This is a continuation of a discussion at http://drupal.org/node/61902. Here's the discussion so far:
17 submitted by sym on May 16, 2006 - 08:25
I don't want to pull this too far off topic, but has anyone thought about using the ecommerce address module to handle profile addresses?
See http://drupal.org/node/63340 for more info.
18 submitted by Bèr Kessels on May 16, 2006 - 09:17
address (used to?) have states hardcoded. And that is a non option for The Rest Of The World [1]
Last time I looked address from ecommerce was long due an overhaul. With all due respect to the develpers that is! Somewhere, long ago, it scratched an itch, but it should have been updated long since. And yes, I am to blame for not doing that update just as much!
So no: what we need is real proper address and relation management. I beleive CCK is perfect for that.
[1] http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Rest_of_World
19 submitted by sym on May 16, 2006 - 10:04
Yes, you're right...and in some ways thats what I ment....
I should have said: could we start to use a standard address system that can be used anywhere? This should be part of the profile rather than ecommerce. Ecommerce could use the new standard address system.
I guess this is a side project, but I am interested in CCK being a part of it.
I think this is more than just a matter of ecommerce using CCK, because you would need a standard set of fields to make up an address etc.
Anyway, it's something to think about. I will try to do something with it once this module is in a better state.
20 submitted by KarenS on May 16, 2006 - 11:17
Ber,
I did not do anything about starting a project, I'll let you handle that.
Re addresses: why not use the location module? I think the combo of CCK and the location module is a great solution. I know the location module is not yet working for all international locations, but that is the direction it will be going.
21 submitted by Patrick Nelson on May 17, 2006 - 04:58
Please don't think I'm selfish, but the location module is of little use in the UK without the relevant data and that data is expensive over here. The PAF database which holds lat/long details against zip codes for the UK is licenced by the Royal Mail and is well out of the reach of most small businesses and us poor developers :(
Comments
Uk
Patrick, I too am in the UK and I thought the same. I don't think location does the job in this case...
I think you are confusing
I think you are confusing geocoding with a method to store location information. The location module provides a way to store address fields along with latitude and longitude. The ability to automatically geocode based on a postal code is an additional, optional, feature. With or without it, the location module provides a logical storage mechanism for location information, with predefined and translated lists of country and province names, links to mapquest, google, and yahoo maps, etc. That is the reason why I think we want to use the location module as an address storage mechanism.
For people who live in places where free geocoding services are available, there is also the possibility to add that feature, but the module serves a purpose of being a standardized address storage mechanism either way.
For places that don't provide free geocoding, like the UK, there will be no way to do geocoding, but that really has nothing to do with using the location module to store address info. Plus, if someone ever does provide a free geocoding service for the UK, that feature can be neatly slotted in.
Also, there is some interesting work going on to integrate GMap with the location module. They just added a feature where a user can bring up a google maps map and pick their location on it, then the lat and lon is saved in the user's location record. It is not as slick as an auto lookup, but it does provide a way to get geocode info for users (if they'll fill it out).
Karen, I like that
Karen, I like that suggestion as I'm interested in this mod as a way to store business info and I could see how lat/long could come in really handy for people trying to find a business without knowing an area.
lat / long set automatically without map browsing
Hey,
I am going nuts trying to set the user google map marker without the user having to actually place it on a google map.
I'd like lat/long info to be geocoded automatically from the address field inserted.
I guess this is the location module's job and it seems to be integrated with google maps as well ..
I simply "enable user maps" from the settings pages.
The problem now is that if I go to my user profile and enter address data I will always get lat and long = 0!!!
What is happening here ?
Any ideas?
address_fields.module
IMO we should, once we have the CCK/node integration done, focus on a new module that contains address fields for CCK.
Off course one can use textfields and selects, but they ar erather limited:
* They do not have "intelligence" about their content. i.e. you cannot validate whehter a value is either "male" or "female" and not both. Addressfields know about their own behaviour.
* They require tedious import routines to suck in all the values for certain states, etc.
* They cannot be grouped: name: firstname [_____]middlename [____] surname[_________]
* They cannot validate by eachother: if (coutry_is_us()( {required_state_filled()}
And last, but not least, they can store data in a smart set of tables, provide nice apis get_street($nid); etc.
So, IMO we should go for a single module that defines all sorts of nice and nifty address fields.
Bèr
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