Google Maps Api v3 - find nearest markers

Question

When i click on map, which will be best way to find nearest marker or markers? is there some functions in api that will help me to do that?

it's google map api v3.

Answer 1

The formula above didn't work for me, but I used this without any issue. Pass your current location to the function, and loop through an array of markers to find the closest:

function find_closest_marker( lat1, lon1 ) {    
    var pi = Math.PI;
    var R = 6371; //equatorial radius
    var distances = [];
    var closest = -1;

    for( i=0;i<markers.length; i++ ) {  
        var lat2 = markers[i].position.lat();
        var lon2 = markers[i].position.lng();

        var chLat = lat2-lat1;
        var chLon = lon2-lon1;

        var dLat = chLat*(pi/180);
        var dLon = chLon*(pi/180);

        var rLat1 = lat1*(pi/180);
        var rLat2 = lat2*(pi/180);

        var a = Math.sin(dLat/2) * Math.sin(dLat/2) + 
                    Math.sin(dLon/2) * Math.sin(dLon/2) * Math.cos(rLat1) * Math.cos(rLat2); 
        var c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1-a)); 
        var d = R * c;

        distances[i] = d;
        if ( closest == -1 || d < distances[closest] ) {
            closest = i;
        }
    }

    // (debug) The closest marker is:
    console.log(markers[closest]);
}

Answer 2

Are you aware of Mysql Spatial extensions?

You could use something like MBRContains(g1,g2).

Answer 3

First you have to add the eventlistener

google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'click', find_closest_marker);

Then create a function that loops through the array of markers and uses the haversine formula to calculate the distance of each marker from the click.

function rad(x) {return x*Math.PI/180;}
function find_closest_marker( event ) {
    var lat = event.latLng.lat();
    var lng = event.latLng.lng();
    var R = 6371; // radius of earth in km
    var distances = [];
    var closest = -1;
    for( i=0;i<map.markers.length; i++ ) {
        var mlat = map.markers[i].position.lat();
        var mlng = map.markers[i].position.lng();
        var dLat  = rad(mlat - lat);
        var dLong = rad(mlng - lng);
        var a = Math.sin(dLat/2) * Math.sin(dLat/2) +
            Math.cos(rad(lat)) * Math.cos(rad(lat)) * Math.sin(dLong/2) * Math.sin(dLong/2);
        var c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1-a));
        var d = R * c;
        distances[i] = d;
        if ( closest == -1 || d < distances[closest] ) {
            closest = i;
        }
    }

    alert(map.markers[closest].title);
}

This keeps track of the closest markers and alerts its title.

I have my markers as an array on my map object

Answer 4

You can use the computeDistanceBetween() method in the google.maps.geometry.spherical namespace.

Answer 5

Here is another function that works great for me, returns distance in kilometers:

 function distance(lat1, lng1, lat2, lng2) {
        var radlat1 = Math.PI * lat1 / 180;
        var radlat2 = Math.PI * lat2 / 180;
        var radlon1 = Math.PI * lng1 / 180;
        var radlon2 = Math.PI * lng2 / 180;
        var theta = lng1 - lng2;
        var radtheta = Math.PI * theta / 180;
        var dist = Math.sin(radlat1) * Math.sin(radlat2) + Math.cos(radlat1) * Math.cos(radlat2) * Math.cos(radtheta);
        dist = Math.acos(dist);
        dist = dist * 180 / Math.PI;
        dist = dist * 60 * 1.1515;

        //Get in in kilometers
        dist = dist * 1.609344;

        return dist;
    }

Answer 6

I'd like to expand on Leor's suggestion for anyone confused on how to compute the nearest location and actually provide a working solution:

I'm using markers in a markers array e.g. var markers = [];.

Then let's have our position as something like var location = new google.maps.LatLng(51.99, -0.74);

Then we simply reduce our markers against the location we have like so:

markers.reduce(function (prev, curr) {

    var cpos = google.maps.geometry.spherical.computeDistanceBetween(location.position, curr.position);
    var ppos = google.maps.geometry.spherical.computeDistanceBetween(location.position, prev.position);

    return cpos < ppos ? curr : prev;

}).position

What pops out is your closest marker LatLng object.