MapQuest Developer Network Blog

DevNet Next

MapQuest is happy to announce the launch of a completely rebuilt and revised MapQuest Developer Network. Our goal is to make it easy for the growing development community to get started with the MapQuest Platform and for experienced developers to find what info they need fast.

What's New

Documentation Made Easy

Our new Web Services and upcoming 6.0 SDKs will have a simpler and concise set of documentation so you can view instructions, variables, samples, and source code all at-a-glance.

Consolidated Application Management

Your applications are now attached to MapQuest My Places. No more tracking multiple sets of credentials for the various MapQuest applications you manage. Access all of your account settings, tools, and resources from one place. If you were a user of our TRC, we've provided an easy way to migrate your accounts.

Reorganized Site; Cleaner Interface

Site content is now organized by product and technology, each with a dedicated forum to discuss topics with other developers. The site also has a cleaner look.

Check It Out

Please give our updated Developer Network a look and let us know what you think.

We've had a lot of excitement this month with multiple launches and cool projects. We wanted to make sure that we also highlight our recently updated JavaScript 6.0 SDK Beta. In the latest build, we've got some great additions to the feature set:

• Overlay support, including CircleOverlay for quickly showing a radius
• Routes can now be run without needing a map
• Wrapper functions for easy access to the Directions Web Service RouteMatrix call

The big new feature this time is support for iPhone/Mobile Safari events such as pinchToZoom. When Mobile Safari is detected, the support module is automatically included, registering touch events.

In a few lines of code, you can also take advantage of the geolocation services in the device and default your map the the user's location.

navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(
  function(position) {
    map.setCenter(
      {
        lat:  position.coords.latitude,
        lng:  position.coords.longitude
      }
    );
  }
);

More news and announcements coming soon. Stay tuned.

In addition to auditioning for sitcoms at the studios, MapQuest will be at the Adobe Max conference in Los Angeles, October 4th-7th. We'll be talking to developers, showing demos of our MapQuest Platform using the current 5.3 AS3 SDK and our upcoming 6.0 SDK (currently in Beta). My colleague Ant will also be demonstrating his ability to cry on cue for any casting directors in attendance.

We've also partnered with Adobe to power an Interactive Map of the area. The MapQuest-built Adobe Max Locator application will show conference goers nearby restaurants, hotels, conference shuttle locations, and other hot spots near the Los Angeles Convention Center, home to this year's event.

If you're heading to Adobe Max, stop by and say "Hi!" We'll be in Community Pavilion Booth #843, sitting next to you in the Sessions, or in line to audition for the parts of "Guys in Background" for an upcoming episode of "How I Met Your Mother."

Dump your Garmin! No, I don't mean getting rid of your Garmin, so don't go chucking it out the window just yet. I'm referring to dumping the data from the .gpx file your Garmin device utilizes to store location and route information.

A co-worker of mine recently asked me to write an app that reads a Garmin's .gpx file and displays the waypoints and the route on a map. Never having seen a .gpx file (I'm a TomTom boy, myself) I was pretty sure it would include all the basics - lat/lng, name, etc, etc. I found what I was expecting in the file, not much to it, it's fairly simple.

You can view the sample app here. Viewsource is enabled on the sample so you can see the code involved in it. To sum it up, I used an HTTPService to read the file, array collections (I know they're heavy and slow, but they're easy), and looped through the collections displaying the waypoints and route on the map. If you're at all familiar with placing POIs and routes on MapQuest's maps, the whole process is fairly simple.

Hope this helps some one! If you threw your Garmin out the window in the first paragraph, neither MapQuest nor I are responsible.

Use the DotNet API? We've made some updates and improvements to the 5.3 DotNet Simple Samples.

Change #1

Previously, in order to get the samples to build, you needed to download the mapquest API DLL separately and:

• For VB.net and C#.net, edit all the project files
• For ASP.net, you had to add a reference to the DLL

The current 5.3 mapquest20.dll has now been added to each package. For ASP.net, it's in a /bin subdirectory so that it will automatically be picked up as a reference.

For VB.net and C#.net, its been added to the top level of the zip package and we've modified all the project files so that the correct location is referenced.

In short, when you extract the samples archive and open the solution file, the DLL will already be there with a working reference.

Change #2

The relevant MQServers file had localhost and strange development ports settings. These files have been updated so that they default to the appropriate dev server location (e.g., map.dev.mapquest.com) and port 80.

Change #3

The readme.txt for the ASP.net archive to call out that the user needs to modify MQServers with your client id, password and possibly server info.

readme.txt files were added to the VB.net and ASP.net archives.

In general, these changes should make our dotNet samples easier to use.

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.

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!

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.

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.

You can now print MapQuest maps!

"Well duh," you're probably thinking. "I've been printing MapQuest maps and driving directions for years."

Well of course you have. MapQuest.com generates millions-and-millions of maps specifically for printing every day. What I'm talking about here is printing from the applications you're making using the Free Edition of the MapQuest Platform.

"I couldn't do that before?"

That was a little unclear in our old Terms and Conditions. Some observant developers asked about it, and we said "Why not?" We wound up drawing straws to see who had to ask Legal for the revisions. I lost. So I took the ask up the cliffside, knocked on the iron plated door, dropped the paperwork and ran.

So here's the deal for printing with the Free Edition:

• You can print up to 5000 copies of a map per run/publication
• The printed map can be up to a maximum of 8.5" x 11" inches printed
• It has to be a free publication (flyer, newsletter, etc); you can't use it in a publication you're charging for

Just another example of how we're working with developers and responding to your needs.

Happy Printing!

With the 5.3 release of the MapQuest Platform, we've now deactivated the beta versions (until the next version is ready for beta of course). If you were using the 5.3 beta versions, here's some quick tips to keep your application running smoothly:

• You need to change "&v=5.3.0_RCx" to "&v=5.3.0," "x" being the Release Candidate number you were using
• If you were pointing to the beta servers "http://btilelog.beta.mapquest.com," you need to point back to the production servers: "http://btilelog.access.mapquest.com"

These simple steps will help keep your development from grinding to a halt -- like in a traffic jam. Since real-time traffic is also one of the new features in 5.3, you can help keep your users from actually winding up in a real traffic jam.

We are pleased to announce the release of version 5.3 of the MapQuest Platform! This update focuses on enhancements to our 3 client-side APIs: JavaScript, AS3, and FUJAX.

Some of the big changes include:

• Collections: Support for multiple and remote collections (KML and GeoRSS); easier handling of shape collections
• Custom Tile Layer support
• Add real-time traffic to your map
• Globe view enhancements
• All 3rd party JavaScript libraries removed (decreases JS footprint)

For the server-side APIs, .NET works with 2.0 and 3.5 on 32 and 64-bit; C++ now has been upgraded to support Visual Studio 2008 and 32 and 64-bit libraries are available.

Here's the full list of release notes:

In my last post we saw that using the MapQuest NET API version 5.3 in an ASP.NET web application was not all that much harder than using it in a winforms application. Now in order to easily reuse some of the code it would be nice to create an ASP.NET custom control which displays a map just based on an origin and a destination.

Where Open Voice meets Geocoding

Geocoding is hot. "Geocoding is the process of assigning geographic identifiers (e.g., codes or geographic coordinates expressed as latitude-longitude) to map features and other data records, such as street addresses. You can also geocode media, for example where a picture was taken, IP addresses, and anything that has a geographic component. With geographic coordinates the features can be mapped and entered into Geographic Information Systems" - wikipedia. Using the MapQuest API we can geocode any address in the world. In my recent article on Open Voice I showed how to use C# and .NET to build a Voice over IP phone. I've also been exploring the possibilities of the MapQuest .NET API on my blog. Now wouldn't it be great if those two worlds came together to build a phone that displays the location of the person you're calling? I call it the AIM Map Phone. And it looks like this: