Beginning Google Maps Applications

This is just a quick note for readers who’ve reported problems with the figures in Chapter 10. Due to an issue with the printing process in the first run of Beginning Google Maps Applications, they were much lighter than they should have been, to the point of being almost unreadable.

We’ve made the relevant images available here.

One thing every Maps developer notices eventually, is that the API’s imagery doesn’t exactly match that which is on Google Maps itself.

Check out the two maps of uptown Waterloo, below. The image on the left is a shot of the API, while the one on the right is from Google Maps. Not only is the API getting bizarre anachronistic road names, it’s missing the label on Wilfred Laurier school, and the two maps aren’t even agreeing about the shapes of parks or built-up areas.

On the Google Maps Newsgroup, developer Bret Taylor provides this explanation:

We are in the process of turning on new map tiles for API sites. The
map tiles are built from Tele Atlas data in the US (the same vector
data used in Google Earth) rather than Navteq data. This should be a
relatively transparent change on your sites, but we are eager to hear
any issues you have with data quality and/or the tiles themselves,
which should be identical in terms of design.

So please do send them your feedback, but this is where it’s at; Maps API developers operating in rural regions are stuck with the bizarre, out-dated TeleAtlas data.

Unless, of course, you make your own tile layer that points directly at the official Google Maps tiles, like this sweet example here. Stay tuned below for some explanation. Continue reading ‘Use Google Maps Tiles with the API’

AJAX Magazine and PHP Magazine are offering two copies of our book in a mini contest. If you didn’t win during our giveaway maybe you can run over and try to win there. The contest closes tomorrow (Sunday September 17th, 2006) so don’t delay.

http://ajax.phpmagazine.net/2006/09/beginning_google_maps_applicat.html

Good Luck!

In Chapter 6 of the book, we showed you one way of creating a loading message for your users. The method demonstrated followed this basic pattern:

• Serve the user an HTML page with the loading message in it,
• Have an onLoad event call the Maps API’s initialization, and add all the markers to the map, and then
• Remove the loading message using a class swap on the body tag

This seems to make perfect sense, except that browsers complete all onload functionality before displaying anything to the user. Though there’s a sizable delay, by the time the map pops into view, the wait is over! So even if there was a classy loading message, the user likely missed out on it.

I’ve remedied this inconsistency now, and here’s a new demo of a superior splash-screen mechanism. Continue reading ‘A Better Loading Message’

Ravi Kumar over at All About Linux has written a review of our book and gives it a rating of “very good”. You can read the whole review for yourself, but here are a few quotes to whet your appetite.

What I really like about this book is instead of jumping into a theoretical discourse, the reader is actually made to work on an example which highlights the concept being covered.

It is not everyday that one encounters a book which explains such a specialized but very useful subject as creating online maps. I found it [to be an] in depth book covering all the concepts related to implementing Google Maps while at the same time [stressing] a practical approach.

As always, you can find links to and quotes from previous reviews on this page. Enjoy.

Thanks Ravi!