PHP + Google API Geocode

Question

Follow the method code:

function GetGeoCode($address) {
    $geo= array();

    $geocode = file_get_html('http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=' . $address . '&sensor=false');
    $output = json_decode($geocode);
    echo 'http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=' . $address . '&sensor=false';
    $lat = $output->results[0]->geometry->location->lat;
    $long = $output->results[0]->geometry->location->lng;

    $geo['lat']=$lat;
    $geo['long']=$long;

    return $geo;
}

The objective of this method is to return the latitude and longitude according to a given address inserted as parameter. However, after performing the test with some addresses the error of not returning the data. I performed the test to copy the created url and paste in the browser, which worked correctly.

Can anyone tell me why this happens ?

Answer 1

I performed some tests, first, instead of file_get_html I used in the code below file_get_contents, but what I realized in the test at least using this method, is that you need to send the parameter with the spaces replaced by +, I also noticed that using accents returns NULL, this way was solved with the code below with explanation in own comment.

$geo= array();
$a = "Rua Paulo Guimarães, São Paulo - SP"; // Pega parâmetro
$addr = str_replace(" ", "+", $a); // Substitui os espaços por + "Rua+Paulo+Guimarães,+São+Paulo+-+SP" conforme padrão 'maps.google.com'
$address = utf8_encode($addr); // Codifica para UTF-8 para não dar 'pau' no envio do parâmetro

// Daqui em diante é o seu código original
$geocode = file_get_contents('http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=' . $address . '&sensor=false');
$output = json_decode($geocode);
$lat = $output->results[0]->geometry->location->lat;
$long = $output->results[0]->geometry->location->lng;

$geo['lat']=$lat;
$geo['long']=$long;

echo "<pre> Latitude: ";
print_r($geo['lat']);
echo "<br /> Longitude: ";
print_r($geo['long']);
echo "<br /><br /> Resultado completo JSON: <br /><br />";
print_r($output);

I did not test your code to understand what was happening, but from what I could see the problem should be in the sending (format) of the parameter.

Anyway, I suggest you take a little time to read this so that we don’t have to do this type of 'gambiarra' and there is a fully documented API with numerous possibilities, so also it will not be limited if you want to increase its functionality.

Suggested reading: The Google Mas Geocoding API