Hello! Based on some requests, I've written a new tutorial, this time on "Posting Device's Current Location to a Database." It will show you how to create the database file, how to capture the user's current location (and extra comments), and how to spit it all back, via JSON, to a Multiple Location screen! The direct link is here: http://www.buzztouch.com/resources/Posting_Current_Location_to_a_Database_v1.0.pdf But it's also linked to the general How To's section: http://www.buzztouch.com/resources/ As always, constructive feedback requested! Mark

I know Mark does not need any votes of confidence, but I just wanted to say that I tested this new tutorial and it works flawless. Now the imagination is the limit. Thanks Mark!(again)

Hi Vali, I appreciate the vote of confidence! It's always good to know that people can understand the processes that I write up! Mark

Mark great job as always my friend! Tony "Magic Man"

awesome Mark!

Mark- Just when I thought it was safe to look away you go and do this!!! Thank you so much. I am looking forward to finding a million different ways to implement this! I will report back when I do. Cheryl

Hi Cheryl, Thanks! Keep your eyes peeled...got some more good stuff in the hopper for the next few weeks! ;-) Mark

Hi GoNorthWest, I've tried tons of things so far and I'm close to using this in my 1.4 app. Stay tuned for my additions. Sevens

I haven't read it yet but thanks Mark!! Always appreciated!

Thanks! I read that and immediately thought it would be great feature to add to my app - But I can't understand a bloomin word of it, despite the 'If you are a complete novice...' bit There might be a long email on its way!!!!

So I have it working up to this point: - created the "theguide1" table on my server via myphpadmin - DONE - created and tested location.php. This works and displays the google map - DONE - Link the HTML/PHP form to your app I have the customURL page working in my BT2 app, and it loads on my iphone fine, but it does not feed in the deviceLatitude or deviceLongitude info. Any ideas?

Yeah. The same on Android. There is something with the php. Working on it now.

So, you're seeing the form, but no map with your current location is being displayed? Do you have Turn on GPS enabled for the app? Also...I'm not sure this will work in a simulator...I've always used a live test app. Mark

I did see one possible issue; in your location_php.txt, you first set mysql_select_db("yourdatabasename",$db); but then later you hardcode "theguide" as your table database name. $sql = "INSERT INTO theguide (SubmitterEmail, latitude, longitude, Description, Status) VALUES

Yep...that should work just fine, so long as you have a table called "theguide" in whatever database you create. Mark

doesnt work on the simulator unless you have a GPS attached and connected to the simulator. However, having a generic map load on real device. Looks like there is no update to the table. Perhaps the code is not updating the table properly

Hi Sevens, Have you ensured that the table you created matches in name the table that is coded into the script? If it's not "theguide" then it needs to be changed. Mark

Mark, I had overlooked turning on GPS...that fixed it, and it now feeds in the Lat/Lon perfectly. Thanks for a great how-to!

Awesome @RonBo! Glad it's up and running! Mark

I was having an issue of getting my map points to display. They were getting into the mysql table, but would not display. Not sure if this affects anyone else, but here is what I found out: When the data base is created, latitude and longitude are in lower-case CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `theguide` ( `ID` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment, `SubmitterEmail` text NOT NULL, `latitude` text NOT NULL, `longitude` text NOT NULL, `Description` text NOT NULL, `Status` text NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`ID`) ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=29 ; But later on in location-list.txt, you switch to upper-case if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_MapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["Latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["Longitude"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["Description"]); if ($num > $i) printf(","); $i++; As soon as I changed those ($myrow["Latitude"]) to lower-case, all my map points came in and displayed in my BT App. My php server is ver 5, if that matters. I can switch them back to uppercase, and only the blank google map displays. It even shows my current iphone location, as I turned that on in the BT settings. But when I edit my location-list.php to have those in lower-case, my app displays the points fine.

Hmm good catch. Trying now.

Interesting! I'll have to check that out a bit. The script worked exactly as described in it's current version for a number of us. But I can see how what you described might cause an issue. Mark

That did the trick. Hmmm. Interesting. So I have finally mapped the device loc. now to save in table and recall in a non BT map is the second half of the deal. Man I'm slow. Thanks for the good work, GoNorthWest. Maybe I soon I will get special help with adjusting v1.4 to accept a dataURL anyone have any thoughts? Sevens

Mark, any chance of adding in the ability to take a photo of the current location, and saving that as well? Would be cool to attach link of photo to the map pointer.

@Ronbo I bet that is possible. Maybe you'll need to add that to the result of the form. Buzztouch servers aren't designed with photo capabilities for their maps. But you could create the code if you have the technosmarts.

That is something I also want to add to this setup. The issue, I think, is attaching a photo to the form data before it gets sent. I'm not sure how to do that from an HTML form in an app. If we could get the photo into the database, then everything else would be easy from there, I think! On my list, but sorta low priority at the moment. Mark

What's high for youGNW?

Got a big doc in the works (Android related), and then general life and work! Got a few actual apps I want to work on as well! But, the topic here actually has to do with an app idea I have, so it might move to a higher priority. Mark

You know I never got the table updated using my form. I did tons of research, but no luck. Check out my app in the market if u get a chance. Its specifically designed to use this tech. But seems like my server won't allow adding to the table I created.

Bummer! I interpreted from you comments a few rows above that you had gotten the save to table part working. What's the app URL? Mark

I got the form to call for the device location and display that static map. Adding to the table from the form is not working.

Looks pretty darn cool! If I had an Android device, I'd install for sure! Mark

Oh no android? I don't have an iPhone. Developing only on simulator.

I have an iPhone and iPad, but use AVD for Android dev.

UPDATE: Called my hosting service and had it out with the tech. Tables are being written by php now. Strange hickup in hosting. Got tables inserted now to pull from tables is another task. Code keeps returning Nothing there to see. So code is being read and executed, aexcept there seems to be an issue with the printf commands. Here is what I have in my dataURL php code. <?php $conn = mysql_connect("mysql-happyforum.domainname.com", "username", "password"); $db = mysql_select_db("happyforum",$conn); $result = mysql_query("SELECT ID, latitude, longitude, Description from shipit_contacts",$db); $num = mysql_num_rows($result); $i = 1; print "{\"childItems\":["; if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_MapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["longitude"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["Description"]); if ($num > $i) printf(","); $i++; } while ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)); else {echo "Sorry, nothing there to see!"; } print "]}"; ?> SEE ANY ISSUES WITH THIS?

You should verify your SELECT statement is working, by using your hosting providers SQL admin tool. My provider uses phpMyAdmin, and it provides an interface for you to Browse, Edit, etc. your mySQL tables. Use the SQL tab to run/test your "SELECT ID, latitude, longitude, Description from shipit_contacts" to make sure it returns records.

It returns records. Try the link in your browser. It works http://www.sevensco.com/phpBB-3.0.10/phpBB3/shipit_contact_list.php

I see your records, so that is good. Have you checked that your Screen Data URL for your View screen has the variable to send the Device Data? http://test.example.com/location_list.php?latitude=[deviceLatitude]&longtitude=[deviceLongitude]

I haven't. But how would that affect the points not plotting on the map? Besides, the device location shows on the map.

Hello! Sorry it's taken me so long to weigh in on this...but you guys have worked out most of it yourself! If you take the URL: http://www.sevensco.com/phpBB-3.0.10/phpBB3/shipit_contact_list.php And plug it into the "Screen Data URL" section in the Advanced Properties for a Location Map, your points will show up on the map. I tested it in a test app I have, and it works! Do that, and you should have the complete solution in place. Mark

Hi Mark, I sent the dreaded email to info@buzz touch.com. There is an issue with the app that is not usual. So David said to email. Still waiting to hear what the problem is. To think, all this heart ache is for something I could not help...

I should have been more clear; in my app, I needed to append the device lat/lon variables, as I only want to display a max of 20 map points in a 25 mile radius out from where the device is: $sql = "SELECT id, latitude, longitude, Description, ( 3959 * acos( cos( radians($MyLat) ) * cos( radians( latitude ) ) * cos( radians( longitude ) - radians($MyLon) ) + sin( radians($MyLat) ) * sin( radians( latitude ) ) ) ) AS distance FROM theguide HAVING distance < 25 ORDER BY distance LIMIT 0 , 20";

That's brilliant Ronbo! I'm taking calc 3 in school now so I'm actually doing problems like this code. What's the arbitrary 3959? Anyway... David caught something that was wrong with the plugin for Android. Everyone who helped me happened to have an older plugin. The new plugin didn't allow for blank subtitles. So with a keen eye, David caught a line in the logcat that showed a JSON exemption. Finally, he just asked me to add subtitles to fix all my points and have them show using the code I already have until he rolls out the new plugin for maps.

Oops... Radius of earth in miles = 3959

Any published apps @RonBo? I'd like to see how that looks. I'm also wondering if I could display another layer of points data on the same map.

@RonBo...that's some brilliant code, and I've been looking for something exactly like that for a long, long time! Thanks! Is your problem...with respect to points being displayed on the map...solved now? Mark

Yes. Worked on it until early this morning. Finally found the problem. Android plugin must have subtitles. Maybe a good addition to your PDF.

So, for each map location, on Android, there has to be a title AND sub-title for it to work? Mark

Exactly. So this is what the code should look like for everyone to be happy: <?php $conn = mysql_connect("mysql-finallyforum.happy.com", "happyuser", "password"); mysql_select_db("finallyforum",$conn); $result = mysql_query("SELECT ID, latitude, longitude, Description, address from shipit_contacts",$conn); $num = mysql_num_rows($result); $i = 1; print "{\"childItems\":["; if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_mapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["longitude"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\",", $myrow["Description"]); printf("\"subTitle\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["address"]); if ($num > $i) printf(","); $i++; } while ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)); else {echo "Sorry, nothing there to see!"; } print "]}"; ?>

Excellent! Thanks for all the work on that. I'll have to contact @David and see if we can remove the restriction for a sub-title. Not sure if it's required by Android itself, or just the code David wrote. Mark

interestingly @RonBo and @GNW, the select statement is unneccessary. the code prints from the table whether columns are declared or not. Weird but I added the address to be printed in my code without adding to SELECT statement. Thoughts?

Yes mine is working great. My database has over 700 entries across the us tracking wild honeybee hives. It took too long to to load them all and it makes sense to see ones close by. I'm adding the ability to choose the distance you display from your location. I've been collecting my data from my website www.savethehives.com/fbp.

Yes mine is working great. My database has over 700 entries across the us tracking wild honeybee hives. It took too long to to load them all and it makes sense to see ones close by. I'm adding the ability to choose the distance you display from your location. I've been collecting my data from my website www.savethehives.com/fbp.

Honeybee tracking...that's pretty cool!

I'm sure that code will come in handy when I have hundreds logged onto my app. So just insert that line and I'm limited to 20 and reduced map view size?

@RonBo...Feral Bee Project...totally cool stuff! That data is PERFECT for an app! Mark

Yeah that I why I asked about letting people take photos and attach to the map pointers.

Totally agree. Haven't found a solution to that yet, aside from using the email photo feature. But there has to be a better way. Mark

Mark, having an issue getting driving directions to work. The BT1.5 instructions say to "Set loadScreenWithItemId to "showDirections" to show the driving directions option. Or use the itemId, or the nickname, or the the JSON data for a screen or menu or feature. Only one of these three properties will be used." Can't get it to work, you see any syntax error? print "{\"childItems\":["; // build JSON for BT to consume if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_MapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["longitude"]); // printf("\"loadScreenWithItemId\":\"showDirections\","; printf("\"subTitle\":\"%s\",", $myrow["description"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["name"]);

Mark, having an issue getting driving directions to work. The BT1.5 instructions say to "Set loadScreenWithItemId to "showDirections" to show the driving directions option. Or use the itemId, or the nickname, or the the JSON data for a screen or menu or feature. Only one of these three properties will be used." Can't get it to work, you see any syntax error? print "{\"childItems\":["; // build JSON for BT to consume if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_MapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["longitude"]); // printf("\"loadScreenWithItemId\":\"showDirections\","; printf("\"subTitle\":\"%s\",", $myrow["description"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["name"]);

Never mind...found the error! working now!! if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) do { printf("{\"itemId\":\"%s\",", $myrow["ID"]); print "\"itemType\":\"BT_MapLocation\","; printf("\"latitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["latitude"]); printf("\"longitude\":\"%s\",", $myrow["longitude"]); print "\"loadScreenWithItemId\":\"showDirections\","; printf("\"subTitle\":\"%s\",", $myrow["description"]); printf("\"title\":\"%s\"}", $myrow["name"]); if ($num > $i) printf(",");

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I wonder if I can use that show directions line in my plugin? Hmm.