Question

is there any javascript code out there that will take a location as a string, for example like “Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada” and return the longitudinal and lateral coordinates? I am trying to build a map and I need something that will convert my list of locations into the correct coordinates. Any ideas?

Thanks

Answer 1

Here’s some code from my application using jQuery, this is used to handle a form which has an input field ‘location_search’ with the address in it:

function setLocationFormSubmit(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  $.getJSON(
    'http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json',
    {'address': $('#location_search').val(), 'sensor': 'false'},
    function (json, textSuccess) {
      if (json.status == 'OK') {
            console.log('Longitude, latitude: ' + json.results[0].geometry.location.lng + ',' + json.results[0].geometry.location.lat);
        } else {
            alert('Location not found');
        }
    }
  ).error(function() {
    alert('Problem connecting to server.');
  });
  return false;
}

Note that Google limits the number of queries from an IP address but I’ve never come up to the limit even with quite a lot of testing.