Geocoder¶ ↑

Geocoder is a simple plugin for Rails that provides object geocoding (via Google Maps) and some utilities for working with geocoded objects. The code can be used as a standalone method provider or included in a class to give objects geographic awareness.

Setup¶ ↑

Use the Rails plugin install script:

script/plugin install git://github.com/alexreisner/geocoder.git

To add geocoding features to a class:

geocoded_by :location

Be sure your class defines read/write attributes latitude and longitude as well as a method called location (or whatever name you pass to geocoded_by) that returns a string suitable for passing to a Google Maps search, for example:

714 Green St, Big Town, MO

If your model has address, city, state, and country attributes your location method might look something like this:

def location
  [address, city, state, country].compact.join(', ')
end

Examples¶ ↑

Look up coordinates of an object:

obj.fetch_coordinates            # returns an array [lat, lon]
obj.fetch_and_assign_coordinates # writes values to +latitude+ and +longitude+

Find distance between object and a point:

obj.distance_to(40.71432, -100.23487)      # in miles
obj.distance_to(40.71432, -100.23487, :km) # in kilometers

Find objects within 20 miles of a point:

Venue.near('Omaha, NE, US', 20)  # Venue is a geocoded model

Please see the code for more methods and detailed information about arguments.

_Copyright © 2009 Alex Reisner, released under the MIT license_