Develop Reference

Google Map API: How to manage different "address_components" in gecoding results?

Consider below JSON response of google map gecoding response.
It consists of an array of address_components with five elements.
Usually developer use its first item (item with index 0) to find address elements such ac route and locality and formatted address. But this is not the best alternative. For example in this case, 2nd item is more descriptive address than others. Sometime there are same address with different localities in same response.
How can I choose the better one (E.g. Google Map API in android selects one among available item but it is not always item with index 0, but it select among alternatives, I want to know how it will do that and select the best match)?
Besides, I was wondering to iterate through all elements of different address_components to extract and bring together finer pieces of information but the problem is information for same type of elements like locality have different information in different address_components which result in inconsistency of address when elements of information gathered from different address_component items.
As an example, In below sample we have two values شهر جدید اندیشه and Karaj in different locality elements which are two different city labels (in the same neighborhood).
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=35.7163931455472,51.01335000246763&key=xxxxx&language=fa
{
"results" : [
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Unnamed Road",
"short_name" : "Unnamed Road",
"types" : [ "route" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Karaj",
"short_name" : "Karaj",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Shahriar County",
"short_name" : "Shahriar County",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Tehran Province",
"short_name" : "Tehran Province",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Tehran Province, Karaj, Unnamed Road, ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7221382,
"lng" : 51.0148178
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.716435,
"lng" : 51.0095103
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 35.719286,
"lng" : 51.012165
},
"location_type" : "GEOMETRIC_CENTER",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7221382,
"lng" : 51.0148178
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.716435,
"lng" : 51.0095103
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJmf7_zEyTjT8RkM8-nK6dTm0",
"types" : [ "route" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "فاز ۶ شهر جدید اندیشه",
"short_name" : "فاز ۶ شهر جدید اندیشه",
"types" : [ "political", "sublocality", "sublocality_level_1" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "شهر جدید اندیشه",
"short_name" : "شهر جدید اندیشه",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"short_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "استان تهران",
"short_name" : "استان تهران",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "فاز ۶ شهر جدید اندیشه، شهر جدید اندیشه، استان تهران، ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7389537,
"lng" : 51.0349971
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.7039031,
"lng" : 51.0044146
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 35.7210753,
"lng" : 51.014934
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7389537,
"lng" : 51.0349971
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.7039031,
"lng" : 51.0044146
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJiYlwJLHsjT8RruE39U9NMoQ",
"types" : [ "political", "sublocality", "sublocality_level_1" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "شهر جدید اندیشه",
"short_name" : "شهر جدید اندیشه",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"short_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "استان تهران",
"short_name" : "استان تهران",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "شهر جدید اندیشه، استان تهران، ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7388144,
"lng" : 51.04460479999999
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.6838973,
"lng" : 50.9894371
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 35.7078282,
"lng" : 51.0227587
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7388144,
"lng" : 51.04460479999999
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.6838973,
"lng" : 50.9894371
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJIQwwRcnsjT8RnTJfLJ3QUAg",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"short_name" : "شهرستان شهریار",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "استان تهران",
"short_name" : "استان تهران",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "شهرستان شهریار، استان تهران، ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7389885,
"lng" : 51.23044970000001
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.5333437,
"lng" : 50.8859253
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 35.6096201,
"lng" : 51.03319330000001
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 35.7389885,
"lng" : 51.23044970000001
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 35.5333437,
"lng" : 50.8859253
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJQ6KQjY7xjT8RoYD9gJh8_CY",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "استان تهران",
"short_name" : "استان تهران",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "استان تهران، ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 36.07789210000001,
"lng" : 53.216228
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 34.909543,
"lng" : 50.3186971
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 35.7248416,
"lng" : 51.381653
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 36.07789210000001,
"lng" : 53.216228
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 34.909543,
"lng" : 50.3186971
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJf5Us9YQBjj8R0OohvHQms1U",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "ایران",
"short_name" : "IR",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "ایران",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 39.782056,
"lng" : 63.3333366
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 24.8066999,
"lng" : 44.0326949
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 32.427908,
"lng" : 53.688046
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 39.782056,
"lng" : 63.3333366
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 24.8066999,
"lng" : 44.0326949
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJ8R1rwS7s9z4RzvpRntOVsEA",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"status" : "OK"
}

It looks like there are two different questions in one, so the scope is a bit broad. I will try to address your doubts.
First, you are using the reverse geocoding request to resolve coordinate 35.7163931455472,51.01335000246763 into street address. Note that reverse geocoding is designed to resolve the given coordinate to the nearest available address. Also the service will suggest different types of results in addition to street address: route, sublocality, locality, administrative areas, country.
Sometimes if there are no street addresses close to the given point (approx. within 50 meters from the point), the result of type street address is not present in the response. In your example the result of type street address is not available, so the response contains different types of results starting from the route level. Have a look at my screenshot that represents first three items from your response.
As you can see the first item has a type route, the second item has a type sublocality and the third one has a type locality.
It is difficult to say what is the "best" criteria to chose the address. You can see that the route item is the closest one, but unfortunately this road is unnamed, so you qualify it as not good enough. Technically this is the closest item, so the service supposes this is the best match. I would suggest checking the type of results, if the item 0 has a type street_address is should be good enough to go, if the item 0 has a type route, check if the road has a name, if this is unnamed road check the item 1 that might be more detailed.
Anyway the unnamed road is the data issue and you can report it to the Google data team following the help center:
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3094088
Second, if I understand correctly you noticed that item 0 and item 1 have different value of locality address component, although both of them (marker 1 and marker 2 in my screenshot) seem to belong to the Andisheh New Town. The route (place ID ChIJmf7_zEyTjT8RkM8-nK6dTm0) is reported as the part of the Karaj locality. I can see the boundaries of Karaj on Google Maps as in the following screenshot
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Karaj,+Alborz+Province,+Iran/#35.7700272,50.95899,12.41z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3f8dbf95ef45f011:0x722a04e54eba9bcd!8m2!3d35.8400188!4d50.9390906
And I can see the boundaries of Andisheh New Town as shown in the following screenshot
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Andisheh+New+Town,+Tehran+Province,+Iran/#35.6998795,51.0216598,14.08z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3f8decc945300c21:0x850d09d2c5f329d!8m2!3d35.7078282!4d51.0227587
Please note that the route from your response is clearly situated inside the Andisheh New Town polygon, so at this point it looks like we are facing a data issue as well. The place ID ChIJmf7_zEyTjT8RkM8-nK6dTm0 should have locality component of Andisheh New Town, not the Karaj.
Feel free to send feedback to Google using this page:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tehran+Province,+Karaj,+Unnamed+Road,+Iran/#35.719286,51.0077876,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3f8d934cccfffe99:0x6d4e9dae9c3ecf90!8m2!3d35.719286!4d51.012165!10m2!1e3!2e3
If you would like to play with reverse geocoding, please use Geocoder tool:
https://google-developers.appspot.com/maps/documentation/utils/geocoder/#q%3D35.716393%252C51.01335
I hope my answer clarifies your doubts!

Google Places: Android API: Place class missing some data

I find that Place class from Android Library for Google Places API misses a lot of data which is available in Web-Service API.
Android class:
https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/location/places/Place
Web-Service reply:
https://developers.google.com/places/web-service/details?hl=en
For example, class definition has nothing about Reviews or Opening Hours. Why it is so? Is it possible to fix it without converting all the app to Web-Service API calls and json-parsing? Perhaps there is an ability to convert Place object to its raw JSON-form to find some additional data?

Places api in android only returns a few details like place name, latitude, longitude etc. if you want more details you have to call webservice api . This is the URl
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/details/json?key={API_KEY}&placeid={PLACE_ID}
Here PLACE_ID will get from Place Object in Android Places Api
Sample output:
{
"html_attributions" : [],
"result" : {
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "7167",
"short_name" : "7167",
"types" : [ "street_number" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Sunset Boulevard",
"short_name" : "Sunset Blvd",
"types" : [ "route" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Central LA",
"short_name" : "Central LA",
"types" : [ "neighborhood", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Los Angeles",
"short_name" : "Los Angeles",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Los Angeles County",
"short_name" : "Los Angeles County",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "California",
"short_name" : "CA",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "United States",
"short_name" : "US",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "90046",
"short_name" : "90046",
"types" : [ "postal_code" ]
}
],
"adr_address" : "\u003cspan class=\"street-address\"\u003e7167 Sunset Blvd\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"locality\"\u003eLos Angeles\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"region\"\u003eCA\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"postal-code\"\u003e90046\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan class=\"country-name\"\u003eUSA\u003c/span\u003e",
"formatted_address" : "7167 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046, USA",
"geometry" : {
"location" : {
"lat" : 34.098341,
"lng" : -118.346263
},
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 34.0995122302915,
"lng" : -118.3449154697085
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 34.0968142697085,
"lng" : -118.3476134302915
}
}
},
"icon" : "https://maps.gstatic.com/mapfiles/place_api/icons/geocode-71.png",
"id" : "7143e0743707f66cfa1cda945779f18e8350060e",
"name" : "7167 Sunset Blvd",
"place_id" : "ChIJn_0bqti-woARRtpNvG7kuq4",
"reference" : "CmRbAAAAuU6CDhPuLqrS9F4XCZIV61wveIeU44RMua7FSCZHtwJeC58_OJksQvLI9Nudb9-N8RhfJDUECkxvdB-llxe6WIqrkDQMBs2vz3mBky0DH70jIcFS7f0_7yivdsxmmLzaEhAtwgzDs0va2soGuFyzuNTGGhR-xVrIvyeZwY0OGDmEp3FJmrbbeQ",
"scope" : "GOOGLE",
"types" : [ "street_address" ],
"url" : "https://maps.google.com/?q=7167+Sunset+Blvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90046,+USA&ftid=0x80c2bed8aa1bfd9f:0xaebae46ebc4dda46",
"utc_offset" : -420,
"vicinity" : "Los Angeles"
},
"status" : "OK"
}
Sample JSON Parsing in android
String postalCode="";
String city="";
String state="";
String address="";
JSONObject jsonObj=new JSONObject(rs);
JSONArray addressComponents = jsonObj.getJSONObject("result").getJSONArray("address_components");
for(int i = 0; i < addressComponents.length(); i++) {
JSONArray typesArray = addressComponents.getJSONObject(i).getJSONArray("types");
for (int j = 0; j < typesArray.length(); j++) {
if (typesArray.get(j).toString().equalsIgnoreCase("postal_code")) {
postalCode = addressComponents.getJSONObject(i).getString("long_name");
}else if (typesArray.get(j).toString().equalsIgnoreCase("locality")) {
city = addressComponents.getJSONObject(i).getString("long_name");
}else if (typesArray.get(j).toString().equalsIgnoreCase("administrative_area_level_1")) {
state = addressComponents.getJSONObject(i).getString("long_name");
}else {
String types=typesArray.get(j).toString();
if(types.equalsIgnoreCase("street_number")
||types.equalsIgnoreCase("route")
||types.equalsIgnoreCase("neighborhood")
||types.equalsIgnoreCase("sublocality_level_1")
)
address+=addressComponents.getJSONObject(i).getString("long_name")+", ";
}
}
}

getfromLocation return ocean or sea name

I am working on a reverse geo-coding functionality in Android.
When I do a getFromLocation(0, 0, 1) using the geocoder class from Google API call for example it returns ZERO RESULTS and the address length is zero.
But for example when I go to Google Maps on the web and I right click on location 0,0 it says "Atlantic Ocean". This also work when I drop a pin in the Google Maps App in Android.
Is there a way to get "Atlantic Ocean" or similar programatically from the coordinates 0,0 ? When I say 0,0 it also applies to other coordinates that are in the middle of the sea.

Yes, there is a way to get the name of the sea corresponding to the coordinates. What I did is to use Google Maps Javascript API then on the request I've added the result_type=natural_feature which represents bodies of water and deserts in the address type. Adding this will return the nearest body of water in the coordinates. Javascript can be integrated on android using a Webview.
Here are my requests and responses for my two requests:
This first request is similar to getFromLocation(0,0,1)
Request:
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=0,0&key=YOUR_API_KEY
Response:
{
"results" : [],
"status" : "ZERO_RESULTS"
}
For this next request which uses natural_feature.
Request:
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?latlng=0,0&result_type=natural_feature&key=YOUR_API_KEY
Response:
{
"results" : [
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Atlantic Ocean",
"short_name" : "Atlantic Ocean",
"types" : [ "natural_feature", "establishment" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Atlantic Ocean",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 68.6187515,
"lng" : 20
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : -83.0204773,
"lng" : -83.21609509999999
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : -14.5994134,
"lng" : -28.6731465
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 68.6187515,
"lng" : 20.0000001
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : -83.0204773,
"lng" : -83.21609509999999
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJ_7hu48qBWgYRT1MQ81ciNKY",
"types" : [ "natural_feature", "establishment" ]
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Equator",
"short_name" : "Equator",
"types" : []
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Equator",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 0,
"lng" : 180
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 0,
"lng" : -180
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 0,
"lng" : 0
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 0.00134898029150203,
"lng" : 180
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : -0.00134898029150203,
"lng" : -180
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJ9f-dgJ14AHARMp45pd8HMhs",
"types" : []
},
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Virgo",
"short_name" : "Virgo",
"types" : []
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Virgo",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 14.3954258,
"lng" : 47.853012
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : -22.9842321,
"lng" : -5.6577015
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : -4.294403099999999,
"lng" : 21.0976553
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 14.3954258,
"lng" : 47.853012
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : -22.9842321,
"lng" : -5.6577015
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJ3dT5sNUyHxoRJjQnMK1jABU",
"types" : []
}
],
"status" : "OK"
}

Read JSON from GoogleApis

I'm new to android and I'm having some trouble trying to read this JSON from :
http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=portugal&sensor=true
{
"results" : [
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Portugal",
"short_name" : "PT",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Portugal",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 42.15420480,
"lng" : -6.19020910
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 32.403740,
"lng" : -31.2751580
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 39.39987199999999,
"lng" : -8.2244540
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 42.15420480,
"lng" : -6.19020910
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 36.96017720,
"lng" : -9.51711070
}
}
},
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"status" : "OK"
}
Can anybody point me to some library or some code to get me started? :D
Ty in advance
EDIT
Is is possible to use this result and show the actual location in google maps in an Activity?

It's the parsing problem. You can use google http java client. There are some example in here

results[0].address_components[0].long_name will output Portugal
results[0].geometry.location.lat will output 39.39987199999999
etc...
you can use the lat and lng to center the map on that location using map.setCenter(latlng:LatLng)

Geting json response from Google places API in android

My simple android application uses google places api to get the latitude and longitude of a place. I am getting the json response from the google api as below
{
"results" : [
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "Chennai",
"short_name" : "Chennai",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Chennai",
"short_name" : "Chennai",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Tamil Nadu",
"short_name" : "TN",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "India",
"short_name" : "IN",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India",
"geometry" : {
"bounds" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 13.23408510,
"lng" : 80.33229129999999
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 12.94592670,
"lng" : 80.14878270
}
},
"location" : {
"lat" : 13.0604220,
"lng" : 80.2495830
},
"location_type" : "APPROXIMATE",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 13.14736150,
"lng" : 80.37764240
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 12.97345190,
"lng" : 80.12152360
}
}
},
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
}
],
"status" : "OK"
}
Now i want to get the this part in the json response,
"location" : {
"lat" : 13.0604220,
"lng" : 80.2495830
}
I only get the whole "geometry" part as string through this method
JSONObject e = address.getJSONObject(0);
e.getString("geometry")
How to use the only location values. Any help is appreciated. I'm not sure what is going wrong.

JSONObject e = address.getJSONObject(0);
JSONObject jsonLocation = e.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location");
and use
String lat = jsonLocation.getString("lat");
String lng = jsonLocation.getString("lng");
to get latitude and longitude.

You can also get location values as follows:
For Longitude:
Double lon = ((JSONArray)jsonObject.get("results")).getJSONObject(0)
.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location")
.getDouble("lng");
For Latitude:
Double lat = ((JSONArray)jsonObject.get("results")).getJSONObject(0)
.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location")
.getDouble("lat");

Try this. It worked for me.
JSONObject result = jsonObject.getJSONObject("result");
Double lat = result.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location").getDouble("lat");
Double lng = result.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location").getDouble("lng");