# \[ANN\] ZipCodeSearch Plugin

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [October 31, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161 "2006-10-31T17:41:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/1 "2006-10-31T17:41:56Z")

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I’ve created a plugin that will help you implement radius-based  
location searches from a zip code or city/state. This plugin is based  
on work I did for WalkingBoss ([http://walkingboss.org](http://walkingboss.org)).

This plugin includes everything you need to get started, including free  
zip code data (about 45,000 zips and city/states), and a fully  
functional ZipCodeSearchExampleController with a view.

Here are the quick installation instructions:

> ruby script/plugin install  
> svn://rubyforge.org/var/svn/zipcodesearch/trunk  
> ruby script/generate zip\_code\_search ZipCode  
> rake migrate # This will take a long time!  
> ruby script/server

Then visit: [http://localhost:3000/zip\_code\_search\_example/index](http://localhost:3000/zip_code_search_example/index) to see  
the example controller in action.

See [http://zipcodesearch.rubyforge.org/](http://zipcodesearch.rubyforge.org/) for more info.

I’d like to thank Thomas Kurek, who posted the WGS-84 datum  
approximation code (in C#) on which this plugin is based (see:  
[Methods for a location proximity search using GPS (WGS-84) mathematics - CodeProject](http://www.codeproject.com/dotnet/Zip_code_radius_search.asp)).

Enjoy!  
-Doug Fales  
[http://guod.net](http://guod.net)  
[http://walkingboss.org](http://walkingboss.org)

[Sorry if this posts twice–I tried the Google G. interface earlier  
and that didn’t seem to work.]

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/2 "2006-11-07T10:49:29Z")

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Doug Fales wrote:

> I’ve created a plugin that will help you implement radius-based  
> location searches from a zip code or city/state. This plugin is based  
> on work I did for WalkingBoss ([http://walkingboss.org](http://walkingboss.org)).
> 
> This plugin includes everything you need to get started, including free  
> zip code data (about 45,000 zips and city/states), and a fully  
> functional ZipCodeSearchExampleController with a view.

Wow, fantastic! Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/3 "2006-11-07T10:49:32Z")

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Fantastically helpful, Doug! I was in the beginning processes of  
building this feature set in my application. Nice to know I can just  
install a plugin.

I was not able to find a license listed. Are you releasing MIT?

## Dave

```auto
David Andrew T.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Thompson
http://dathompson.blogspot.com
```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/4 "2006-11-07T10:49:32Z")

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On 10/31/06, Phrogz [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> Wow, fantastic! Thanks!

That’s huge. I imagine it might make a nice integration with google  
maps ?

Stuart

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/5 "2006-11-07T10:49:33Z")

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Yes, I’m releasing it under the MIT license. You are free to do  
whatever you want with the code–in fact, I intend for users to tweak  
the app/models/zip\_code.rb model according to their needs (for  
instance, to change radius units to meters or kilometers). That’s why  
I chose to make the plugin copy code directly into the application.  
Hack away!

-Doug

On Oct 31, 10:26 am, “David Andrew T.”

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Doug\_Fales](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Doug_Fales)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 10:49am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-zipcodesearch-plugin/74161/6 "2006-11-07T10:49:41Z")

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Hi Stuart,  
You could certainly do some cool things with zip code searches and  
Google Maps, but this plugin doesn’t support any Google Maps  
integration. You could easily customize it to do that within your  
application, though.  
-Doug