Google® Street View Widget

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

All,

   Here is the next installment to my long list of widgets. I never really wanted to add to the list of several Street View Widgets, but as it's predecessors have lacked updating when new version of Flex Viewer are released and me wanting to add more features, I finally decided to do one myself.

The Google Street View Widget version 3.3 for Flex Viewer 3.3 allows you to view Google Street View Panoramas in a popup window. The widget use Google Maps API Version 3 and has almost all the API options for the Street View Panorama that are available in the API configurable in the widgets xml. A lot of attention has gone into the UI (User Inferface) and UX (User Experience) of this widget and a lot of cross browser testing has been done. Tested on Safari for windows 5.1.7, Internet Explorer 9, Opera 12.15, FireFox 21.0, and Chrome 27.0.1453.110 m.

Configurable features include:

    * hidestreetviewvwidowwhenminimized - This is a true or false value and determines if the graphic on the map and the Google Street View window are hidden when the widget is minimized.
    * width - The width of the popup widow that is opened.
    * height - The height of the popup widow that is opened.
    * apikey - The Google Maps API Key that you must obtain to use this widget.
      https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/tutorial#api_key
    * addresscontrol - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View Address Control is visible.
      It has an attribute of controlposition that defines where in the popup window the control is placed.
    * clicktogo - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View will move to the location clicked.
    * disabledoubleclickzoom - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View will zoom into the
      location on the panorama where the user double clicks.
    * imagedatecontrol - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View will display the date of the
      panorama image was taken along the bottom of the window with the copyright info.
    * linkscontrol - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View will display the movement arrows
      and street names on the panorama for navigation purposes.
    * pancontrol - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View pan Control is visible.
      It has an attribute of controlposition that defines where in the popup window the control is placed.
    * zoomcontrol - is a true or false value and determines if the Google Street View zoom Control is visible.
      It has an attribute of controlposition that defines where in the popup window the control is placed and a
      controlstyle attribute that determines the size of the control.
   
    * All text that the widget uses is configurable in the xml to allow for internationalization of the widget.

So here it is: http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=b4259b1cf73e4fa3b04e7bdf75fee29b

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Wayne,

   There is no configuration for not having the popup show when the widget is opened and this is highly unlikely to change as there is JavaScript code that I need to run from the HTML page before I have everything ready for your mouse click on the map.

[BrentFoster]

Hi Robert, excellent widget.  It works fine for me when I use the default viewer style colors, ex:


<style>
        <colors>0xFFFFFF,0x333333,0x101010,0x000000,0xFFD700</colors>
        <alpha>0.8</alpha>
</style>


But gives me an unable to initialize error whenever I use my custom colors, ex:

<style>
        <colors>0xFFFFFF,0x003300,0x101010,0x000000,0xFFD700</colors>

        <alpha>0.8</alpha>
<titlefont name="Verdana Italic" size="18"/>

</style>


If I change the viewer background color back to '0x333333' it works.  Any ideas?

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Brent,

   It was an issue with the code dropping the two leading zeros and thus make an invalid Hex color. It is now fixed in version 3.5.1.

[BrentFoster]

Wow that was fast, works great now.  Amazing work as always.

[NicholasMcNamara]

Question about licensing. The agreement looks like you have to have public access to your site:

9.1 Free, Public Accessibility to Your Maps API Implementation.
9.1.1 General Rules.
(a) Free Access (No Fees). Your Maps API Implementation must be generally accessible to users without charge and must not require a fee-based subscription or other fee-based restricted access. This rule applies to Your Content and any other content in your Maps API Implementation, whether Your Content or the other content is in existence now or is added later.

(b) Public Access (No Firewall). Your Maps API implementation must not operate (i) only behind a firewall; or (ii) only on an internal network (except during the development and testing phase); or (iii) in a closed community (for example, through invitation-only access).

I guess this still applies if you are using the key with this app? Is there any way around it? We have security-sensitive data and our apps are in our intranet only (municipal utility data).

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Nick,

   This is a bit beyond my area of expertise. Sorry I can not provide and guidence with this question.

[NicholasMcNamara]

OK, it looks like I'm supposed to pay for Google Maps API for Business. But will your tool work with that? Do I just use a different key in the same spot?

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Nick,

   I would say that replacing the key should work. But to my knowledge you would be the first to test.

[JanieGoddard]

I had troubles at first with the API key but after some tweaking it seems to work, maybe it was a delay or an issue with the internet cache.  Anyways, has anyone had any issues going over the quotas?  Mine is not set up for billing and I don't foresee ever even coming close to 25000 requests per day, but I'm not sure what is considered a request.  Funny thing is I've tried to check the reports and so far it still says zero requests even though I am using the app.  Anyone have any insight into this?

Hi,
  I just got my Google API key setup. I put the api key in the StreetView widget config file. I tried moving the little man around within a location and only got 1 for the usage for the day. Each time I changed complete locations from the last area, I received one more usage count. When I missed the road and the man turned pale, it didn't increase the usage count. Here is what my count looks like after looking up 7 different locations successfully. This is working in FlexViewer 3.1 by just adding the API key.
Maps API v3
# of requests
Daily quota: 25k
28-day total: 7
Hope this helps!
Janie

[SteveAdams]

I have read through all of these threads and just wanted to confirm that there was no work around to the white "No street view available" window that pops up when you open the Street View widget.
I saw something that said this was not going to change, but thought I would ask.