Directions Service (Complex)

This example demonstrates the use of the DirectionsService object to fetch directions between landmarks in New York City. Markers are placed at each waypoint along the route. Click on a marker to display the directions associated with that waypoint.

Read the documentation.

TypeScript

function initMap(): void {
  const markerArray: google.maps.Marker[] = [];

  // Instantiate a directions service.
  const directionsService = new google.maps.DirectionsService();

  // Create a map and center it on Manhattan.
  const map = new google.maps.Map(
    document.getElementById("map") as HTMLElement,
    {
      zoom: 13,
      center: { lat: 40.771, lng: -73.974 },
    }
  );

  // Create a renderer for directions and bind it to the map.
  const directionsRenderer = new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer({ map: map });

  // Instantiate an info window to hold step text.
  const stepDisplay = new google.maps.InfoWindow();

  // Display the route between the initial start and end selections.
  calculateAndDisplayRoute(
    directionsRenderer,
    directionsService,
    markerArray,
    stepDisplay,
    map
  );

  // Listen to change events from the start and end lists.
  const onChangeHandler = function () {
    calculateAndDisplayRoute(
      directionsRenderer,
      directionsService,
      markerArray,
      stepDisplay,
      map
    );
  };

  (document.getElementById("start") as HTMLElement).addEventListener(
    "change",
    onChangeHandler
  );
  (document.getElementById("end") as HTMLElement).addEventListener(
    "change",
    onChangeHandler
  );
}

function calculateAndDisplayRoute(
  directionsRenderer: google.maps.DirectionsRenderer,
  directionsService: google.maps.DirectionsService,
  markerArray: google.maps.Marker[],
  stepDisplay: google.maps.InfoWindow,
  map: google.maps.Map
) {
  // First, remove any existing markers from the map.
  for (let i = 0; i < markerArray.length; i++) {
    markerArray[i].setMap(null);
  }

  // Retrieve the start and end locations and create a DirectionsRequest using
  // WALKING directions.
  directionsService
    .route({
      origin: (document.getElementById("start") as HTMLInputElement).value,
      destination: (document.getElementById("end") as HTMLInputElement).value,
      travelMode: google.maps.TravelMode.WALKING,
    })
    .then((result: google.maps.DirectionsResult) => {
      // Route the directions and pass the response to a function to create
      // markers for each step.
      (document.getElementById("warnings-panel") as HTMLElement).innerHTML =
        "<b>" + result.routes[0].warnings + "</b>";
      directionsRenderer.setDirections(result);
      showSteps(result, markerArray, stepDisplay, map);
    })
    .catch((e) => {
      window.alert("Directions request failed due to " + e);
    });
}

function showSteps(
  directionResult: google.maps.DirectionsResult,
  markerArray: google.maps.Marker[],
  stepDisplay: google.maps.InfoWindow,
  map: google.maps.Map
) {
  // For each step, place a marker, and add the text to the marker's infowindow.
  // Also attach the marker to an array so we can keep track of it and remove it
  // when calculating new routes.
  const myRoute = directionResult!.routes[0]!.legs[0]!;

  for (let i = 0; i < myRoute.steps.length; i++) {
    const marker = (markerArray[i] =
      markerArray[i] || new google.maps.Marker());

    marker.setMap(map);
    marker.setPosition(myRoute.steps[i].start_location);
    attachInstructionText(
      stepDisplay,
      marker,
      myRoute.steps[i].instructions,
      map
    );
  }
}

function attachInstructionText(
  stepDisplay: google.maps.InfoWindow,
  marker: google.maps.Marker,
  text: string,
  map: google.maps.Map
) {
  google.maps.event.addListener(marker, "click", () => {
    // Open an info window when the marker is clicked on, containing the text
    // of the step.
    stepDisplay.setContent(text);
    stepDisplay.open(map, marker);
  });
}

declare global {
  interface Window {
    initMap: () => void;
  }
}
window.initMap = initMap;
index.ts

Note: Read the guide on using TypeScript and Google Maps.

JavaScript

function initMap() {
  const markerArray = [];
  // Instantiate a directions service.
  const directionsService = new google.maps.DirectionsService();
  // Create a map and center it on Manhattan.
  const map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"), {
    zoom: 13,
    center: { lat: 40.771, lng: -73.974 },
  });
  // Create a renderer for directions and bind it to the map.
  const directionsRenderer = new google.maps.DirectionsRenderer({ map: map });
  // Instantiate an info window to hold step text.
  const stepDisplay = new google.maps.InfoWindow();

  // Display the route between the initial start and end selections.
  calculateAndDisplayRoute(
    directionsRenderer,
    directionsService,
    markerArray,
    stepDisplay,
    map,
  );

  // Listen to change events from the start and end lists.
  const onChangeHandler = function () {
    calculateAndDisplayRoute(
      directionsRenderer,
      directionsService,
      markerArray,
      stepDisplay,
      map,
    );
  };

  document.getElementById("start").addEventListener("change", onChangeHandler);
  document.getElementById("end").addEventListener("change", onChangeHandler);
}

function calculateAndDisplayRoute(
  directionsRenderer,
  directionsService,
  markerArray,
  stepDisplay,
  map,
) {
  // First, remove any existing markers from the map.
  for (let i = 0; i < markerArray.length; i++) {
    markerArray[i].setMap(null);
  }

  // Retrieve the start and end locations and create a DirectionsRequest using
  // WALKING directions.
  directionsService
    .route({
      origin: document.getElementById("start").value,
      destination: document.getElementById("end").value,
      travelMode: google.maps.TravelMode.WALKING,
    })
    .then((result) => {
      // Route the directions and pass the response to a function to create
      // markers for each step.
      document.getElementById("warnings-panel").innerHTML =
        "<b>" + result.routes[0].warnings + "</b>";
      directionsRenderer.setDirections(result);
      showSteps(result, markerArray, stepDisplay, map);
    })
    .catch((e) => {
      window.alert("Directions request failed due to " + e);
    });
}

function showSteps(directionResult, markerArray, stepDisplay, map) {
  // For each step, place a marker, and add the text to the marker's infowindow.
  // Also attach the marker to an array so we can keep track of it and remove it
  // when calculating new routes.
  const myRoute = directionResult.routes[0].legs[0];

  for (let i = 0; i < myRoute.steps.length; i++) {
    const marker = (markerArray[i] =
      markerArray[i] || new google.maps.Marker());

    marker.setMap(map);
    marker.setPosition(myRoute.steps[i].start_location);
    attachInstructionText(
      stepDisplay,
      marker,
      myRoute.steps[i].instructions,
      map,
    );
  }
}

function attachInstructionText(stepDisplay, marker, text, map) {
  google.maps.event.addListener(marker, "click", () => {
    // Open an info window when the marker is clicked on, containing the text
    // of the step.
    stepDisplay.setContent(text);
    stepDisplay.open(map, marker);
  });
}

window.initMap = initMap;
index.js

Note: The JavaScript is compiled from the TypeScript snippet.

CSS

/* 
 * Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div element
 * that contains the map. 
 */
#map {
  height: 100%;
}

/* 
 * Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. 
 */
html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

#floating-panel {
  position: absolute;
  top: 10px;
  left: 25%;
  z-index: 5;
  background-color: #fff;
  padding: 5px;
  border: 1px solid #999;
  text-align: center;
  font-family: "Roboto", "sans-serif";
  line-height: 30px;
  padding-left: 10px;
}

#warnings-panel {
  width: 100%;
  height: 10%;
  text-align: center;
}
style.css

HTML

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Directions Service (Complex)</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./style.css" />
    <script type="module" src="./index.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="floating-panel">
      <b>Start: </b>
      <select id="start">
        <option value="penn station, new york, ny">Penn Station</option>
        <option value="grand central station, new york, ny">
          Grand Central Station
        </option>
        <option value="625 8th Avenue, New York, NY, 10018">
          Port Authority Bus Terminal
        </option>
        <option value="staten island ferry terminal, new york, ny">
          Staten Island Ferry Terminal
        </option>
        <option value="101 E 125th Street, New York, NY">
          Harlem - 125th St Station
        </option>
      </select>
      <b>End: </b>
      <select id="end">
        <option value="260 Broadway New York NY 10007">City Hall</option>
        <option value="W 49th St & 5th Ave, New York, NY 10020">
          Rockefeller Center
        </option>
        <option value="moma, New York, NY">MOMA</option>
        <option value="350 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10118">
          Empire State Building
        </option>
        <option value="253 West 125th Street, New York, NY">
          Apollo Theater
        </option>
        <option value="1 Wall St, New York, NY">Wall St</option>
      </select>
    </div>
    <div id="map"></div>
    &nbsp;
    <div id="warnings-panel"></div>

    <!-- 
      The `defer` attribute causes the script to execute after the full HTML
      document has been parsed. For non-blocking uses, avoiding race conditions,
      and consistent behavior across browsers, consider loading using Promises. See
      https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/load-maps-js-api
      for more information.
      -->
    <script
      src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyB41DRUbKWJHPxaFjMAwdrzWzbVKartNGg&callback=initMap&v=weekly"
      defer
    ></script>
  </body>
</html>
index.html

Try Sample

JSFiddle.net Google Cloud Shell

Clone Sample

Git and Node.js are required to run this sample locally. Follow these instructions to install Node.js and NPM. The following commands clone, install dependencies and start the sample application.

  git clone -b sample-directions-complex https://github.com/googlemaps/js-samples.git
  cd js-samples
  npm i
  npm start

Other samples can be tried by switching to any branch beginning with sample-SAMPLE_NAME.

  git checkout sample-SAMPLE_NAME
  npm i
  npm start