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November 19, 2002
Make A Shorter...Map
Fab though it is, I've become repeatedly frustrated with the huge URLs that multimap produces, so I've been tinkering with the key parameters to find out which ones do something useful, and which ones can be safely deleted from the URL before you send it to your friend. So here's what I've learnt:
When you put a postcode, it gets converted into a grid reference, but all that address information is carted around in the URL regardless.
The essential parameters after that are:
X=540500
Y=187000
coordsys=gb
scale=10000
You can play with the 6-digit X and Y parameters in units of 500 to get the map centred the way you'd like it. Lower X coordinates go West. Lower Y coordinates go South. The point these refer to is the very centre of the map.
Similarly play with the scale parameter to get it zoomed in nicely. 5000, 10000, 25000 are the legal values you're likely to need.
Lose all the add1=, add2= etc parameters, they're not needed any more.
Similarly the up.x= and up.y, clientid=public bits.
So, here's a roundabout near me:
http://www.multimap.co.uk/map/browse.cgi?X=540000&Y=188000&coordsys=gb&scale=10000
You can get the bit above from the 'web address' listed below the image. However, if you want a floating red circle around your house then play with the following parameters...
gride=540841
gridn=187100
You'll notice these are 'fine detail' on the main X and Y coordinates given above.
So here's a nice pub near that roundabout...
Okay, it's not exactly beautiful, but it takes up a lot less space than the full version.
Anyway, enjoy.
Posted by Tom Dolan at November 19, 2002 12:32 PM
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Comments
Good information. A bit of playing on my part managed to get the URL down to...
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?gride=539700&gridn=188095
Seems to work, but I suspect it's only good for locations on the GB map grid.
Posted by: Jase J at August 12, 2004 05:58 PM
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