How to hide/show groups of markers by category with Google Maps in Android?

I'm looking to do something like what is done right here in Android. What I need to do is group markers into different groups and have checkboxes to each group.

When I tick and untick on the check boxes markers should be show and hide.

Here is my MapsActivity.java file.

public class MapsActivity extends FragmentActivity {

//Restaurants
private final LatLng LOCATION_DINEMORE = new LatLng(6.9270786,79.861243);
private final LatLng LOCATION_BARISTA = new LatLng(6.0334009,80.218384);

//Hotels
private final LatLng LOCATION_AVENRA = new LatLng(7.211111,79.838610);
private final LatLng LOCATION_MOUNTBATTEN = new LatLng(7.296411,80.635012);

private GoogleMap mMap; // Might be null if Google Play services APK is not available.

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_maps);
    setUpMapIfNeeded();

    // Give text to buttons
    Button buttonloc1 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnLoc1);
    buttonloc1.setText("Dinemore");

    Button buttonloc2 = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnLoc2);
    buttonloc2.setText("Barista");

    Button buttoncity = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btnCity);
    buttoncity.setText("My Location");

    Button buttonremove = (Button)findViewById(R.id.removeMarker);
    buttonremove.setText("Remove");

   /* Location myLocation = mMap.getMyLocation();

    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(new LatLng(myLocation.getLatitude(), myLocation.getLongitude()))
                    .title("Hi I'm Here..:D")
    );*/

    // Marker to Dinemore
    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(LOCATION_DINEMORE)
                    .title("Dinemore")
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_ROSE))
    );

    // Marker to Barista
    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(LOCATION_BARISTA)
                    .title("Barista Lavazza")
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_ROSE))
    );

    // Marker to Avenra Garden Hotel
    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(LOCATION_AVENRA)
                    .title("Avenra Garden")
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_YELLOW))
    );

    // Marker to Mounbatten Bunglow
    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(LOCATION_MOUNTBATTEN)
                    .title("Mounbatten Bunglow")
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_YELLOW))
    );

    //When touch again on the map marker title will hide
    mMap.setOnInfoWindowClickListener(new GoogleMap.OnInfoWindowClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onInfoWindowClick(Marker marker) {

        }
    });

    ArrayList<Marker> category1=new ArrayList<>();
    ArrayList<Marker> category2=new ArrayList<>();

    for (int i=0; i< category1.size(); i++){
        category1.get(i).remove();
    }

}

@Override
protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    setUpMapIfNeeded();
}

public void onClick_City(View v){
    mMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);
}

// When click on this button, Map shows the place of Dinemore
public void onClick_Loc1(View v) {
    mMap.setMapType(GoogleMap.MAP_TYPE_NORMAL);
    CameraUpdate update = CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(LOCATION_DINEMORE,10);
    mMap.animateCamera(update);
}

// When click on this button, Map shows the place of Barista
public void onClick_Loc2(View v) {
    mMap.setMapType(GoogleMap.MAP_TYPE_NORMAL);
    CameraUpdate update = CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(LOCATION_BARISTA,10);
    mMap.animateCamera(update);
}

// To rmove All the Markers
public void onClick_Remove(View v){
    mMap.clear();
}

private void setUpMapIfNeeded() {
    // Do a null check to confirm that we have not already instantiated the map.
    if (mMap == null) {
        // Try to obtain the map from the SupportMapFragment.
        mMap = ((SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map))
                .getMap();
        // Check if we were successful in obtaining the map.
        if (mMap != null) {
            setUpMap();
        }
    }
}

/**
 * This is where we can add markers or lines, add listeners or move the camera. In this case, we
 * just add a marker near Africa.
 * <p/>
 * This should only be called once and when we are sure that {@link #mMap} is not null.
 */
private void setUpMap() {
    mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions().position(new LatLng(0, 0)).title("Marker"));
}

}

Here is my activity_maps.xml file.

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:paddingBottom="10dip"
android:paddingLeft="10dip"
android:paddingRight="10dip"
android:paddingTop="10dip"
tools:context=".MapsActivity">

<Button
    android:id="@+id/btnLoc1"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/btnCity"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:onClick="onClick_Loc1"/>

<fragment
    android:id="@+id/map"
    android:name="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
    android:layout_below="@+id/btnLoc1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    />

<Button
    android:id="@+id/btnCity"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/btnLoc2"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:onClick="onClick_City"/>

<Button
    android:id="@+id/btnLoc2"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:onClick="onClick_Loc2"/>

<Button
    android:id="@+id/removeMarker"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:onClick="onClick_Remove"/>

<CheckBox android:id="@+id/checkbox_restaurant"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/btnLoc1"
    android:text="Restaurants"
    android:onClick="onCheckboxClicked"/>

<CheckBox android:id="@+id/checkbox_hotels"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_toRightOf="@+id/checkbox_restaurant"
    android:text="Hotels"
    android:onClick="onCheckboxClicked"/>

How do I do this?

Thanks in advance.

Solution

There's a few hidden problems here. You need to separate out the different tasks:

Add Restaurant Markers on Restaurant check
Remove Restaurant Markers on Restaurant un-check
Add Bar Markers on Bar check
Remove Bar Markers on Bar un-check

You will need to keep a list of Restaurants and Bars, a SQLite database with a table for Restaurants and a table for Bars would be a good option.

You can query the database and populate a list of POJO objects, and use those lists to generate the Markers when the checkboxes are checked.

Then, you need to keep a separate list of the Markers, so that when the check-boxes are un-checked, you can remove the Markers from the map.

Here is a simple example that I put together quickly with hard coded values, you will need to add the database part later.

public class CheckMapActivity extends AppCompatActivity
        implements OnMapReadyCallback {

    GoogleMap googleMap;
    List<MapLocation> restaurantList;
    List<MapLocation> barList;
    List<Marker> restaurantMarkers = new ArrayList<>();
    List<Marker> barMarkers = new ArrayList<>();

    @Override
    protected void onCreate (Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_check_map);

        //Eventually load from a database
        //Hard coded here for now
        restaurantList = new ArrayList<>();
        barList =  new ArrayList<>();

        MapLocation r1 = new MapLocation(37.78344,-122.42578, "Restaurant One" );
        MapLocation r2 = new MapLocation(37.7876965,-122.4106738, "Restaurant Two" );
        restaurantList.add(r1);
        restaurantList.add(r2);

        MapLocation b1 = new MapLocation(37.7866028,-122.4044511, "Bar One" );
        MapLocation b2 = new MapLocation(37.7864459,-122.4090323, "Bar Two" );
        barList.add(b1);
        barList.add(b2);

        CheckBox checkRestaurants = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkRestaurants);
        checkRestaurants.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new CompoundButton.OnCheckedChangeListener() {
            @Override
            public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton compoundButton, boolean b) {
                if (b){
                    showRestaurants();
                } else {
                    hideRestaurants();
                }
            }
        });

        CheckBox checBars = (CheckBox) findViewById(R.id.checkBars);
        checBars.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new CompoundButton.OnCheckedChangeListener() {
            @Override
            public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton compoundButton, boolean b) {
                if (b) {
                    showBars();
                } else {
                    hideBars();
                }
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();

        SupportMapFragment mapFragment = (SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager()
                .findFragmentById(R.id.map);

        mapFragment.getMapAsync(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onMapReady(GoogleMap map) {

        googleMap = map;
        setUpMap();
    }

    public void setUpMap() {

        googleMap.setMapType(GoogleMap.MAP_TYPE_HYBRID);
        googleMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);
        googleMap.getUiSettings().setZoomControlsEnabled(true);

    }

    public void showRestaurants() {

        restaurantMarkers.clear();
        for (MapLocation loc : restaurantList){
            Marker marker = googleMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(new LatLng(loc.lat, loc.lon))
                    .title(loc.title)
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_MAGENTA)));

            CameraPosition cameraPosition = new CameraPosition.Builder()
                    .target(new LatLng(loc.lat, loc.lon)).zoom(12).build();
            googleMap.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory
                    .newCameraPosition(cameraPosition));

            restaurantMarkers.add(marker);
        }
    }

    public void showBars() {

        barMarkers.clear();
        for (MapLocation loc : barList){
            Marker marker = googleMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions()
                    .position(new LatLng(loc.lat, loc.lon))
                    .title(loc.title)
                    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_BLUE)));

            CameraPosition cameraPosition = new CameraPosition.Builder()
                    .target(new LatLng(loc.lat, loc.lon)).zoom(12).build();
            googleMap.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory
                    .newCameraPosition(cameraPosition));

            barMarkers.add(marker);
        }
    }

    public void hideRestaurants(){
        for (Marker marker : restaurantMarkers){
            marker.remove();
        }
    }

    public void hideBars(){
        for (Marker marker : barMarkers){
            marker.remove();
        }
    }

    //POJO to hold locations:
    public class MapLocation {
        public MapLocation(double lt, double ln, String t){
            lat = lt;
            lon = ln;
            title = t;
        }
        public double lat;
        public double lon;
        public String title;
    }

}

Here's the layout, activity_check_map.xml:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    tools:context="com.daniel.tabstest.CheckMapActivity">

    <fragment
        android:id="@+id/map"
        class="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="500dp"/>

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_alignBottom="@+id/map"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:orientation="vertical">

        <CheckBox
            android:id="@+id/checkRestaurants"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="Restaurants" />
        <CheckBox
            android:id="@+id/checkBars"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="Bars" />

    </LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

Result:

Restaurants checked:

Restaurants and Bars checked:

Bars checked:

Nothing checked: