Re: linking to specific spot on map?

Addressed to: Floyd Baker <fbaker@olm1.com> php-general@lists.php.net ** Reply to note from Floyd Baker <fbaker@olm1.com> Thu, 01 Mar 2001 16:39:23 -0500 > > > > Hi.. We have a city map using co-ordinates to link to specific info on various > buildings, etc. The links bring up an information page with data and photos for > each building locations on the map. > > My question is, when this information page is accessed from another direction, > say a menu, can there be a link that operates in 'reverse', back to the map and > the building in question? We still want people to see the map, relating to a > specific building, whether they start there or end up there. > > I thought the map could perhaps position itself so that the point of interest is > always in the center, or that it blinks, or has a arrow pointing to it. It > doesn't matter what the final display looks like, just that is shows a > particular location clearly. If you have a small number of locations <100 or so, and you only want to show one at a time, I'd seriously consider just making 100 maps with markers on them, and sending the right one when needed. This will be much faster to serve as there is no graphic processing involved. If you want to be able to have multiple random selections where more than one location is shown on a map, you are stuck generating them on the fiy. I would start with a stock map and use GD to draw a marker over the top of it for each location you want to hilite. In each of your database records you would record the x and y coordinates of the point on the map where the building is located. If you want to build maps with various center points and scales, and be able to plot buildings on it, you will want to store the lat and lon of the building, and store everything else using lat/lon. If you are going to do this, look for someone very good with geometry to design the math. It can get tricky trying to show a section of a sphere on a flat screen. Rick Widmer Internet Marketing Specialists http://www.developersdesk.com