Overview

Provided that a position has been obtained, this module can add a Map with Places of Interest (POI) and Places. The user can be made aware of nearby features and related information, displayed graphically. Features on the Map can be places of business, entertainment, and so on. They may include paths, roads, or forms of transport, enabling navigation optimization and assistance.

To perform navigation we need Routes from start to destination. These routes are made up of segments, where each RouteSegment can be considered a navigation subtask: drive 100 meters, turn left. The beginning and end of each segment is a waypoint, that is, one part of our journey.

A typical use case for the API is a user looking for a particular type of place, say a restaurant. The user could enter a search string into the map application and respond to a list or display of results for restaurants "near" the device. The application could then be used to navigate to the restaurant using an optimized route that is aware of features in the environment that can help or hinder the journey. The navigation then proceeds with the user's progress monitored by means of the current Location. In the context of this API the map application would be aware of the location and size of various places and the location of the user. Plugins would supply the data required by the application to determine routes and navigation instructions. The Place types would hold information about the destination and surrounding objects including displayable representations. The Map type would enable this information to be displayed, panned, zoomed and so on. The Route would be determined by a plugin with each RouteSegment holding the navigation instructions guided by the updated current Location.

Plugins are a means of specifying which location-based service to use. For example, a plugin may allow connection to a provider's service that provides geocoding and routing information, which can be consumed by the application. There may be various GeoServices plugins for various tasks with some plugins providing more than one service. One QML Plugin must be created for each required GeoService plugin. Plugins are required for maps, routing and geocoding, and places, however the default plugin handles all four of these services. A plugin may require online access or may support on-board maps and data.

Note: Plugins may not provide features such as paging or relevance hints.

The following links provide more detailed information about maps and places:

Common QML Types

Maps QML Types

Navigation and Routing QML Types

Geocoding QML Types

Places QML Types

Alphabetical Listing of All QML Types