Book Image

Google Maps JavaScript API Cookbook

Book Image

Google Maps JavaScript API Cookbook

Overview of this book

Day by day, the use of location data is becoming more and more popular, and Google is one of the main game changers in this area. The Google Maps JavaScript API is one of the most functional and robust mapping APIs used among Geo developers. With Google Maps, you can build location-based apps, maps for mobile apps, visualize geospatial data, and customize your own maps.Google Maps JavaScript API Cookbook is a practical, hands-on guide that provides you with a number of clear, step-by-step recipes that will help you to unleash the capabilities of the Google Maps JavaScript API in conjunction with open source or commercial GIS servers and services through a number of practical examples of real world scenarios. This book begins by covering the essentials of including simple maps for Web and mobile, adding vector and raster layers, styling your own base maps, creating your own controls and responding to events, and including your own events.You will learn how to integrate open source or commercial GIS servers and services including ArcGIS Server, GeoServer, CartoDB, Fusion Tables, and Google Maps Engine with the Google Maps JavaScript API. You will also extend the Google Maps JavaScript API to push its capabilities to the limit with additional libraries and services including geometry, AdSense, geocoding, directions, and StreetView.This book covers everything you need to know about creating a web map or GIS applications using the Google Maps JavaScript API on multiple platforms.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Google Maps JavaScript API Cookbook
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Creating and adding a geolocation control


The Google Maps UI has many built-in controls introduced in previous recipes. These controls serve numerous needs, such as panning, zooming, and changing the map type. However, the user needs are infinite, and the user might be very creative. It is impossible to present a built-in control for every need.

Instead, the Google Maps JavaScript API has presented a path for creating custom controls for every specific need. Custom controls are basically simple HTML elements wrapped in a single element, mostly the <div> element.

In this recipe, we will go over the basics of creating a custom control, placing it on the Google Maps UI, and using it through event-handling routines.

Getting ready

This recipe will be based on the Moving from Web to mobile devices recipe introduced in Chapter 1, Google Maps JavaScript API Basics. Our recipe will utilize the geolocation code extract from this recipe; therefore, it will be helpful to revisit this recipe.

How to...