CODEWITHSUNDEEP
htmlkml
Jesse
Jesse

Reputation: 75

Opening CGI generated KML file in Google from a broweser link

I've got a web application that uses google maps to display data from a database using a perl CGI to query the database. I decided to add an option to view data in google earth(standalone, not the plugin) instead of google maps.

How it works: User fills out a form, then clicks on a link that call some javascript that generates a url based on the form. Depending on the form input there may be 1 to 30 urls to open.

An example of a generated url:"http://wildlifedb-testing.buffalofieldcampaign.org//qs.pl?format=kml&startdate=2007-11-27&enddate=2007-12-4&species=bison&activity=&centerlat=44.714721&centerlon=-111.159067&centerdist=15&limit=2000"

I can take that url and add it as network link in GE and it opens just fine, but I can't figure out how to get it to open in GE directly from the browser. I tried setting window.location=url and that just causes the browser to download the file.

And yes, i've got the mime-type set right: "application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml"

Upvotes: 0

Views: 738

Answers (3)

barryhunter
barryhunter

Reputation: 21091

Can use the Google Earth API, to make a browser based implementation of Google Earth. http://code.google.com/apis/earth/

Or for a basic interface, pass the URL of a KML to this http://earth.google.com/kmlpreview/#url=http://www.example.com/path/to/file.kml

(just to be sure to urlencode your url - as you have special chars)

Example here

Upvotes: 0

Jesse
Jesse

Reputation: 75

So It ended up being to seperate problems, one with http headers, which i was able to solve by adding the following to the headers:

Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="sightings.kml"

The other problem was being able to open multiple files which i was able to solve by using window.open() instead of setting window.location

Upvotes: 0

KTys
KTys

Reputation: 180

GE won't open directly from the browser. You need to have the server generate a downloadable file containing the KML, that the user will open.

Check out how Wikipedia handles this. You go from a geo-located page (lat/lon in upper right) to GeoHack, which gives a bunch of mapping sites, including GE. Some sites can be opened directly because they are web apps. GE requests get sent KML as a download because it is a desktop app. Security.

Upvotes: 1

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