README.rdoc

Geocoder¶ ↑

Geocoder is a complete geocoding solution for Ruby. With Rails it adds geocoding (by street or IP address), reverse geocoding (find street address based on given coordinates), and distance queries. It’s as simple as calling geocode on your objects, and then using a scope like Venue.near("Billings, MT").

Compatibility¶ ↑

• Supports multiple Ruby versions: Ruby 1.8.7, 1.9.2, and JRuby.

• Supports multiple databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MongoDB (1.7.0 and higher).

• Supports Rails 3. If you need to use it with Rails 2 please see the rails2 branch (no longer maintained, limited feature set).

• Works very well outside of Rails, you just need to install either the json (for MRI) or json_pure (for JRuby) gem.

Install¶ ↑

As a Gem¶ ↑

Add to your Gemfile:

gem "geocoder"

and run at the command prompt:

bundle install

Or As a Plugin¶ ↑

At the command prompt:

rails plugin install git://github.com/alexreisner/geocoder.git

Configure Object Geocoding¶ ↑

In the below, note that addresses may be street or IP addresses.

ActiveRecord¶ ↑

Your model must have two attributes (database columns) for storing latitude and longitude coordinates. By default they should be called latitude and longitude but this can be changed (see “More on Configuration” below):

rails generate migration AddLatitudeAndLongitudeToModel latitude:float longitude:float
rake db:migrate

For reverse geocoding your model must provide a method that returns an address. This can be a single attribute, but it can also be a method that returns a string assembled from different attributes (eg: city, state, and country).

Next, your model must tell Geocoder which method returns your object’s geocodable address:

geocoded_by :full_street_address   # can also be an IP address
after_validation :geocode          # auto-fetch coordinates

For reverse geocoding, tell Geocoder which attributes store latitude and longitude:

reverse_geocoded_by :lat, :lon
after_validation :reverse_geocode  # auto-fetch address

Mongoid¶ ↑

First, your model must have an array field for storing coordinates:

field :coordinates, :type => Array

You may also want an address field, like this:

field :address

but if you store address components (city, state, country, etc) in separate fields you can instead define a method called address that combines them into a single string which will be used to query the geocoding service.

Once your fields are defined, include the Geocoder::Model::Mongoid module and then call geocoded_by: