This library allows a user to easily communicate with the Google Maps API and retrieve a set of coordinates from an address.

To install, just run the following composer command.

composer require langleyfoxall/simple-google-maps-api

Remember to include the vendor/autoload.php file if your framework does not do this for you.

To use Simple Google Maps, you must first create a new instance. This can be done is two ways, dependant on whether you have a standard API key, or a clientName and cryptKey (for enterprise / premium plans).

// Standard authentication: $simpleGoogleMaps = SimpleGoogleMapsFactory::getByKey(getenv('KEY')); // Enterprise / premium plan authentication: $simpleGoogleMaps = SimpleGoogleMapsFactory::getByClientNameAndCryptKey(getenv('CLIENT_NAME'), getenv('CRYPT_KEY'));

To convert an address to a set of GPS coordinates, use the geocode method, as shown below.

$latLng = $simpleGoogleMaps->geocode('10 Downing St, Westminster, London SW1A UK');

Optionally, you can allow partial matches to be returned if your input address is not highly accurate. You can do so with the allowPartialMatches method, as shown below.

$latLng = $simpleGoogleMaps->allowPartialMatches()->geocode('test address');

The above method will return a object of type LatLong, which allows you to access the GPS coordinates as shown below.

$latitude = $latLng->lat; $longitude = $latLng->long;

You can also calculate the distance between two LatLong objects by using the distanceTo method.

$kilometresDistance = $homeCoords->distanceTo($toCoords);