MapQuest Developer Network Blog

We recently announced the beta of our new Directions Web Service for the MapQuest Platform; today we want to tell you that the team just added Optimized Routing functionality to the code.

If you're not familiar with Optimized Routing, it basically works like this:

Say the users of the app you've built using the Directions Web Service plug in a bunch of places they need to go. They have the addresses, but aren't really familiar with how far away all of these stops are from each other. With Optimized Routing, all of the stops between the first and last are reordered for the shortest overall distance or drive time.

Now it is still a work in progress, so keep in mind that Optimized Routing is designed for use on locations that are relatively nearby to each other (e.g.: delivery or repair services, planning a tour of open houses, etc.) It will attempt to optimize longer distances, but to meet performance limits, it may estimate the drive time calculation. This could lead to a less than optimally optimized route.

If you haven't yet checked out the Developer's Guide to the beta Web Directions Service, please do so and give us your thoughts and feedback.

Also, thanks for all the Directions Web Service mentions on the blogs and on Twitter. We are paying attention to your feedback and comments and appreciate the support. We also dig that you enjoy the phrase "sane and modern web service" as much as we do.

More features are on the way. Stay tuned.

Today we're celebrating "One small step for man..." However, it turns out that it's the 40^th anniversary of the Moon Landing we're celebrating, not today's beta release of our new Directions Web Service. Well I say: "Why can't we celebrate both?"

And while you'll likely never set foot on the Moon, you can check out our first beta of our new MapQuest Platform: Directions Web Service right now. We've taken our decades worth of routing technology and know-how and have been rewriting it into a sane and modern web service that's easy to use.

How easy?

http://platform.beta.mapquest.com/directions/v1/route?key=<your app key here>&from=Lancaster,PA&to=York,PA&callback=renderNarrative

This simple request will return a JSONP response containing the directions narrative data and then fires the defined JavaScript callback function in your app. You then have the flexibility to display the information in your UI however you want.

Yes, that easy.

Some other tidbits of useful information regarding our Directions Web Service:

• The service will utilize the following formats:
  • Key-Value pairs submitted via HTTP GET or POST
  • JSON
  • XML
  • ...and more formats are in the works. Check the Developer Network Beta page for updates.
• The format supplied does not have to match the format requested either. Send us XML but ask for a JSON response. Mix and Match to fit the needs of your application.
• You can make your Directions requests as simple or as advanced as you'd like
• If there's an ambiguity in one of the locations, we will return a list of location choices or you can opt for us to take the first location and just return your directions
• You can return the full route shape or in a performance encoded format for size
• The response returns the image URIs of the road shields, making it easy to manage how and where you display them
• More functionality, such as route matrix and optimized routing will be available in future beta updates

All the details are in the Directions Web Service Documentation, which we've also baked right into the service.

One important thing to note: You need to use a Developer License key in order to use beta services. There is no-cost associated with using a Developer License. Signup here.

I was going to close out this post with something, like "It's out of this world," but it's probably a bit cheesy, ya'know, like the stuff the Moon is made out of. How about you check it out and let us know what you think instead?

Back in October we announced that we would be retiring our old OpenAPI product on Saturday, January 31^st. OpenAPI was replaced almost a year ago with our easier-to-use and much more feature-rich MapQuest Platform: Free Edition.

January 31^st is rapidly approaching. If your application is still being powered by the MapQuest OpenAPI product, you will need to complete migration to one of 6 APIs available in the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition within the next two weeks.

The MapQuest OpenAPI product servers will go offline on Saturday, January 31st, 2009. Applications not migrated off of the MapQuest OpenAPI product will stop working after this date.

Please don't be that guy (or gal) who procrastinates and then winds up with the broken app in production.

You can find documentation and downloads for the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product on our Developer Network.

MapQuest will be attending Adobe Max next week in San Francisco. We'll be hanging out with the Adobe community and demonstrating the features and functionality of our AS3 and FUJAX APIs.

If you're going to Adobe Max, please stop by and say "Hi!" We'll be at booth #410 in the Community Pavilion.

At the start of the New Year, MapQuest will be retiring the MapQuest OpenAPI product, having launched the more feature rich MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product. Since the MapQuest OpenAPI does not use the same backend as our newer APIs, nor does it provide the breadth in functionality, we want to provide you with a better free experience. Don't wait - make the switch today!

If your application is currently being powered by the MapQuest OpenAPI product, you will need to migrate to one of 6 APIs available in the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product prior to January 31, 2009.

Our MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product offers more flexibility and ease of development along with providing developer choice with six APIs:

SERVER SIDE APIs

• Java
• C++
• .NET

CLIENT SIDE APIs

• JavaScript
• AS3 (ActionScript 3: Flash, Flex, AIR)
• FUJAX (Write JavaScript, output Flash)

Our MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product includes many additional features including:

• COLLECTIONS: Support for multiple and remote collections (KML and GeoRSS); allowing easier handling of shape collections.
• ADVANCED SHAPE OVERLAYS: Build applications that allow users to create and interact with a variety of overlays on maps, including custom lines, polygons, rectangles, and ellipses
• CUSTOM TILE LAYER SUPPORT
• Add REAL-TIME TRAFFIC to your map
• GLOBE VIEW
• AERIAL IMAGERY and HYBRID VIEWS
• SMART ROLLOVERS: Rollover windows that adapt their size and positioning based on the content placed in the window.
• ADVANCED MAP MARKERS: With the MapQuest "declutter mode," automatically move collided markers to positions on the map with a leader link pointing to their original location.

The MapQuest OpenAPI product servers will go offline on Saturday, January 31st, 2009. Please plan on migrating your application before this date or applications based on the MapQuest OpenAPI product will stop working.

You can find documentation and downloads for the MapQuest Platform: Free Edition product on our Developer Network.

Additional information can be found on: http://platform.mapquest.com.

So you may be looking at that MapQuest map embedded in your site or one of thousands of other sites who also use the MapQuest Platform and thinking: "Is something different today?"

Your powers of observation have not failed you! But what could it be that's changed? Tough one, I know.

Have you figured it out yet? The answer is perhaps right in front of you or on the top of this page?

Yeah, we totally got a new logo.

Maps all over the globe are now sporting the new MapQuest logo as part of a rollout which began this morning. There's plenty of details over on our sister blog for MapQuest.com, as well as announcements on a bunch of new beta features that released with the new branding.

We hope you like the new look!

So you're reading this, which means you either follow our RSS feed, check in on the blog directly, or happened to land here looking for something (which we hope you found BTW). What you might not know is that we have a few other ways to keep tabs on MapQuest news and happenings for both the Developer Blog you're reading and the MapQuest.com Blog:

• MapQuest Developer Blog: You're reading it now!
• MapQuest Developer Blog RSS Feed: Read from the comfort of your favorite feed reader
• MapQuest Developer Blog Email Subscription: Receive emails when we update the blog.
• MapQuest on FriendFeed: FriendFeed is a social aggregation service. Track updates from both MapQuest blogs.
• MapQuest on Twitter: Twitter is a popular service for telling the world what you're currently doing. Track updates from both MapQuest blogs.

One of the challenges all web developers face is future versions of platforms your application runs on. When a new browser or in this case version 10 of the Adobe Flash Player is on the horizon, it's good to run your application against it to see if any changes will need to be made before the new version goes to production and screens across the Web light up with messages of "An upgrade is available."

We've recently launched an unsupported version of our AS3 API for those of you working with Flash 10. Some developers have found that our 5.3 release and it's version checking of the Flash Player would cause errors to be thrown. This unsupported release (5.3.1_U) fixes that.

For the curious, it's an unsupported build because the Flash 10 player is still in development. This update will however allow you to run and test your applications on Flash 10 using the MapQuest AS3 API.

Oh, one other note: 5.3.1_U also was built for Adobe Flex 3 and AIR.

We also have unsupported versions of our C++ API for Mac OSX 10.5 (Intel) and a PHP API. You can download them on our Unsupported Tools page.

We're big fans of the annual SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. Some of us at MapQuest have been attending for years.

One of the great things about the conference is that it's constantly evolving with the interests of the attendees. The public even contributes to picking the panels that will be available. For SXSW 2009, we have a session up for consideration in the Panel Picker voting:

"Whereify Your Content; Gain an Audience of Millions"

Building an audience for your content is expensive. What's a start-up to do to? In this session, we'll talk about some of the ways making your content location-aware can help you quickly build an audience. We'll also show you how to do it.

It's a timely topic in an increasingly mobile and context-sensitive world and we know a little about helping people find places. So, here's where you can vote and hear what we have to say on the topic of "Whereification."

• Fill out a quick sign-up at the SXSW Panel Picker. You don't have to be planning to attend SXSW (although you totally should) to vote.
• Click the "Create an Account to Begin Voting" link
• Fill out the form and submit
• Check email for verification link and click.
• Visit the panel page for: "Whereify Your Content; Gain an Audience of Millions"
• Vote!

Voting runs until August 29^th and we'll see you in Austin next March!

AOL Music just launched a great site called Tour Tracker. It allows you to see when and where your favorite bands are playing and shows coming to a town near you.

They also just happen to have some really cool interactive maps built on the same MapQuest Platform that you use, specifically the JavaScript API. How about that?

Go over and check it out while I get some tickets to go see the Foo Fighters.