Convert Address to Lattitude/Longitude (using Geocoding Google maps)

Geocoding example using javascript and C#

Google provides easy way to convert human readable address into Latitude/Longitude set.
[Detail]

A Geocoding API request:

http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/output?parameters

Google response are either of the following format

1. JSON

2. XML

Following code will tell long story in short:

1. Using Javascript:

//address format for the most accurate lat/lang ( address + ', ' + city + ', ' + state + ' ' + zip) 

eg:- 2842 Crescent Park Ln, Atlanta, GA 30339

 <script type="text/javascript" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false&libraries=places,geometry"></script>

 findLatlong(address){ 

var address="2842 Crescent Park Ln, Atlanta, GA 30339";

  var point=null;

 geocoder.geocode({ 'address': address }, function (results, status) {

              

                if (status == google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK) {

                    point.lat = results[0].geometry.location.lat();

                    point.lng = results[0].geometry.location.lng();

               

                }

                else {

              

                    alert('Geocode was not successful for the following reason: '

+ status);

                }

 

            });

return point;

}

[Note: geocode is called asynchronously so mind the flow. ]

2.Using C#:

The following c# code explains how to call Google geocode service and parse the response using LINQ to XML:

public static point getLocation(string address)

{

   WebRequest request = WebRequest

      .Create("http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?sensor=false&address="

         + HttpUtility.UrlEncode(address));

   using (WebResponse response = request.GetResponse())

   {

      using (Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream())

      {

         XDocument document = XDocument.Load(new StreamReader(stream));

         XElement longitudeElement = document.Descendants("lng").FirstOrDefault();

         XElement latitudeElement = document.Descendants("lat").FirstOrDefault();

         if (longitudeElement != null && latitudeElement != null)

         {

            return new point

            {

               Longitude = Double.Parse(longitudeElement.Value, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture),

               Latitude = Double.Parse(latitudeElement.Value, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

            };

         }

      }

   }

   return null;

}

[Serializable]

public class point

{

   public double Longitude { get; set; }

   public double Latitude { get; set; }

 

   public override string ToString()

   {

      return String.Format("{0}, {1}", Latitude, Longitude);

   }

}

Hope this helps , Cheers !