Google offers a free Application Programming Interface (API) and several mapping examples which give an idea about how to overlay maps with own data. For MapInfo Professional a small MapBasic application called Map2GMap.mbx (right-click for download) has been programmed which generates a complete HTML page which integrates Google"s Map object overlayed with point data from a MapInfo table. By clicking on a marker an info window pops up displaying attribute information gained from the objects in the table.

An example can be found at http://www.gis-news.de/gmap/usa_capitals.html.

Before getting started with creating your own maps using Map2GMap, you"ll need to sign up for a Google Maps API Key. You have to enter the key in the map2gmap.ini file which will be created automatically by the application.

Note that you have to use a webserver, locally installed or on a server! The mapper window must use a latitude / longitude projection because Google"s map supports only these type of projection.

Don"t forget to read Google"s Terms of Use before you agree to them!

As noted in http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/08/10/google-maps.html there are some limitations with Google Maps API key:

• The Google Maps API key is restricted to generate maps only for URLs (website or a local host). You need to have a web server even for development.
• The key you receive might be only valid for a single directory on your web site.

Enjoy creating your own maps!

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