maps.py

# This is a simple test of the Google Maps API.
# March 26, 2021 (11:29 pm)

# Made changes to finalize the program's functionality by removing redudant code and dependencies.
# March 27, 2021 (8:18 pm)

# Adapted the code to work with coordinates and included some error validation (negative distance).
# March 27, 2021 (10:06 pm)

# Full opp functionality according to python's specifications.
# March 27, 2021 (10:34 pm)

import requests
import json

# API key to allow access to the Google Maps Distance Matrix API.
key = "AIzaSyD5S_QsivrbmGtWzjs6Hp7r3YcQi5GInbE"
api_key = key


class maps:
    # Constructor for source and dest
    def __init__(self, sourceLat, sourceLong, destLat, destLong):
        self.sourceLat = sourceLat
        self.sourceLong = sourceLong
        self.destLat = destLat
        self.destLong = destLong

    # Method used to calculate the distance between the source and destination.
    def getDistance(self):

        try:
            # Url variable to store the url of the distance matrix.
            url = 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/distancematrix/json?'

            # Grabbing the updated url with the given arguments.
            r = requests.get(url + '&origins=' + self.sourceLat + ',' + self.sourceLong +
                             '&destinations=' + self.destLat + ',' + self.destLong + '&key=' + api_key)

            # json method of response object
            # return json format result
            x = r.json()

            # Inelegant for loop to find the distance metric.
            for key in x:
                if (key == "rows"):

                    # Formatting the string to make sure that it is acceptable as an integer.
                    distance = (x[key][0]['elements'][0]
                                ['distance']['text']).split("km")
                    distance = (str("").join(distance))
                    distance = float(distance)

            return distance  # Return the value as an integer

        except KeyError:
            # Return -1. If the value is negative we know there is an error.
            return (-1)