
> 
> ..as far as I know...
> 
> for instance, if you had an array of addresses you wanted to put pins of 
> on
> a map you need the long/lat data

Google does provide a lat/long tool.  You give it an address (or zip) 
and it will return the coords for you in an option of formats (xml, 
json, csv, etc...).  This is part of the ym4r GEM that can be used in 
conjunction with the ym4r plugin or standalone.  However, you do need to 
have a developer key UNLESS everything is coming from localhost - then 
you can use the key supplied by ym4r.

FYI...based on some testing I have just completed, it is best to have a 
server process get the lat/long coordinates and store them in your 
database for later retrieval, if possible for your app.  The call itself 
can be slow when you are passing in several items to geocode whereas if 
you are just placing pins on the map then it is very quick when you have 
the coords already stored.

ym4r will do what you need!  I downloaded it last night and have a 
functioning map setup with markers and polylines.  The plugin is 
extremely useful and I highly recommend it.

Michael

Ym4r is good stuff, I'm using it in a project right now.   Geocoding
through google is limited though to one request every couple of
seconds, which in our case wasn't good enough.   I actually grabbed
the raw census data (TIGER), then used the geocoder.us perl code to
compile our own database.   Then I made up a quick webservice that
queries our database first then google if it can't be found, and
caches any of the google replies for future lookup.

By the way, does anyone know of a free service that will let you host
large files for download?  Say 800 mb?  I'd be happy to share the
TIGER database I compiled using the geocoder.us code, but I can't
afford to make it available off our servers.  Then maybe someone would
have a reason to convert the perl module to ruby.  I've been to lazy:)

Hello Micheal, Thanks for the reply.

about the api google map key, under what url do i register if i want my 
view "show_google_maps" to display a google map?

localhost:3000/start/show_google_maps

ive tried about ever variation of the above and I still kept getting the 
"key is invalid..." in the link i posted and said just to register under 
localhost:3000, but it didnt work.


also, i plan on doing the geocoding lookup everytime a new address is 
submitted into our database. is this what you mean by having a server 
process?


Michael Modica wrote:
> Clayton Cottingham wrote:
>> That seems to be the best way,
>> as google doesnt seem to provide an address to long/lat conversion
>> 
>> ..as far as I know...
>> 
>> for instance, if you had an array of addresses you wanted to put pins of 
>> on
>> a map you need the long/lat data
> 
> Google does provide a lat/long tool.  You give it an address (or zip) 
> and it will return the coords for you in an option of formats (xml, 
> json, csv, etc...).  This is part of the ym4r GEM that can be used in 
> conjunction with the ym4r plugin or standalone.  However, you do need to 
> have a developer key UNLESS everything is coming from localhost - then 
> you can use the key supplied by ym4r.
> 
> FYI...based on some testing I have just completed, it is best to have a 
> server process get the lat/long coordinates and store them in your 
> database for later retrieval, if possible for your app.  The call itself 
> can be slow when you are passing in several items to geocode whereas if 
> you are just placing pins on the map then it is very quick when you have 
> the coords already stored.
> 
> ym4r will do what you need!  I downloaded it last night and have a 
> functioning map setup with markers and polylines.  The plugin is 
> extremely useful and I highly recommend it.
> 
> Michael

koloa wrote:
> Hello Micheal, Thanks for the reply.
> 
> about the api google map key, under what url do i register if i want my 
> view "show_google_maps" to display a google map?
> 
> localhost:3000/start/show_google_maps
> 
> ive tried about ever variation of the above and I still kept getting the 
> "key is invalid..." in the link i posted and said just to register under 
> localhost:3000, but it didnt work.
> 
> 
> also, i plan on doing the geocoding lookup everytime a new address is 
> submitted into our database. is this what you mean by having a server 
> process?
> 

If you are using localhost then you should not have to do anything 
assuming you followed the directions/tutorial on the ym4r website.  Take 
special note to the "<%= GMap.header(:with_vml => false) %>" setting 
that should be in your view/layout.  I believe this is the one that 
sends the key to google for validation.

I suggest using the tutorial that has the yahoo traffic in it.  It does 
require the gem to be installed also (simple) but doesn't require any 
database changes on your part.  If you follow that tutorial exact then 
you should quicly be able to figure out if it is something you are 
missing and backtrack from there.  Make sure that development key is in 
your config directory as the tutorial indicates (the development key 
that comes with ym4r is good for development).

Regards,

Michael

> also, i plan on doing the geocoding lookup everytime a new address is 
> submitted into our database. is this what you mean by having a server 
> process?
> 

Yes - as a previous poster mentioned google throttles the lookup speed 
(or it's just slow) - I believe it is one a second or so.  If you have a 
background task or something that can do this for you then the user 
doesn't suffer while waiting for the map to draw.  You can certainly do 
it on the save of the address record and just have the user wait an 
additional second.  My point was don't try to do this WHEN you are 
drawing the map with the markers if you don't have to.  Imagine having 
100 markers on the map - you would be waiting at least 100 seconds to 
get the map to display if you were geocoding at that point in time.  If, 
however, you have those values stored then the map will load much 
faster.

Regards,

Michael

hey Michael thanks, your advice is very well appreciated!