I would like to embed a google map in a layout to show the location of a number of different contacts.
This sort of thing is in one of the starter solutions, and it looks pretty straightforward IF you can import custom functions. However, i am using FileMaker 15 pro (not advanced), so I can't.
Is there any way if achieving this without using custom functions?
thanks!
If you open up a copy of the relevant Starter Solution it will contain the Custom Functions. You will not be able to see what's inside them without FMAdvanced, but they will be there and you will be able to use them. If you modify this file to build your own solution instead of starting with your own blank file, you will have the CFs available to use.
I do this with a custom webpage, using the Google Maps API. I create a PHP file on the web sever, like this one (image attached).
Back in FileMaker, I add a web viewer and use a 'Custom Web Address' pointed to the url of my PHP file.
For my solution, the map center is passed from the record my user happens to be viewing in FileMaker. That's what line 556 is about. If you don't need your map to change its center point dynamically, you could hard-code the lat and long on line 556.
The locations array on line 26 is just a list of location names and coordinates that I export from FileMaker, to create the map markers. I export an updated location array every few months.
Hope this helps.
Here is an example of an exteremly simple googlemaps routeplanner in the Webviewer. You do not need CF's and you do not need an external webserver (exempt for google.com ).
If you need another kind of map, just find a suitable example at: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/tutorial and change it to your own needs.
Thanks! If you just want to put markers on the map (rather than plotting a route), with the address information taken from contact fields, it seems you have to use the GeoLocation API to change the information into long/lat.
Is this still possible without custom functions?
sure, there are sevralways to do that.
One way would be to calculate the coordinates for each record and use the coordinates in a summary-field to create an array of coordinates. Use that field to replace into the html
I found this site a while back, when I needed to geocode ~700 locations:
Batch Geocoding Tool- Lat./ Long. lookup 100 addresses Free
For my FileMaker solution, I exported a CSV file of address strings (100 at a time), pasted that result to the site, and their tool returned the Lat Lng appended to each row. I copy/pasted *that* result into a new CSV file and used it to update my database records (import, update existing).
The site is free. There are other tools that do larger batches and will even host a map for you, but those *aren't* free.
For multiple contacts, no. But you could have someone with Advanced do it for you, then you could use it. However, keep in mind, if you had to edit the CF, you would need someone to do it for you.
If you're going to do any type of development, you should really be using advanced. Probably not one person ever has started using advanced and thought they could get by without it.