Question

I need to handle the case when a user clicks on a mapTypeControl differently than when it’s set through map.setMapTypeId(). How do I listen for clicks on map type controls?

Answer 1

You can’t listen for events on the default UI control set. But if you are strictly focused on differentiating between clicks on the mapTypeControl and map.setMapTypeId(), you could use the fact that you control the code that may call setMapTypeId() and add some state management code:

// First, add a new state var:
var typeIdChangedInCode = false;

// Then, anywhere in your code where you call setMapTypeId(), add this:
typeIdChangedInCode = true;
map.setMapTypeId( newTypeId ); 

// Finally, include state checking code in the map event listener:
google.maps.event.addListener( map, "maptypeid_changed", function( evnt ) {
    if ( typeIdChangedInCode ) {
        //handle the scenario in the non-click way, but REMEMBER TO:
        typeIdChangedInCode = false;
    }
    else {
        //handle the scenario in the map click way
    }
});

This should set you up to handle the two different occurrences in the way you need.