I was recently asked whether it was possible to develop a graphical reporting tool, one that allowed you to flag a number of locations across the UK and for each to hold and present data about its location.
As is becoming more and more common nowadays, my first instinct was to turn to Google. And I never turned back, although I stumbled a little along the way.
First of all, I tried creating a personal map in the “My Maps” section of Google Maps. This allowed me to plonk markers on the map, but the data within each could not be updated other than in the map view itself. What was needed was a spreadsheet that drove the map data, both in terms of the locations’ coordinates and the data therein.
I found a Google Maps API that allowed the data presented by a Google Map to be driven from a Google Spreadsheet. Fabulous. As soon as the spreadsheet is updated, the URL dedicated to the map will display the new data. Any new rows’ locations will be displayed as new markers on the map, and the data that appears when you click on a marker will also be up-to-date.
The only missing link is the automated lookup of a location’s postcode to determine its latitude and longitude position—few people know their locations’ geo-coordinates. I’ve found this site which is great at returning the coordinates of a single postcode, but I’m yet to find a similar one that can return the coordinates of a whole bunch of postcodes.
Now all I need is a place to host the map. Google Sites couldn’t help, as the code uses tags that are deemed “untrusted”. Ha!
