This is a simple network service that can retrieve the lattitude and longitude of a given address. The service takes in an address and request for the location form Google Map server or HERE Map server.
This module uses the python library requests library for send HTTP requests.
The following link provides instructions on how to install requests on Mac, Windows and Linux
https://programminghistorian.org/lessons/installing-python-modules-pip
By default, the service uses Google Map to retrieve locations
First open a terminal and open Python (Python 2.7 was used in this demo)
$python
Python 2.7.10 (default, Jul 15 2017, 17:16:57)
[GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 9.0.0 (clang-900.0.31)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>
Then import the module (make sure to be in the directory that contains the module)
>>> import GeocodingService as gs
>>> geo_service = gs.GeocodingService()
>>> geo_service.Get("San Francisco, CA")
Getting Lattitude and Longitude from Google Map
Given Address: San Francisco, CA
Formatted Address: San Francisco, CA, USA
Location: (37.7749295, -122.4194155)
(37.7749295, -122.4194155)
>>>
In the case that the service cannot retrieve data from Google Map for some reason, for example a Google Developer Key is not available (this can be tested by moving the file google_dev_key.txt outside of the directory). The service would retrieve data from HERE Map.
The program would prompt the user the missing key and switch to using HERE Map.
>>> geo_service = gs.GeocodingService()
Error obtaining Google Map Developer Key from google_dev_key.txt
WARNING: Google Developer Key not found, the servie will not be able to retrieve data from Google Map
>>> geo_service.Get("San Francisco, CA")
Getting Lattitude and Longitude from Google Map
Google Map requires a developer key in order to obtain data. Please provide a developer key
Getting Lattitude and Longitude from HERE Map
Given Address: San Francisco, CA
Formatted Address: San Francisco, CA<br/>USA
Location: (37.77713, -122.41964)
(37.77713, -122.41964)
>>>
If the service is to be used in another piece of code, simply import the module and insta 4C51 tiate the object before use
import GeocodingService as gs
my_service = gs.GeocodingService()
address = "Worcester, MA"
lat_long = my_service.Get(address)