Encoding Methods

This example demonstrates path encoding using the Geometry library. Click the map to create a polyline. The encoding of this polyline then appears in the text box.

Read the documentation.

TypeScript

// This example requires the Geometry library. Include the libraries=geometry
// parameter when you first load the API. For example:
// <script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_API_KEY&libraries=geometry">

function initMap(): void {
  const map = new google.maps.Map(
    document.getElementById("map") as HTMLElement,
    {
      zoom: 14,
      center: { lat: 34.366, lng: -89.519 },
    }
  );
  const poly = new google.maps.Polyline({
    strokeColor: "#000000",
    strokeOpacity: 1,
    strokeWeight: 3,
    map: map,
  });

  // Add a listener for the click event
  google.maps.event.addListener(map, "click", (event) => {
    addLatLngToPoly(event.latLng, poly);
  });
}

/**
 * Handles click events on a map, and adds a new point to the Polyline.
 * Updates the encoding text area with the path's encoded values.
 */
function addLatLngToPoly(
  latLng: google.maps.LatLng,
  poly: google.maps.Polyline
) {
  const path = poly.getPath();

  // Because path is an MVCArray, we can simply append a new coordinate
  // and it will automatically appear
  path.push(latLng);

  // Update the text field to display the polyline encodings
  const encodeString = google.maps.geometry.encoding.encodePath(path);

  if (encodeString) {
    (document.getElementById("encoded-polyline") as HTMLInputElement).value =
      encodeString;
  }
}

declare global {
  interface Window {
    initMap: () => void;
  }
}
window.initMap = initMap;

JavaScript

// This example requires the Geometry library. Include the libraries=geometry
// parameter when you first load the API. For example:
// <script src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=YOUR_API_KEY&libraries=geometry">
function initMap() {
  const map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"), {
    zoom: 14,
    center: { lat: 34.366, lng: -89.519 },
  });
  const poly = new google.maps.Polyline({
    strokeColor: "#000000",
    strokeOpacity: 1,
    strokeWeight: 3,
    map: map,
  });

  // Add a listener for the click event
  google.maps.event.addListener(map, "click", (event) => {
    addLatLngToPoly(event.latLng, poly);
  });
}

/**
 * Handles click events on a map, and adds a new point to the Polyline.
 * Updates the encoding text area with the path's encoded values.
 */
function addLatLngToPoly(latLng, poly) {
  const path = poly.getPath();

  // Because path is an MVCArray, we can simply append a new coordinate
  // and it will automatically appear
  path.push(latLng);

  // Update the text field to display the polyline encodings
  const encodeString = google.maps.geometry.encoding.encodePath(path);

  if (encodeString) {
    document.getElementById("encoded-polyline").value = encodeString;
  }
}

window.initMap = initMap;

CSS

/* Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. */
html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

#container {
  height: 100%;
  display: flex;
}

#sidebar {
  flex-basis: 15rem;
  flex-grow: 1;
  padding: 1rem;
  max-width: 30rem;
  height: 100%;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  overflow: auto;
}

#map {
  flex-basis: 0;
  flex-grow: 4;
  height: 100%;
}

#encoded-polyline {
  height: 100px;
  width: 100%;
}

HTML

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Encoding Methods</title>
    <script src="https://polyfill.io/v3/polyfill.min.js?features=default"></script>

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./style.css" />
    <script type="module" src="./index.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="container">
      <div id="map"></div>
      <div id="sidebar">
        <div>Encoding:</div>
        <textarea id="encoded-polyline"></textarea>
      </div>
    </div>

    <!-- 
      The `defer` attribute causes the callback to execute after the full HTML
      document has been parsed. For non-blocking uses, avoiding race conditions,
      and consistent behavior across browsers, consider loading using Promises.
      See https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/load-maps-js-api
      for more information.
      -->
    <script
      src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyB41DRUbKWJHPxaFjMAwdrzWzbVKartNGg&callback=initMap&libraries=geometry&v=weekly"
      defer
    ></script>
  </body>
</html>

Try Sample

Clone Sample

Git and Node.js are required to run this sample locally. Follow these instructions to install Node.js and NPM. The following commands clone, install dependencies and start the sample application.

  git clone -b sample-geometry-encodings https://github.com/googlemaps/js-samples.git
  cd js-samples
  npm i
  npm start

Other samples can be tried by switching to any branch beginning with sample-SAMPLE_NAME.

  git checkout sample-SAMPLE_NAME
  npm i
  npm start