I’m finally releasing the alpha version of Global Access Maps. An alpha release means that the application is working but not necessarily stable and some features are partially implemented or not implemented at all. It might break, but it should be good enough for casual and curious users. It also means that I use this version for development, so some features might unexpectedly stop working for a while as a result of me tweaking the code. Another important note is that I’ve used Firefox 2.0.x mostly during development. Safari 2.0.x should work, but Internet Explorer users might encounter several issues that won’t be taken care of until the beta release.

Features

• Supports multiple maps
• Multiple markers per map
• The user may choose the marker color and style (numbered, circle, square, …). Numbered markers go from 0 to 99, but by choosing different colors up to 1800 numbered markers may be used in a single map.
• Markers can be tagged with multi word tags.
• After loading the map, a tag cloud is displayed, with varying sizes an colors to reflect the most popular tags for a specific map.
• The marker list can be filtered by choosing a tag
• The Google geocoder is used by default, if this fails or for some specific queries, it can use data from the most appropriate source by querying up to five different geo location services.
• If multiple results are found for a location, it’s possible to choose and preview each result before adding the marker
• Supports “inverse markers”, a marker can be added by double clicking on the map and an inverse query is executed to find location details
• Administration interface may be hidden to maximize map size.
• All external operations are done through AJAX calls, so the page is never reloaded, not even to load a new set of markers from another map.
• Can calculate distances from the selected marker to all the other markers. These distances are point to point, not following streets or roads.
• A user can select a start and end marker and click directions to load directions from Google in the directions panel.
• Powered by Google Maps with v2.x API

Some future features:

• Each marker may have several trips associated to it
• A trip has origin, destination, dates and URLs that point to photographs, or additional information
• Ability to print maps easily
• Use Marker Manager to handle lots of markers effectively

Some of the technologies used to create this application are: AJAX (which, for the uninitiated, includes Javascript and XML), XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language), Java Servlets, JDBC, MySQL database, CSS, DOM.

Here’s a screenshot of the alpha release of Global Access maps. Click on the image for a full size version.

I’ve set up a test map for people who’d like to test the maps for themselves. Feel free to add markers and please report any strange behaviors found, except when related to Internet Explorer or the list of limitations described below.

Test Map

Basic instructions

To add a marker, just type the search text in the query field and press search maps. The results will appear in the results tab, on the left of the map. If there’s a single result, the marker preview will appear automatically, otherwise a list of results will be displayed, which can be previewed individually by clicking on the >. To add the marker to the map, just fill the name and the optional tags and url fields, and press the add marker button. The marker will be added and will be displayed at the end of the markers list.

To select a marker, either click on the text link that appears in the markers list or on the marker icon in the map. The information window will appear, and the icon will change to a star. The calculate distances link may be used after selecting a marker to calculate the distance from the current marker to all the other markers.

The rest of the options are pretty self explanatory, but I will expand this brief guide if requested.

Examples

Over the past few years, I’ve created several maps, linked below. Please do NOT add markers to these maps:

• Dallas, TX, USA
• Las Vegas, NV, USA
• Chicago, IL, USA
• Miami, FL, USA
• New York, NY, USA
• New York Subway, NY, USA
• Los Angeles, CA, USA

Known limitations of the alpha release

• Editing a marker might result in an error
• After adding a marker, the tag cloud is not dynamically updated
• The following features haven’t been implemented: add map, add trip, delete marker, deselect marker

It’s been a while since my last post and I decided to post about what’s keeping me busy.

• New computer! I just bought a 17″ Mac Book Pro, to replace my Power Mac G5, which I’m selling now. I’ve spent the last few weeks moving data around and I’ve finally finished. The most complicated part was moving my music collection, since the MBP’s hard drive is naturally smaller and I had to manually select the songs that would survive the move. People interested in my Power Mac G5 please contact me for details and pricing.
• I was away one week in February to attend the Process Integration STEW in Costa Mesa, CA, an area better known as the Orange County. I spent most of my free time there either shopping or dining, but didn’t take enough photos to justify a new gallery. It was quite cold down there, strange weather for California.
• I just got an Xbox 360 as a suggestion from my brother. I haven’t played that much yet, but the graphics are quite nice. I’ve always been a Nintendo fan so this is a departure for me, I do enjoy several Wii games but must admit that on the visuals department, the Xbox is clearly the winner of these two. Playstation 3 is certainly an interesting system but I find it currently too expensive and with no games that really interest me… but this might change sometime in the future.
• There’s a new version of my J2EE labs coming soon, with support for Rational Application Developer 7 and WebSphere Application Server 6.1
• As usual, I’ve also been busy with some super-secret stuff, but I’ve already talked too much…