Mashing Up Google Maps

To better support our users in finding free food, we are attempting to integrate Google Maps into the event view, which will let users find directions to events easily. Each Facebook network has its own map with a unique geographic point and zoom level. When a user is creating an event or importing an event to Moocher for a network, they will be prompted with the option to pinpoint the building/location of the event with a Google Map box that is automatically zoomed to their campus. Moocher stores the latitude and longitude of the mouse-click for reference.

When users are viewing an event with location data, the page will display a Google Map centered at the location of the event with a link to receive further directions from Google Maps. To enable the use of Google Maps within Facebook , we nested the scripts that Google Maps uses inside of an iFrame. Using PHP’s get() and set() methods, we are able to pass variables between our database, Google Maps applet, and the Moocher Application. The API is located at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/ and contains useful tutorials and code examples.