Question

I have a CSV file with names and addresses. I need to plot markers on a Google Map using the data in the CSV file. I understand how to create markers by looping through an XML file, but not from a CSV. I also know that a CSV file can be converted to XML.

Manually converting the CSV to XML is not an option. I should be able to upload a new CSV file to my server, overwriting the old one. When the webpage is visited, it should (I guess) run a script that converts the CSV to XML, and then reads the data from the XML and plots that on a map.

Am I on the right track with this? Have I overcomplicated an otherwise simple problem? How should I go about solving it?

Answer 1

Have you tried uploading your CSV to Fusion Tables? Fusion Tables will display your CSV data on a Google Map. To create a new Fusion Table:

1. Go to docs.google.com.
2. Select Create > Tables.
3. Follow the steps to import the CSV.
4. When the data has been imported, select Visualize > Map, and you will see your data on a Google Map.
5. The map can be embedded, or you can use the Fusion Tables Layer in the Maps API, to display your map on a website.

If the CSV is constantly changing, you can use the Fusion Tables API to update the data in the table.