DJGeocoder

DJGeocoder is a simple way to get geocoding done on iOS.

Uh, What's Geocoding?

It's the process of taking an address, and finding out what latitude and longitude it corresponds to.

Why Should I Care?

If you have an app that need to do this, it takes a surprising amount of code. Not so much that you can't write it, but enough to make realize that you'd rather be writing code for other things.

OK, How Do I Use It?

1. Copy the DJGeocoder.h and DJGeocoder.m into your project.

    #import "DJGeocoder.h"
   

2. In your code, make yourself a Geocoder, fill in some details, and fire off a request

    DJGeocoder *coder = [[DJGeocoder alloc] init]; // don't forget your memory management rules :)
    coder.delegate = self;
    coder.streetAddress = @"1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA";
    [coder startAsynchronousRequest];
   

3. Implement the delegate methods. One of them will get called when something interesting happens. (DJGeocoder finds the latitude/longitude or fails.)

    - (void)geocoder:(DJGeocoder *)coder didSucceedWithLatitude:(NSNumber *)latitude 
      Longitude:(NSNumber *)longitude Details:(NSDictionary *)details {
    	// your awesome code here
    	[coder release];
    }	
    - (void)geocoder:(DJGeocoder *)coder didFailWithError:(NSError *)error {
    	// Oh No :(
    	[coder release];
    }
   

But I don't want to implement DJGeocoderDelegate protocol! Can't I just do it synchronously?

NO! Performing network requests on the main UI thread is a sin.

Network Requests?! What's going on?

DJGeocoder uses the Google Maps Web Services API. This is a good time to mention that you should adhere to Google's terms of service when using this. In a nutshell:

[...] the Geocoding API may only be used in conjunction with a Google map; geocoding results without displaying them on a map is prohibited.

One more thing...

This isn't really done. There's a lot of work to do. It's quite useable, however. If you find anything wrong, submit an issue. Better yet, fork me and fix it! :)

iOS 5.0 includes this natively

This code was written before iOS 5.0 was introduced. If you're targeting iOS 5.0 or later, then just use CLGeocoder.