Geocoder Integration with GpsGate using HTTP
This article will demonstrate how to integrate a geocoding service over HTTP with GpsGate. A simple xml-based protocol is defined which allows for 3rd party integration. We show how to configure GpsGate to communicate with the geocoding service, and how to use the appropriate tools to test the integration.
Introduction
GpsGate includes several types of geocoder providers out-of-the-box. For example, Point-of-Interest, Geofence, Google, and more. There is also an encoder available that can be configured to make web service requests to a URL using a simple XML-based protocol. It is called “HTTP Geocoder”. With this geocoder, a 3rd party integration can be made by implementing a web service using, for example, PHP, JSP, or any other script engine for dynamically-generated web pages. The following examples will use a fictitious web service, MyMap, implemented using PHP and located at http://your-server.com/Geocoder.php.
Protocols
Reverse Geocoding Protocol
When the MyMap geocoder provider does a reverse geocoding request, it will use the following URL format:
http://your-server.com/Geocoder.php?op=ReverseGeocode&longitude=103.851718&latitude=1.290655
The part in bold is configurable, as we’ll see in a moment.
The result of the request is expected to be xml with the following format:
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<Location>
<Address>Address</Address>
<AdministrativeAreaName>AdministrativeAreaName</AdministrativeAreaName>
<CityName>CityName</CityName>
<CountryName>CountryName</CountryName>
<PostalCodeNumber>PostalCodeNumber</PostalCodeNumber>
<StreetBox>StreetBox</StreetBox>
<StreetName>StreetName</StreetName>
<StreetNumber>StreetNumber</StreetNumber>
<SubAdministrativeAreaName>SubAdministrativeAreaName</SubAdministrativeAreaName>
</Location>
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The recognized elements within the Location element are: Address, AdministrativeAreaName, CityName, CountryName, PostalCodeNumber, StreetBox, StreetName, StreetNumber, SubAdministrativeAreaName, Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude.
Geocoding
A geocoding request is performed similarly. Here we send a query using the following URL format:
http://your-server.com/Geocoder.php?op=Geocode&Query=CITY+HALL
The result is expected to be a list of locations:
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<LocationList>
<Location>
<Longitude>103.851717793137</Longitude>
<Latitude>1.29065480099533</Latitude>
<Address>CITY HALL</Address>
</Location>
<Location>
<Longitude>103.852542627029</Longitude>
<Latitude>1.29298990999197</Latitude>
<Address>CITY HALL MRT STATION</Address>
</Location>
</LocationList>
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Conclusion
This concludes the walk-through on how to integrate a 3rd party geocoding service. The configuration within GpsGate is quite simple and all the tools for testing are available. What remains is to create an integration service using a server-side scripting language of your choice (or any server technology for that matter).