Google Maps Hacking is Fun

(The quick link for my experiments is www.geoskating.com/gmap )

Just a week ago I learned about the Google Maps JavaScript API . Surprising how easy it was to use and build upon. Especially for my GeoSkating project I needed a more flexible way to display routes and media on a map. So I started experimenting with the Google Maps API. In less then 5 minutes I was able to create a basic map . But I needed more. Based on a GPX (GPS track format) player from Jim Ley I built a TrackPlayer to play back skate routes . In addition the TLabel lib allows you to overlay any HTML on a Google Map. Note: also check out ka-Map . With ka-Map you can do similar things plus it is open source.

Adding layers from any WMS server

Many map servers use a standard URL-pattern based on the Web Map Server (WMS) standard.

So I wanted more: adding my own layers integrated in the map preferably with transparency. Well, this is possible thanks to work by Brian Flood and Kyle Mulka . I have created a simple JavaScript library, gmap-wms.js through which you can add your own WMS layers to a Google Map. The example above is trivial using a single transparent GIF image by faking a WMS server. All Google Maps does is requesting tiles from your WMS server (a lot of them!). In reality you will be running your own WMS server like MapServer .

See all experiments at www.geoskating.com/gmap