Sean and Matt, Thanks for the advice! You're suggestions got me going in the right direction...
As this small scale project is using MySQL, I discovered it supports some GIS features as well. In case anyone else is looking to do something similar, this thread is particularly useful: http://forums.mysql.com/read.php?23,3868,3868#msg-3868 Tauren On 10/27/07, Matt Jensen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > If you want to implement this for yourself, you need to start with two > pieces: a database of zip code data including latitude/longitude, and > (to make things as simple as possible) an OpenGIS extension package for > your database. This gives you the ability to index on > latitude/longitude and do quick lookups using a "distance" function in > the WHERE clause of your query. The implementation for PostgreSQL is > called PostGIS (http://www.postgis.org); if you're using some other > database then you will have to find the equivalent extension on your > own. I wouldn't be surprised if some high end databases have this > functionality built in. > > Zip code databases are available from about a million different > sources. I was most pleased with the offering from > http://www.zipcodeworld.com, but I'm sure that I did not investigate > them all. In my experience, the data is a bit shoddy in all of these > collections. You may not have problems with that until you try to > combine it with something like gazetteer data. In about 2,000 cases, > that becomes a nightmare. If you can avoid that...do! > > I have an SQL INSERT script which was generated off of the September > topical gazetteer and zip code databases, but with everything pulled in > I believe it weighs in at something like 40MB. :-/ > > Tauren Mills wrote: > > I apologize for this being off topic, but I have a feeling some of you > > might have some ideas for me. > > > > I'd like to implement a feature that will search for all physical > > locations in my database that are within a radius of a zip code. In > > other words, the user enters a zip code and selects a distance from a > > drop down list (5 mi, 10 mi, 25 mi, 50 mi, etc.) and a list of all > > locations within that distance of the zip code will be displayed. You > > can see something similar to this at: > > http://www.restaurant.com/ > > > > Are there any web services out there that would simplify this task? I > > have been looking at the Google Geocoding API > > (http://www.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/services.html), but am > > not sure how much it will help. I could geocode locations as they are > > added to my database and store the lat/long, but I get fuzzy on how to > > proceed from there. Somehow my SQL query (using hibernate) would need > > to do some computation to see if the lat/long stored in the DB is > > within the specified radius from the lat/long of the specified zip > > code. > > > > I guess I mostly want to hear from others if this would be the way > > they would do it, or if there is some other way that would work better > > or be simpler. > > > > Thanks! > > Tauren > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
