Gmaps autocomplete for Rails

Extracted from gmaps-autocomplete and improved markedly and then packaged for use with Rails as an asset gem :)

See it in action here: http://rjshade.com/projects/gmaps-autocomplete/

Some more explanation here: https://github.com/rjshade/gmaps-autocomplete

Install

gem 'gmaps-autocomplete-rails'

You will also need:

gem 'jquery-rails'
gem 'jquery-ui-rails'

And run bundle install;)

Packed and ready for use with the Asset pipeline :)

Add to javascript manifest file, fx application.js

//= require jquery_ujs
//= require jquery.ui.all
//= require gmaps-autocomplete

And include the google maps script before application.js, fx in your layout file:

See google maps and RoR

application.html.erb

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script>
<%= javascript_include_tag "application" %>

Note also that the autocomplete script depends on jQuery 1.6+.

Initialize

application.js

$(document).ready(function() { 
  GmapsAutoComplete.init();
  GmapsAutoComplete.autoCompleteInit();
});

or coffeescript

yourmodel.js.coffee

$ ->
  GmapsAutoComplete.init()
  GmapsAutoComplete.autoCompleteInit()

Configuration options

init() can take an option hash, using the following defaults:

defaultOptions = {
  mapElem: "#gmaps-canvas", 
  zoomLevel: 2, 
  mapType: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP,
  pos: [51.751724, -1.255284],
  inputField: '#gmaps-input-address',
  errorField: '#gmaps-error',
  debugOn: false
};

Advanced Configuration

init() can take an option hash, using the following defaults:

defaultOptions = {
  mapElem: "#gmaps-canvas", 
  zoomLevel: 2, 
  mapType: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP,
  pos: [51.751724, -1.255284],
  inputField: '#gmaps-input-address',
  errorField: '#gmaps-error',
  debugOn: false
};

The following default methods can be replaced by configuration:

  positionOutputter: this.defaultPositionOutputter,
  updateUI : this.defaultUpdateUI,
  updateMap : this.defaultUpdateMap

autoCompleteInit also takes an option hash, but currently only region and country can be used.

autoCompleteInit({region: 'DK', country: 'Denmark'});

Will make searches in the DK region and remove ', Denmark' from the result.

Use with Rails form helpers

= simple_form_for(@post) do |f|
    = f.input :address, :input_html =>{:id => 'gmaps-input-address'}, :placeholder => 'Start typing a place...'

Examples

See spec/index.html for an example page using this "plugin". Note that if you set mapElemto null or leave out that element on the page, the autocomplete will function without attempting to update the map :)

Advanced Customization

Some of the prime candidate functions for customization are:

updateUi
updateMap

Here the default simple updateUI implementation:

updateUi: function( address, latLng ) {
  $(this.inputField).autocomplete("close");
  $(this.inputField).val(address);

  this.positionOutputter(latLng);
}

Let's enrich the autocomplete fields with a jobs count for "the area" for each address.

updateUi: function( address, latLng ) {
  $(this.inputField).autocomplete("close");

  var jobsCount = $.ajax(url: 'jobs/search?address=' + address + '&type=count');

  $(this.inputField).val(address + ' (' + jobsCount + ' jobs)');
}

Customizing messages

For now, directly define your own implementation (override) the following functions directly on GmapsAutoComplete

geocodeErrorMsg: function()
invalidAddressMsg: function(value)
noAddressFoundMsg: function()

Example:


GmapsAutoComplete.geocodeErrorMsg = function() {
  "Geocode error!"
}

Formtastic example

For formtastic something like:

= semantic_form_for @search do |f|
  = f.input :address, placeholder: 'find address'
  %span#address_error

And matching configuration in your javascript:

$(document).ready(function() { 
  GmapsAutoComplete.init({inputField: 'form#search #address', errorField: 'form#search #address_error'});
  GmapsAutoComplete.autoCompleteInit({region: 'DK'});
});

Enjoy!

TODO

better Javascript encapsulation
translation to Coffeescript using Coffee classes :)

Please help out with suggestions and improvements etc!

Contributing to gmaps-autocomplete-rails

Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet.
Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it.
Fork the project.
Start a feature/bugfix branch.
Commit and push until you are happy with your contribution.
Make sure to add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
Please try not to mess with the Rakefile, version, or history. If you want to have your own version, or is otherwise necessary, that is fine, but please isolate to its own commit so I can cherry-pick around it.