Google Places API - find an address using the city

google-maps, google-places-api, javascript

Solution

As far as what the user types into the input box that is associated with the `Autocomplete`dev-guide, there isn't very much you can do to control what they type. However, when you set up the `Autocomplete`api-doc, you can define options that control the results that will come back. The key for you will be setting up the `types` option correctly.

Specific to your question #1, you can restrict the results that will come back in the `Autocomplete` to addresses by setting `types` to `geocode` as shown in this example:

var defaultBounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds(
  new google.maps.LatLng(-33.8902, 151.1759),
  new google.maps.LatLng(-33.8474, 151.2631));

var input = document.getElementById('searchTextField');
var options = {
  bounds: defaultBounds,
  types: ['geocode']
};

autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input, options);

Specific to your question #2, you can restrict the results that come back in the `Autocomplete` to cities by setting `types` to `cities` as shown here:

var input = document.getElementById('searchTextField');
var options = {
  types: ['(cities)'],
  componentRestrictions: {country: 'fr'}
};

autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input, options);

Also notice that because the `Autocomplete` has been restricted to `(cities)`, I have added a `componentRestrictions` specifier to set the country within which to search for cities (in this case, France) and removed the `bounds` specifier.

Specific to your question #3, you can create two tables, one to store City data, the other to store Address data, as shown in the following UML diagram:

Based on the description in your question, there are some key aspects of this design:

- There is a one-to-many relationship from `City` to `Address`. This will allow you to associate many `Address` records to a single `City` record. It will also make it simple to retrieve all of the `Address` records that have been entered for any `City`.

- The relationship between `Address` and `City` says that for every `Address`, a `City` must exist. This means that when a user enters an `Address`, you must take the following actions: 1 - Check to see if the `City` for the `Address` already exists in the database. 2 - If the `City` does exist, retrieve its `ID` and use that as the foreign key `City-ID` value when storing the new `Address`. 3 - If the `City` does not exist, a new unique `ID` must be created for the `City` and the `City` must be stored in the database. Then the `ID` for the `City` may be used as the foreign key `City-ID` value when storing the `Address`. Making sure that every `Address` has an associated `City` answers one of the questions you ask as part of your question #3: How can I find the result of the first user: "MyCity, MyStreet 12" using "MyCity" key? Because when you stored the "MyCity, MyStreet 12" `Adress` record, you made sure a "MyCity" record exists in the `City` table. Retrieving the `ID` for the `City` is straightforward if another user enters the same `City` or an `Address` associated with the same `City` is entered by a user in the future.

- The relationship between `City` and `Address` says that for any `City` there may be zero or more associated `Address` records. This ensures that the user in your description that searches for just a `City` may store the `City` even if no follow-up `Address` searches take place. The `City` is stored, it has an `ID`, and it is just waiting for any new `Address` records that may be added later.

Finally, you asked one more question as part of question #3: how can I check if the fully address belong to the city using the ids only? Being able to answer this question is why there is a foreign key `City-ID` that is part of every `Address` record. It clearly defines the `City` that is associated with any `Address`. So if you have the `ID` for a `City` and the `ID` for an `Address`, the simplest way to determine if they are a match is: 1 - Retrieve the `Address` from the database using the `Address` `ID`. 2 - Compare the `City-ID` value that is part of the `Address` that was just retrieved from the database with the `ID` for the `City` you started with; if they match, you know the `Address` is associated with the `City` and if they don't match, you can be sure there is no relationship between that `Address` and that `City`.

I'm not entirely sure what you are trying to achieve with the addresses and the cities, but I've tried to give you a solid solution that covers the things you describe in your question. I included a great deal of detail so that all of your points are addressed and in the hope that it will make my description clear and easy to understand. I hope this helps you -

Problem

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