Validate and Format Addresses using Google API

xiao — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:54:38 +0000

Suppose you want to make some web app that lets users input addresses. I would be nice to

Weed out minor misspelling
Standardise format (proper capitalisation, abbreviated province/state or full name etc)
Input in freeform but store civic number, street name, city etc separately
Verify the address exists of course

Some governmental entities provide this information via public APIs but if you want a uniform service, why not use Google?

Fortunately, Thor Mitchell, a Google Product Manager, posted an excellent example code that does all of the above using Google Maps JavaScript API. Even better, it’s with the new V3 so it’s not obsolete anytime soon. It’s originally posted here in the comments of a blog by Gabe Sumner. It definitely deserves more recognition so here it is again as is:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/>
<title>Google Maps JavaScript API v3 Example: Map Simple</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
 
  var geocoder, map, marker;
  var defaultLatLng = new google.maps.LatLng(30,0);
 
  function initialize() {
    geocoder = new google.maps.Geocoder();
    var mapOptions = {
      zoom: 0,
      center: defaultLatLng,
      mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
    }
    map = new google.maps.Map(
      document.getElementById("map_canvas"),
      mapOptions
    );
    marker = new google.maps.Marker();
  }
 
  function validate() {
    clearResults();
    var address = document.getElementById('address').value;
    geocoder.geocode({'address': address }, function(results, status) {
      switch(status) {
        case google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK:
          document.getElementById('valid').value = 'YES';
          document.getElementById('type').value = results[0].types[0];
          document.getElementById('result').value = results[0].formatted_address;
          mapAddress(results[0]);
          break;
        case google.maps.GeocoderStatus.ZERO_RESULTS:
          document.getElementById('valid').value = 'NO';
          break;
        default:
          alert("An error occured while validating this address")
      }
    });
  }
 
  function clearResults() {
    document.getElementById('valid').value = '';
    document.getElementById('type').value = '';
    document.getElementById('result').value = '';
    map.setCenter(defaultLatLng);
    map.setZoom(0);
    marker.setMap(null);
  }
 
  function mapAddress(result) {
    marker.setPosition(result.geometry.location);
    marker.setMap(map);
    map.fitBounds(result.geometry.viewport);
  }
</script>
<style>
body {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}
 
#address {
  width:300px;
  height:150px;
  float: left;
  margin: 10px;
}
 
#map_canvas {
  width:256px;
  height:150px;
  margin: 10px;
}
 
#validate {
  clear: both;
}
 
#results {
  margin-top: 10px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body onload="initialize()">
  <div>Address</div>
  <textarea type="text" id="address"></textarea>
  <div id="map_canvas"></div>
  <div id="validate"><input type="button" value="Validate" onClick="validate()"></input></div>
  <div id="results">
    <table>
      <tr><td align="right">Valid:</td><td><input type="text" id="valid" size="60"></input></td></tr>
      <tr><td align="right">Matched:</td><td><input type="text" id="type" size="60"></input></td></tr>
      <tr><td align="right">Result:</td><td><input type="text" id="result" size="60"></input></td></tr>
    </table>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Only 100 lines! It uses Google’s GeoCoding JavaScript API and you can fancy it up easily with jQuery. In the validate function, the results variable contains of course json formatted responses as described in Google’s docs. Looking at ‘address_components’ will give you the properly formatted address separated by parts which you can put into database.

For a backend solution, you can use pygeocoder, a Python library, to validate addresses.

Draw Line/Shape in FarPoint FpSpread

xiao — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:28:59 +0000

If you worked with FarPoint Spread, you know that it uses conventions and APIs entirely different from what’s used in normal Winforms. When it comes to drawing inside a FarPoint spread, CreateGraphics will definitely not work. If only FarPoint made their documentations Google-friendly, you will find that there are in fact APIs specifically made for drawing.

'Draws a horizontal line
Dim line As New FarPoint.Win.Spread.DrawingSpace.LineShape
line.Thickness = 3
line.Width = x
line.Height = 1 'if you don't specify it, the line will do weird things
line.Top = x
line.Left = x
line.ShapeOutlineColor = Color.FromArgb(x, x, x)
fpspread.ActiveSheet.AddShape(line)

Please note that the line.Top is calculated from the top of the header. If you scroll down, it’s still calculated from the header (which may be screens away). Use ActiveSheet.AddShape(line, row, column) to set a starting reference point.

Google Android 1.6 Camera Exposure

xiao — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:44:23 +0000

While developing an image processing software on G1, we noticed that our pictures are constantly overexposed although the API seemed simple enough and that we don’t have that many parameters to play with. Especially at API level 4.

Turns out, we need to make use of Camera.autoFocus() to adjust metering from the G1. It’s a bit lame that we can’t set them separately…

Xster.net » API

Validate and Format Addresses using Google API

Draw Line/Shape in FarPoint FpSpread

Google Android 1.6 Camera Exposure