@ -8,17 +8,10 @@ Through a process known as [geocoding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocoding),
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a map with a search box that allows you to enter addresses and place names and locate them on a map. To complete the tutorial, you should have some familiarity with HTML and JavaScript, although all the source code is provided. You can use any text editor and operating system, but must keep an Internet connection while you are working.
You also need a [Mapzen API key](https://mapzen.com/developers), which requires a [GitHub account](https://help.github.com/articles/signing-up-for-a-new-github-account/) for authorization.
You also need a Mapzen API key, which you can get by following the steps in the Mapzen [developer overview](https://mapzen.com/documentation/overview/#developer-accounts-and-api-keys).
Suggested text editor applications include [Atom - OS X, Windows, Linux](https://atom.io/); [Notepad++ - Windows](https://notepad-plus-plus.org/); [TextWrangler - OS X](http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/); and [Sublime - OS X, Windows, Linux; free trial](http://www.sublimetext.com/). While you can use the apps installed with your operating system, such as Notepad or TextEdit, they do not provide the helpful indentations, code coloring and autocomplete, or text alignment options found in the other editors. For TextEdit, you must go to the Format menu and click Make Plain Text to use the plain-text version of the file. Do not use an app that applies rich formatting, such as Word or Wordpad.
### Sign up for a Mapzen API key
1. Go to https://mapzen.com/developers.
2. Sign in with your [GitHub account](https://help.github.com/articles/signing-up-for-a-new-github-account/). If you have not done this before, you need to agree to the terms first.
3. Create a new key, and, optionally, give it a project name so you can remember the purpose of the key.
4. Keep the web page open so you can copy the key into the source code later.
## Create an HTML page
You are ready to start building your web page and map.
@ -187,17 +180,16 @@ To recap how you created this, you added references to the Mapzen JS and CSS fil
So far, you have referenced the necessary files, initialized Leaflet with a map container on the page, and added data to the map. Now, you are ready to add the Search box.
1. Go back to the https://mapzen.com/developers page and copy your API key to the clipboard.
2. Inside the same `<script>` tag, and after the code you just added for the map, initialize a search box and add it to the map with the following code. Use your own API key substituted for the placeholder text of `mapzen-xxxxxx`.
1. Inside the same `<script>` tag, and after the code you just added for the map, initialize a search box and add it to the map with the following code. Use your own API key substituted for the placeholder text of `mapzen-xxxxxx`.
```js
var geocoder = L.Mapzen.geocoder('mapzen-xxxxxx');
geocoder.addTo(map);
```
The `mapzen-xxxxxx` text is the Mapzen API key; paste your own API key inside the single quotes.
The `mapzen-xxxxxx` text is the Mapzen API key; paste your own API key inside the single quotes. You can get an API key by following the steps in the Mapzen [developer overview](https://mapzen.com/documentation/overview/#developer-accounts-and-api-keys).
You are passing one parameter to the search, which is the [API key](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface_key) inside the single quotes. The API key is a code that uniquely identifies your developer account without providing a password. For this workshop, you are being provided with an API key. Because the search service is shared among many users, an API key is a way to make sure that the performance is acceptable for everyone.
You are passing one parameter to the search, which is the [API key](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface_key) inside the single quotes. The API key is a code that uniquely identifies your developer account without providing a password.
2. Save your edits and refresh the browser. You should see search box in the left corner, near the zoom controls. If your browser window is wide, the Search box is expanded by default. When you reduce the window size, the box collapses to a button. You can change this behavior in the geocoder options.
To use the Mapzen Search service, you must first get a developer API key. Sign in at https://mapzen.com/developers to create and manage your API keys.
The Mapzen Search service requires an API key. In a request, you must append your own API key to the URL, following `&api_key=` at the end.
1. Go to https://mapzen.com/developers.
2. Sign in with your GitHub account. If you have not done this before, you need to agree to the terms first.
3. Create a new key and optionally, give it a name so you can remember the purpose of the project.
4. Copy the key into your code.
## Rate limits
Because Mapzen Search is a shared service, there are limitations on the numbers of requests to prevent individual users from degrading system performance.
Mapzen Search allows you a maximum of:
- 6 requests per second
- 30,000 requests per day
If you need more capacity, contact [search@mapzen.com](mailto:search@mapzen.com). You can also set up your own instance of [Pelias](http://pelias.io), which has access to the same data used in Mapzen Search.
## Security
Mapzen Search works over HTTPS and HTTP. You are strongly encouraged to use HTTPS for all requests, especially for queries involving potentially sensitive information, such as a user's location or search query.
See the [Mapzen developer overview](https://mapzen.com/documentation/overview/#mapzen-search) for more on API keys and rate limits.
## Caching to improve performance
Mapzen Search uses caching to serve commonly requested content as quickly as possible. An edge cache, also known as a content delivery network (CDN), is a network of computers, geographically spread across the world, designed to shorten the physical distance data must travel to you so it can get there faster. If you have ever tried to access a common service and found that it is slow, it may be because the information must travel a large physical distance. Mapzen Search uses a CDN to help reduce this effect and limit the impact of common queries on its application servers.
Queries that are served from the edge cache do not count toward your limit of queries per second or queries per day, although you will still see them listed in your [dashboard](https://mapzen.com/developers/).
When you send a request to Mapzen Search, it first goes to the CDN server that is the closest path from your internet service provider before it is forwarded onto a Mapzen Search application server. Mapzen Search uses [Fastly](https://www.fastly.com) for its CDN; you can look at this [network map](https://www.fastly.com/network-map) to see where your requests are likely being sent.
If your request is not found in the current CDN cache, the CDN server then passes it to one of the Mapzen Search application servers. When it comes back with a response to your API call, the CDN server keeps a copy of that response (minus any personal data to your application, including your API key). If you or another nearby user makes the identical API call, you will likely be sent to the same CDN server, which has the response in its local cache. From tests in the Mapzen offices in New York, this has the effect of shortening a query from 190ms to 21ms. Your speed improvements may vary, as requests from other locations and internet providers may be served by different edge cache servers. The Mapzen Search cache is updated on the CDN at least once a week.
If your request is not found in the current CDN cache, the CDN server then passes it to one of the Mapzen Search application servers. When it comes back with a response to your API call, the CDN server keeps a copy of that response (minus any personal data to your application, including your API key). If you or another nearby user makes the identical API call, you will likely be sent to the same CDN server, which has the response in its local cache. From tests in the Mapzen offices in New York, this has the effect of shortening a query from 190ms to 21ms. Your speed improvements may vary, as requests from other locations and internet providers may be served by different edge cache servers.
Through edge caching, common searches, such as `/v1/search?text=new york`, often come back quickly for most users, and may not count toward your rate limit. This is especially useful with Autocomplete, where many places start with the same few root letters, such as the `new` in `new york`, `newark`, and `new jersey`.
Through edge caching, common searches, such as `/v1/search?text=new york`, often come back quickly for most users. This is especially useful with Autocomplete, where many places start with the same few root letters, such as the `new` in `new york`, `newark`, and `new jersey`.
Unless you have recently made a particular API call, you will not know ahead of time whether it will be served from the edge cache. After you make an API call, you can get more information in the HTTP headers of the response. HTTP headers are embedded metadata that tells your browser (or other software) how to make sense of the request.
If you are building an end-user application, you can use the `/autocomplete` endpoint alongside `/search` to enable real-time feedback. This type-ahead functionality helps users find what they are looking for, without requiring them to fully specify their search term. Typically, the user starts typing and a drop-down list appears where they can choose the term from the list below.
To build a query with autocomplete, you need an [API key](https://mapzen.com/developers) and a`text` parameter, representing what a user has typed into your application so far. Optionally, you can specify a geographic point where the search is focused, this will allow users to see more local places in the results.
To build a query with autocomplete, you need a `text` parameter, representing what a user has typed into your application so far. Optionally, you can specify a geographic point where the search is focused, this will allow users to see more local places in the results.
- **API endpoint** - an architectural style for accessing web resources through a URL. In Mapzen Search, available endpoints include `search`, `reverse`, and `autocomplete`. You can construct a URL to send queries and receive responses from Mapzen Search.
- **API key** - a code that identifies the developer account without providing a password. Mapzen Search requires an API key to interact with the search service.
- **API key** - a code that identifies the developer account without providing a password. Mapzen Search requires an API key to interact with the search service. Sign up for an API key at https://mapzen.com/developers.
- **autocomplete** - enables real-time feedback when entering text for a search, typically, where users start typing and a drop-down list appears where they can choose the term from the list below. Use the `autocomplete` endpoint to do this.
- **data source** - the datasets available to Mapzen Search. Only data sources that have open-source licenses are used.
- **focus** - option to make places closer to a particular location be prioritized and appear higher in the search results list. After all nearby results have been found, additional results will come from the rest of the world, without any further location-based prioritization.
[Mapzen Search](https://mapzen.com/projects/search) is a modern, geographic search service based entirely on open-source tools and powered entirely by open data. To start integrating Mapzen Search to your apps, you need a [Mapzen developer API key](api-keys-rate-limits.md). Through a process known as [geocoding](search.md), Mapzen Search allows you to use natural language to find a particular place by entering an address or the name of a landmark or business, and then translates the result in to the geographic coordinates used by computers.
[Mapzen Search](https://mapzen.com/projects/search) is a modern, geographic search service based entirely on open-source tools and powered entirely by open data. Through a process known as [geocoding](search.md), Mapzen Search allows you to use natural language to find a particular place by entering an address or the name of a landmark or business, and then translates the result in to the geographic coordinates used by computers.
Mapzen Search accesses [global databases](data-sources.md) of place names and locations, but you can receive more locally relevant search results by limiting the search to a particular radius around a location (such as a cell phone), region, or country. With text [autocompletion capabilities](autocomplete.md), you can search for places and match against Mapzen Search data in real-time.
@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ With reverse geocoding with Mapzen Search, you can look up all sorts of informat
* postal areas
* countries
To get started with reverse geocoding, you need a [developer API key](https://mapzen.com/developers) and a latitude, longitude pair in decimal degrees specified with the parameters `point.lat` and `point.lon`, respectively. For example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is located at `48.858268,2.294471`. The reverse geocode query for this would be:
To get started with reverse geocoding, you need a latitude, longitude pair in decimal degrees specified with the parameters `point.lat` and `point.lon`, respectively. For example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is located at `48.858268,2.294471`. The reverse geocode query for this would be:
@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ All Mapzen Search requests share the same format:
In addition, you can search at `https://search.mapzen.com/v1/search/structured` to look for individual components of a location.
Mapzen Search works over HTTPS and HTTP. You are strongly encouraged to use HTTPS for all requests, especially for queries involving potentially sensitive information, such as a user's location or search query.