Geolocation woes

pbrad

Hi Support,
I have been smashing my head against a brick wall trying to pull the users geolocation into AwareIM for further processing.

Basically, I call a php page using URL_CONTENTS and then parse the content to extract the latitude and longitude so that I can continue on with my process. If I run the php page in a browser it works perfectly but when I use the url_contents it does not process the page properly.

If you would take a quick look at my code below and point out any glaring errors or let me know why the php page is not running via url_contents I would be in your debt:

PHP Code:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Find Me</title>



</head>
 
<body>
<form method="post" action="GeoLocation5.php#done">
  <input type="hidden" size="100"  id="lat" name="latit" >
  <input type="hidden" size="100"  id="lon" name="long" >
</form>
<script> 
if (location.hash == '') setTimeout('SubForm()', 1000); // delay 3 seconds

function SubForm() {
document.forms[0].submit();

} 
</script> 

 <?php
 
//Retrieve string from post submission
$lati = $_POST['latit'];
$long = $_POST['long'];
echo "latbegin$lati";
echo "latend";
echo "lonbegin$long";
echo "latend";
 
?>
</body>
<script type="text/javascript">
function findmeifyoucan()
{
     if( navigator.geolocation )
     {
          navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition( win, fail );
     }
     else
     {
          alert("Sorry, your browser does not support this functionality");
     }
}
 
function win(youare)
{
var longi;
longi=document.value = youare.coords.longitude;
var lati;
lati=document.value = youare.coords.latitude;

document.getElementById("lat").value = youare.coords.latitude;
document.getElementById("lon").value = youare.coords.longitude;

}
function fail()
{
	//didntwork
}
</script> 
<script type="text/javascript">
findmeifyoucan();
</script>

You can test this code by visiting: http://www.workxid.ca/GeoLocation5.php

However when I access the page via url_contents, the following code is returned:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><title>Find Me</title></head> <body><form method="post" action="GeoLocation5.php#done"> <input type="hidden" size="100" id="lat" name="latit" > <input type="hidden" size="100" id="lon" name="long" ></form><script> if (location.hash == '') setTimeout('SubForm()', 1000); // delay 3 secondsfunction SubForm() {document.forms[0].submit();} </script> latbeginlatendlonbeginlatend</body><script type="text/javascript">function findmeifyoucan(){ if( navigator.geolocation ) { navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition( win, fail ); } else { alert("Sorry, your browser does not support this functionality"); }} function win(youare){var longi;longi=document.value = youare.coords.longitude;var lati;lati=document.value = youare.coords.latitude;document.getElementById("lat").value = youare.coords.latitude;document.getElementById("lon").value = youare.coords.longitude;}function fail(){ //didntwork}</script> <script type="text/javascript">findmeifyoucan();</script>

It is as if it is returning the raw html code without having run the javascript on the page. I have tried numerous methods to get it to work but none of my approaches actually run the script as it does when you call the page through a browser.

Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks!
Pete

aware_support

Well, good thinking, but the approach is flawed. 🙁

The HTML has some Javascript that is assumed to be executed. However, Javascript only executes on the client in the browser. When you use URL_CONTENTS, Javascript CANNOT BE EXECUTED, in principle. So you cannot expect the resulting HTML to be correct.

You don't need PHP or URL_CONTENTS to determine GeoLocation of the client. The best thing would be to have some custom Javascript running when the client logs in. You would then store GeoLocation somewhere on the server as part of the RegularUser object and then use it in your processes.

pbrad

Hi,
After writing down the situation I realized that I had been spinning my wheels and that the javascript would need the browser to run from. I can't go with your approach as I need to capture their geolocations while they are logged in so I am going to revisit my original approach which was to display a url rather than using url_contents. The displayed page will determine the latitude and longitude and then write this information along with a timestamp and the userid to an external database table and then my process will go and grab the database entry and use the db entry to continue the process.

I actually pretty much had this working a while ago and then got sidetracked with my idea to parse the url_contents. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks for the feedback.
Cheers,
Pete

Powerm

It's as well the fact to run a php page into AwareIM's Tomcat...I've seen tricks but was was not able to do it

pbrad

Just a quick follow up to advise that I was successful in performing geolocations. Essentially, within the mobile interface I use display_url to jump out to a php page that captures the geolocation and writes this information directly to the object instance lat & long in the database record. I then have the php page automatically redirect me back to where I was inside AwareIM using dynamic=true in the return url where I can continue with my process.

This approach took a while to figure out and is perhaps not for the faint of heart but it does work.

Thanks for your help Vladimir.
cheers,
Pete