1. HEATHER HALL & ADRIENNE SPITZER
MAPSTRACTION
HEATHER HALL & ADRIENNE SPITZER

2. WHAT IS IT?
Javascript library that can be used in a variety of Javascript map APIs
You can write a mapping code once, then switch between map providers by only changing two lines
“Mapstraction additionally fills some holes each provider’s current offerings (taking advantage of existing open source solutions where possible) to normalize the feature set across platforms.” – Mapstraction website
Heather

3. WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT?
Dynamic switching from one maps API to another
Show Markers, Points, Lines and Polygons on your map
Add image overlays and base map tiles to your application
Programming languages used:
Javascript
HTML
CSS
Heather

4. DOCUMENTATION AND TUTORIALS
Mapstraction website: The tutorial has a getting started tab, exceptions and points and bounding boxes, after that (zooming, map controls, map types, markers, info bubbles, polylines, polygons, tile layers and events) they all say coming soon. For the ones that work they are descriptive and make sense.
More information provided on blogs and on Wired website
Adrienne

5. Tutorial on WIRED
Mapstraction website
Adrienne

6. Mapstraction website provides some language to help you start your map using various APIs
Adrienne

7. FUNCTIONALITY From GitHub:
Support for more than 11 major mapping providers
Dynamic switching of provider
Point, Line, Polygon support
Marker Filtering by Time, Category, or any attribute
Image overlay and base tiles
GeoRSS and KML feed import
Geocoding of addresses
Driving directions
From the Wisconsin study:
Map vs. imagery
Vector overlays
Overlay/toggle
Pan
Zoom
Search
Retrieve
Adrienne

8. SUPPORTED APIS CloudMade ESRI ArcGIS Google – v2 and v3 Leaflet
MapQuest and MapQuest Open
Microsoft Bing – v6 and v7
Nokia Here
OpenLayers
Ordnance Survey OpenSpace
Nokia Ovi
Yandex
Heather

9. EXAMPLE
Adrienne

10. CONSIDERATIONS
It may be a good tool to use if you are comfortable with programming and want to use a variety of APIs
A lot of the tutorials are missing and the comments on GitHub asking about fixing the bugs are from 2013
Mapstraction site does not seem to be maintained
Heather