Now, in most cases, this is inconsequential, to say the least. The Maps API dev team established performance as a higher priority than making sure the API included three different styles of kitchen sinks, so they eliminated some of the not-as-utilized features of the API, and v3 screams compared to the rusty groan of v2's bloated code as a result! (Read that, v3 is AWESOME and WELL WORTH the jump!)
But I do miss at least one of the features that they omitted this time around: the GOverviewMapControl. In fact, for the project that I was working on, the client specifically requested the overview map that appears in the lower-right corner on http://maps.google.com and gives you at least some semblance of where you are in the world when using the larger map. So this wasn't just a trivial thing for me. I needed an overview map control.
So I went searching, and I found an issue on the GMaps issues list where people requested this exact feature. As of this writing, 83 people had starred the issue, meaning that they wanted it. And in fact, it was actually "acknowledged" by the dev team. Unfortunately, though, the issue was created July 2009, acknowledged a day later, and now, over a year later, there is still no overview map in GMaps v3.
Considering that the project was not at the top of my priority list, I didn't worry about it too much. I simply starred the issue and decided to work around it as best I could, hoping that, by the time I was ready to finish the app, the control would be included in the v3 code. Alas, however, I reached a point this week where I was wrapping things up and still needed the control.
So I wrote one.
For anyone still looking for an equivalent to the GOverviewMapControl in Google Maps API v3, I've created a new Google Code project for my solution, which you can check out at http://code.google.com/p/gmaps-api-v3-overviewmapcontrol.
As with the last post (check it out here), though, I will take a couple of seconds to make some notes.
First, I did take a couple of "liberties" to make my version a bit more fun. Namely, I animated the opening and closing, and I made it automatic. This is the default behavior. In the next couple of days, I think I will make the automatic opening and closing optional. Maybe I'll make the animation optional, too. I just haven't decided on that part yet.
Second, you may notice that, when you drag the polygon to the edge of the overview map, the overview map does not pan automatically. This is something that I have thus far been unable to do smoothly. If you have any thoughts on how I could accomplish this, I would love to hear them.
Third, I am aware of an issue where releasing the polygon after dragging it around does not trigger the event to move the map. I'm working on it. If you have any ideas on fixing it, let me know.
Fourth, there is no fourth note. I just inserted this paragraph for kicks. It kind of breaks up the list of notes and gives me a chance to use the word "sixth" in a blog post.
Fifth, because I have no special permission from the GMaps team, I have made no effort to eliminate the Google logo and terms notices on the overview map. These do eat up screen real estate, but they also make sure that the Google Legal (Beta) team doesn't come after me.
And sixth, you should be aware that I am using a real hack to put the control on the map. Namely, this control is not added to the map by pushing it into one of the 8 custom control trays. Rather, it is simply appended to the map parent div. So you have complete control over where it is placed, etc., in the CSS. In theory, you could put it front and center on your map, or you could use it to cover one of the essential components of the map (e.g., the Google branding and/or licensing notices). I assume no responsibility for any consequences you may incur by changing the positioning rules specified in the default.css file.
So there you have it. An overview map control for GMaps API v3. Now go and map something!
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