Displays Click and Map Coordinates.

What is this?

Mode:

(Lat,Long) - Coordinates at each click. Does NOT update if point or vertex marker is dragged! (nor does the polyline length shown above)

Center Of Map coords and Zoom Level as Object Method

Hard Earned Experience

Trouble with loading maps using the Google Maps API in Firefox? Try flushing the cache! (Solves other mysterious Firefox problems as well)

Cartographic Trivia Question:
The default map view on this page is centered over a spot in Kansas. What is the cartographic significance of this point? Answer at bottom of page.

Features to add:

Save map location and zoom in cookie, but make it optional, and deletable
Complete the custom icon definition
Update distance on pline vertex drag
Provide Undo option for pline segments
Save points and plines as GPX file. Fuctionality available

eleswhere.
Provide input forms for GPX data
Done button with one vertex aborts pline and clears first vertex
Erase function deletes points, plines, and/or vertices
Insert vertex function for plines
Add vertex function to end of plines
User selectable map size (S,M,L)
User selectable point symbols to coordinate with Garmin GPS
Read GPX file and plot the info? Fuctionality available

elsewhere.
Display current length of rubber band
Not a feature to add here, but anyway, to get GPX data to GPS, try GPSbabel

What is this?

I made this page just to get experience in using the Google Maps API. I don't have any specific plans to integrate Google Maps into any whiz-bang application, but it could be a cool way to give visitors (meatspace, not you) driving directions, a favorite bike ride or something else rather trivial.

It became immediately obvious that I would need a handy tool to spit back coordinates for me, so I made this page. Update: I just couldn't stop fiddling with this map. I've implemented a polyline drawing function, and I like the way it's turning out. The idea is to be able to load waypoints and

routes into my GPS, but this functionality is already available, so I'm really just goofing around here. I have even incorporated some new, undocumented features. Man, I've really gotten sucked into this! If, for some reason you want to use my amateur attempt here in something you're doing, go ahead. The script for this page is licensed under Creative Commons

Get your own API key.

If you want to play with Google Maps API yourself, get a free API key

from Google. Please don't use mine. It won't work once you upload it to your web server anyway.

Automatic Copy to Clipboard

(Removed feature) Automatic copy to clipboard is only possible in IE, because it is considered a security and privacy violation to everyone except M$FT

, even though in this case it would be handy. It should be possible to override this restriction in Firefox, but I haven't been able to get it to work. It's complicated by the fact that the settings to do this are hidden (WHY?) from the user in about:config, you need to use user.js and prefs.js to make the changes. Screw it! It's not that hard to hit Ctrl-C.

Datum?

It appears that Google Maps uses the WGS 84 Datum, but there does not appear to be any official documentation confirming this.

Cool!

This

is impressive. USGS topographic raster images from a third source displayed with the Google Maps engine. Many USGS raster maps are still NAD 27, and they use a Transverse Mercator projection. I wonder how this gets translated to Google's WGS 84/Mercator system.

You're still here? I can't believe you read all my drivel. Thanks for your interest.

Trivia Answer: The default map view is centered over Meades Ranch, Kansas. The geodetic center of the NAD 27 datum lies directly below this spot. How's that for trivia?