Several people wanted an easier way to get maps to some places. So with a little help from my good friends Perl, Win32::OLE and DBI, I was able to write a script to help them out. But first I had to create a database of locations (loc_id, name, address1, city, state, zip).
It is a command line script.
Usage: mapit.pl 134849 134919
This would access our database and get the address of both places. It would then tell IE to navigate to MapBlast and generate a map from the first to the second. I have chosen 0 to represent my current location. So you could run it: mapit.pl 0 134919 to get a map from here to location #134919. It is also possible to run it with one location number to have it generate a destination map.
I give you Map It! (name just picked... may already be taken.)
#/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use Win32::OLE;
use DBI;
# start IE
my $ie = Win32::OLE->new('InternetExplorer.Application') or die("IE di
+dn't start");
# create some variables that will be used in the creation of error mes
+sages
my $header = qq(<html><head><title>Map It!</title></head><body><h1 ali
+gn="center">Map It!</h1>);
my $usage = qq(<p><b>Usage:</b> $0 (location #1) [location #2]<br />Ma
+p It! will return a map showing how to get from location #1 to locati
+on #2.<br />However location #2 can be omitted to receive just a dest
+ination map.</p><p><b>Examples:</b><br /><tt>$0 134898</tt> will get
+a destination map for location 134989.<br /><tt>$0 0 134898</tt> will
+ get a route map from here to location 134898.</p><p>This example sho
+ws using 0 to represent wherre I am. It can be used as the start or
+end point.</p>);
my $nodata = qq(<p><b>Location Not Found!</b></p><p>Check the location
+ numbers again.</p>);
my $footer = qq(</body></html>);
# get our location numbers
my @loc = @ARGV;
# how many were given?
my $locs = @loc;
# Make IE visible
$ie->{Visible}=1;
# If the wrong number of locations is given, show the usage message
if ($locs == 0 || $locs > 2) {
Error($ie,$header,$usage,$footer);
} else {
# setup the database stuff
my $db = "database";
my $db_engine = "mysql";
my $host = "localhost";
my $user = "username";
my $password = "password";
my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:$db_engine:$db:$host",$user, $password,{
+ PrintError => 0})
|| die $DBI::errstr;
my $table = "locations";
my $select = "name, address1, city, state, zip";
# our arrays to hold locations' address info for later
my (@street, @csz);
foreach my $loc (@loc) {
# if $loc is 0, it's here... so skip the database stuff
if ($loc == 0) {
push(@street, "123 Main St"); # your street address
push(@csz, "90210"); # your zip code
next;
}
my $where = "loc_id = $loc";
my $sql = "SELECT $select FROM $table WHERE $where;";
my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
if (!$sth) {
die "sth error:" . $dbh->errstr . "\n";
}
if (!$sth->execute) {
die "sth execute error:" . $sth->errstr . "\n";
}
my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_hashref;
# if $$ref{address1} doesn't exist, give an error message and die
if (!exists $$ref{address1}) {
Error($ie,$header,$nodata,$footer);
die("$loc doesn't exist");
}
# add the street address
push(@street, $$ref{address1});
# and zip code if known, otherwise city and state
push(@csz, ($$ref{zip} || "$$ref{city},$$ref{state}"));
$sth->finish();
}
$dbh->disconnect();
my $url;
if ($locs == 1) { # if there was only one location number given, i
+t's a destination only map
$url="http://www.mapblast.com/myblast/map.mb?CMD=GEO&CT=&IC=&LV="
."&GMI=&GAD1=&GAD2=&GAD3=&GAD4=&AD2=$street[0]&noPrefs=&req_action="
."crmap&skip=&serch=&PHONE=&noBRP=&remLoc=&AD4=USA&AD2_street=$street[
+0]"
."&AD3=$csz[0]&apmenu=&apcode=&x=67&y=11&selCategory=";
} else { # otherwise, it's a route map
$url = "http://www.mapblast.com/myblast/driveSilo.mb?&AD4=USA&locB
+oxNum="
."&req_action=getdir&AD2=&AD3=&formnum=2&forceAddr=&CT=&GMI="
."&multiIC=::::&locn_ckieVal=&serch=&skip=&MA=1&LV=11&CMD=FILL";
for my $i (1..2){
$url .= "&remLoc_$i=&AD4_$i=US&apmenu_$i=&apcode_$i=&GAD1_$i=&GA
+D2_$i=&GAD3_$i="
."&GAD4_$i=&phone_$i=&IC_$i=&GMI_$i=";
}
$url .= "&AD2_street_1=$street[0]&AD2_1=$street[0]&AD3_1=$csz[0]&A
+D2_street_2="
."$street[1]&AD2_2=$street[1]&AD3_2=$csz[1]";
}
$ie->Navigate($url);
}
sub Error {
my ($ie,$header,$error,$footer) = @_;
$ie->Navigate('');
my $idoc = $ie->{Document};
$idoc->open("text/html","replace");
$idoc->writeln($header.$error.$footer);
}
I could use some more comments but there are enough of them to give you a good idea of what is going on!
Update: I forgot to mention that this particular script only works in the United States. However, it would be a very simple task to make it work elsewhere. Just remember that as of right now, MapBlast will not map from one country to another.
