MapBlast is a web based map and directions provider.
As will happen with time the structure has changed. Mapblast is being run by M$ and its url passing has changed slightly since the original post here. The newest url structure (04/06/04) seems to follow the following format..
- ID=
- C=Coordinates (xxx.xxxxx%2cyyy.yyyyy) xxx.xxxxxx=Lat yyy.yyyyy=Long of the maps center
- L=Location (USA | EUR | WLD |etc )
- A=Zoom (The lower the more zoomed in, the higher the more zoomed out)
- PN=
- S=Size (405%2c320 or 575%2c470 or 800%2c740)
- P=Pushpin |xxx.xxxxx%2cyyy.yyyyy|p|textstring|L1|
- xxx.xxxxx%2cyyy.yyyyy Lat Long to center the pushpin on
- p=pushpin style (int) there are many and varied symbols and colors
- textstring= string of words to label the pin with seperated by a + and a %2c for a line break
- L1 =
StartName=string of words seperated by a + and a %2c for a line break
StartLocation=Coordinates (xxx.xxxxx%2cyyy.yyyyy) xxx.xxxxxx=Lat yyy.yyyyy=Long of the start point
EndName=string of words seperated by a + and a %2c for a line break
EndLocation=Coordinates (xxx.xxxxx%2cyyy.yyyyy) xxx.xxxxxx=Lat yyy.yyyyy=Long of the end point
- DataSetLangID=USA%2c409
RouteType=(Quickest | Shortest)
RouteUnit= (Miles | KM)
Here is some information from EricJohanson on how the MapBlast URL scheme works.
It's pretty easy to get it to plot upto about 25-50 'spots'. Much more than that, and you run into limitations in HTTP.
Here is the basic format:
http://www.mapblast.com/gif?&CT=47.6638000:-122.3783833:20000:&IC=47.6730000:-122.3983833:100:home&FAM=myblast&W=6000&H=3500
The CT is the center of the image. The 20000 is the zoom level; not quite sure how it works.
Each spot you can represent with a IC=; the format is as follows:
- IC=lat:long:icon_number:name
Finally, the W & H is the width & height of the image you want.
I'm sure there are more tricks you can do, but this is about all I know so far.
If you figure out what the 'zoom' level represents, it would be very helpfull.
LarsAronsson writes ...
In Europe, where we use the metric system for everything, maps are marked with a scale like 1:20000 meaning 1 meter on the map is 20000 meters in real life, or 10 cm on the map is 2000 m real. If your screen is 100 dpi (almost true for most screens), this is pretty much what the MapBlast 20000 scale gives you. 1 mile = 1609 meters real life = 0.08 m on your screen = 3.15 inches or 315 pixels.
The scale 100000 is good for an overview of a city. 20000 is good for seeing every street and block.
I use these maps on my Swedish wiki, e.g. http://susning.nu/Sunnyvale where if you click "redigera..." at the bottom of the page, you can see the use of the "map:" rule that I have added to WikiToHTML() in the UseModWiki source (exactly the CT argument to MapBlast). Also try the "andra platser i närheten" link under the map for a "geo search"!