Search code examples
androidhighlightroutesgoogle-maps-android-api-2directions

Highlight a specified route on Google Maps v2 Android


Right, so I'm currently using the Google Directions API in my app to retrieve the route between two locations.

When I send a request for a route directions, I retrieve a number of details in JSON regarding the route including the names of every road along the route, their corresponding start and end lat-long co-ordinates, and their polyline value.

For example: If I send the request http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/directions/json?origin=redfern+ave,+dublin&destination=limetree+ave,+dublin&sensor=false between two roads, I get the following JSON response (output for one road along route).

 {
                     "distance" : {
                        "text" : "0.2 km",
                        "value" : 203
                     },
                     "duration" : {
                        "text" : "1 min",
                        "value" : 18
                     },
                     "end_location" : {
                        "lat" : 53.435250,
                        "lng" : -6.132140000000001
                     },
                     "html_instructions" : "Head \u003cb\u003eeast\u003c/b\u003e on \u003cb\u003eRedfern Ave.\u003c/b\u003e toward \u003cb\u003eMartello Court\u003c/b\u003e",
                     **"polyline" : {
                        "points" : "woceIvgmd@O}DOkDQqF"**
                     },

So far my application parses this information and simply lists the roads and directions in a list view like this:

enter image description here

What I want to do it highlight the whole route from A to B on a map, however I've found nothing useful online on how to do this on the new Google Maps API v2. I see that polyline's are used instead of overlays to draw lines on Google Maps v2, however from what I can tell, they only draw straight lines which is useless for me. Is there anyway of highlighting the route using the information I have at my disposal (road names, start & end lat-long co-ordinates, polyline points? Any help is appreciated.

Also, I see there is a 'polyline' value in the response which could be useful but I can't work out how to parse or use this bit of information. Does anyone know how I can make sense of this value to plot a polyline?

**"polyline" : {
             "points" : "woceIvgmd@O}DOkDQqF"**

EDIT: My solution code is provided in my answer below.


Solution

  • I finally managed to get it working after a lot of trial and error! It now fully highlights a specified route from A to B on a map (as seen in my screenshot below). I have also thrown in my code for anyone who may need it in future.

    enter image description here

    public class PolyMap extends Activity {
            ProgressDialog pDialog;
            GoogleMap map;
            List<LatLng> polyz;
            JSONArray array;
            static final LatLng DUBLIN = new LatLng(53.344103999999990000,
                    -6.267493699999932000);
    
            @SuppressLint("NewApi")
            protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
                super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
                setContentView(R.layout.map_layout);
                map = ((MapFragment) getFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map))
                        .getMap();
                map.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(DUBLIN, 15));
                map.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.zoomTo(10), 2000, null);
                new GetDirection().execute();
            }
    
            class GetDirection extends AsyncTask<String, String, String> {
    
                @Override
                protected void onPreExecute() {
                    super.onPreExecute();
                    pDialog = new ProgressDialog(PolyMap.this);
                    pDialog.setMessage("Loading route. Please wait...");
                    pDialog.setIndeterminate(false);
                    pDialog.setCancelable(false);
                    pDialog.show();
                }
    
                protected String doInBackground(String... args) {
                    Intent i = getIntent();
                    String startLocation = i.getStringExtra("startLoc");
                    String endLocation = i.getStringExtra("endLoc");
                                startLocation = startLocation.replace(" ", "+");
                        endLocation = endLocation.replace(" ", "+");;
                    String stringUrl = "http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/directions/json?origin=" + startLocation + ",+dublin&destination=" + endLocation + ",+dublin&sensor=false";
                    StringBuilder response = new StringBuilder();
                    try {
                        URL url = new URL(stringUrl);
                        HttpURLConnection httpconn = (HttpURLConnection) url
                                .openConnection();
                        if (httpconn.getResponseCode() == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                            BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(
                                    new InputStreamReader(httpconn.getInputStream()),
                                    8192);
                            String strLine = null;
    
                            while ((strLine = input.readLine()) != null) {
                                response.append(strLine);
                            }
                            input.close();
                        }
    
                        String jsonOutput = response.toString();
    
                        JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(jsonOutput);
    
                        // routesArray contains ALL routes
                        JSONArray routesArray = jsonObject.getJSONArray("routes");
                        // Grab the first route
                        JSONObject route = routesArray.getJSONObject(0);
    
                        JSONObject poly = route.getJSONObject("overview_polyline");
                        String polyline = poly.getString("points");
                        polyz = decodePoly(polyline);
    
                    } catch (Exception e) {
    
                    }
    
                    return null;
    
                }
    
                protected void onPostExecute(String file_url) {
    
                    for (int i = 0; i < polyz.size() - 1; i++) {
                        LatLng src = polyz.get(i);
                        LatLng dest = polyz.get(i + 1);
                        Polyline line = map.addPolyline(new PolylineOptions()
                                .add(new LatLng(src.latitude, src.longitude),
                                        new LatLng(dest.latitude,                dest.longitude))
                                .width(2).color(Color.RED).geodesic(true));
    
                    }
                    pDialog.dismiss();
    
                }
            }
    
            /* Method to decode polyline points */
            private List<LatLng> decodePoly(String encoded) {
    
                List<LatLng> poly = new ArrayList<LatLng>();
                int index = 0, len = encoded.length();
                int lat = 0, lng = 0;
    
                while (index < len) {
                    int b, shift = 0, result = 0;
                    do {
                        b = encoded.charAt(index++) - 63;
                        result |= (b & 0x1f) << shift;
                        shift += 5;
                    } while (b >= 0x20);
                    int dlat = ((result & 1) != 0 ? ~(result >> 1) : (result >> 1));
                    lat += dlat;
    
                    shift = 0;
                    result = 0;
                    do {
                        b = encoded.charAt(index++) - 63;
                        result |= (b & 0x1f) << shift;
                        shift += 5;
                    } while (b >= 0x20);
                    int dlng = ((result & 1) != 0 ? ~(result >> 1) : (result >> 1));
                    lng += dlng;
    
                    LatLng p = new LatLng((((double) lat / 1E5)),
                            (((double) lng / 1E5)));
                    poly.add(p);
                }
    
                return poly;
            }
        }