I would like to write a navigation software for windows phone 7 that is available without being on the internet. Therefore, I would like to download the map information from Bing maps. Not the entire world or country, just a small city - because this software is just for me and I only need navigation within my home town.
What I basically need is something similar to the map export that OpenStreetMap offers. I could not find anything equivalent on bing maps, so I wrote a program that queries bing maps (through the API) for routes. It then saves intersections and thus builds a graph. This technically works and I get a lot of streets, but sometimes bing leaves out a single intersection. In that case, my data will become invalid.
So I was wondering if there is any way of asking the API directly for a map export, returning something like an array of streets that is within a certain boundary rectangle. (Or something similar)
Thanks for your help
No, there is no standard API call in Bing Maps API that will let you do this.
Downloading all the street data within "a small city" would violate the terms of service. See 8.2(r) at http://www.microsoft.com/maps/product/terms.html.
If you want that data, you can try OpenStreetMap or else you would probably have to license the data from a commercial provider of such things which is no doubt very expensive.
Related
Bing is comprehensive and it isn't Google. Also I was given to understand that Bing maps integrates OpenStreetMaps data. An answer for OpenStreetMaps would also be acceptable; it's the capability that matters: construct a URL that causes a browser to show a path on a map.
I don't want to embed Bing maps as a control in a web application. I want to construct an HTTP request (GET or POST) to launch Bing maps in its own right in another tab or browser supplying a small series of points (probably GPX format) to be shown as a route on the map.
It's the structure of the URL (and payload if applicable) that interest me. If you want to put code in an answer Javascript, Typescript or server side C# are all no problem.
When I research this I find loads of info on using an API to request a route between two points. This would be fabulous if I were trying to create yet another nav app but the requirement here is simply show this series of points as a path on a map.
I can do it for a single point (sample lifted from another question's answer) https://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=53.0210235~-1.48398532&lvl=16&dir=0&sty=c&sp=point.53.0210235_-1.48398532_My%20Phone
The Microsoft APIs documented here all require a registration and key because they're intended for Enterprise applications that support embedded maps in branded apps with the enterprise paying for use.
My application is FOSS and is intended for a private individual to plonk half a dozen points on a map in the course of trying to figure out where a phone was lost without consenting to being tracked by Google or a phone manufacturer.
The example above launches Bing maps and passes a point. Is there some kind of URL based way to get Bing maps to launch in its own right - not hosted in another app - and show a series of points for display as a path? If so, what search terms should be used when looking for details? The answer from which I lifted the sample has a link but it no longer produces the docs.
If you want to just open the bing maps website with some information drawn on the map, the documentation for that is here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/bingmaps/articles/create-a-custom-map-url
To draw a polyline on the map, take a look at the section titled "collections" which describes how to add points, lines, or polygons to the map. As a quick example, this URL will create a simply polyline: https://bing.com/maps/default.aspx?sp=Polyline.47.68_-122.12_48.68_-123.12_49.68_-122.12_LINE_some%20notes_http://bing.com__%2300ff00__4px_Single_Solid
I am working on an iPhone map application and wanted to know whether it was possible to request any labels visible on Google Maps given a longitude/latitude and radius?
For example if I gave the following location to this Google Maps API, I would get back McCullough Hall, Moore Hall, etc. The list would be any place labels visible on the map (doesn't have to be just restaurants, businesses).
If this is possible can you direct me to where I can learn more about this. If this isn't possible, can you direct me towards another API where it is possible?
Look into Googles reverse geocoding, I think that's what you're looking for.
The short answer, you cannot!.
The only way is to search for places by name and get a reference key to query the place details including lat/lng. Not the other way around.
IMHO, this is mainly a policy of Google instead of being technical limitation.
I am not familiar the bing Map
I need to display the us map for a given zip code,in a page
How can i do this
Can anyone help me please
Have a look at their API reference...
AJAX Control Version 7
AJAX Control Version 6.3
You will need to geocode the zip code first; if you only need to do this once to display a static map, then you can use this site, although there are lots of other free sites online that do the same thing. Once you have your lat/lon it's pretty straightforward to use them to center your map object.
// assume that lat, lon, and map are js variables you have already declared and set
var oLatLon = new VELatLong(lat, lon);
map.PanToLatLong(oLatLon);
If the map needs to be dynamic and you'll have to geocode addresses on the fly, then I'm not sure what the best approach is. I think there are databases that contain all zipcodes & their corresponding lat/lon coordinates available for download. It might also be worth checking out the Bing MapPoints SDK.
It's easy using REST services which ship with Bing Api. Here you can find a blog post with thorough description.
I want to get zip code from users current location(Latitude, Longitude), I had used MKReverse Geocoder delegate methods, but sometimes I am not able to get zip code information based on latitude & longitude (valid values). Are there any other alternatives for MKReverseGeocoder ? ZipCode database are specific to countries, that's why I don't want to use them. Any other idea or clue?
Thanks
Consider the GeoNames web service. It's a complete geocoding/reverse geocoding suite under a Creative Commons attribution license. You can either download their data, or hit their web service. The best thing is, they don't require any API keys or licensing silliness--you just hit their web app and bang you got data.
Here's an example: http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPostalCodesJSON?formatted=true&lat=36&lng=-79.08 That'll return you a JSON object for the zip codes around the Chapel Hill, NC area.
It's also international. Here's Seaford, England, and the only difference is the lat/lng pair I'm sending: http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPostalCodesJSON?formatted=true&lat=50.5&lng=0.08
Then you need to learn to make web requests and parse JSON (if you don't already have a grip on those things), and you're all set.
This is actually a tricky question. Using a geocoding solution like GeoNames is likely to lead to major errors for a lot of queries. The reason for this is that GeoNames by looking up the record in their database that is closest to your query point and then returning the ZIP code they have on record for that point. This works great when your query point is right on top of a record in their database, but can lead to errors otherwise. For example, if their nearest record is a few blocks away in a different ZIP code, you'll get the wrong answer.
The US Census Bureau has created maps of the ZIP codes:
https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/zctas.html
Please see their notes on that page.
I have also worked on a project that uses the Census maps to provide an API that gives back the ZIP code for a given latitude and longitude. It is at:
http://askgeo.com
We offer both a web API and a Java Library that you can run on your own server. The library has excellent performance. Since our site offers additional information than just the ZIP code, you can read about our ZIP code service here:
http://askgeo.com/database/UsZcta2010
And you read about the documentation for the Web API here:
http://askgeo.com/#web-api
The GeoNames methodology is fundamentally flawed for this type of query. If you are looking for the polygon that contains a given query point, you need a map with the polygons, and you need a spatial index to provide fast look-ups. GeoNames has neither. AskGeo has both.
If you have a free db (available from that site? Just search for zip code database and you'll see it)
then you can run an internal SQL query testing for nearby lat/longs. That way you won't need to worry about licensing a web service.
You have three options then. SQL BETWEEN statement, the hypotenuse equation, or Haversine. Haversine being the best, luckily it's tutorial'd elsewhere
EDIT:
Couple of other options I've seen recently:
http://developer.yahoo.com/geo/placefinder/guide/index.html
http://jamiethompson.co.uk/projects/2010/04/30/an-open-free-uk-postcode-geocoding-web-service/
http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/geocoding-service/api.aspx
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Take a look at the Google Maps API - Reverse Geocoding (only useful if embedding results in a Google Maps interface).
Sample code here:
Get Zipcode from results[1].formatted_address
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/geocoding-reverse
Is it possible to display nearby businesses in mapkit? If not, how else can that be done?
Is there a way to display by category - restaurant, retail, museums?
Also, I don't think displaying traffic flow is available. Can anyone confirm?
The current version of MapKit does not support such features.
It's main capabilities currently are:
a scrollable/zoomable map
reverse geocoding (get the address for some given lat/long coordinates)
add annotations (pins) at a given lat/long
show phone's current location
show Standard, Satellite, or Hybrid view
To display nearby businesses, you would have to:
query a third-party for that information which would ideally return lat/long coordinates
add annotations to the map using the returned coordinates
This is an interesting and emerging business idea!
I live in Nordic region and there is an open Mashups especially for sweden.
By open i mean, any one can request and get access to the content to find nearby Cafe / WiFi / Sushi restaurants etc..
BEGIN PLUG WARNING
Check my iphone application which fetches content from the mashups and display using MapKit!
END PLUG WARNING
And there is a commercial content provider called Info24 for nordic countries at the moment.
Like DyingCactus said, it's not currently possible without using your own calls to one of the mapping service providers. There are options available, though.
One of them is CloudMade. They have a good iPhone library and support almost all of your requirements.
Check out the API at Cloudmade.com
I know this thread is kind of old, but i figured out a free alternative to do what you are looking for, more or less. You just nee to tap into a maps.google.com service and get a kml or JSON output. I used KML (XML) becuase i found the filesize to be consistently smaller. I wrote a 3 part series on my blog about how to do this for anyone that is interested.
http://www.zen-sign.com/finding-business-listings-and-displaying-with-mapkit-part-1/
http://www.zen-sign.com/finding-business-listings-and-displaying-with-mapkit-part-2/
http://www.zen-sign.com/finding-business-listings-and-displaying-with-mapkit-part-3/