Create a Search Experience

Now you have simple app showing a map. In this step, you'll create a simple search and display the search results in a list. You'll also learn how to filter the data displayed on the map based on the search results.

Create a Simple Query Search​

Start by creating a new activity or fragment to facilitate searches on your application. Here we will be using a fragment for search and show to search results on, while using a bottom sheet to display the results. We also create a search input field on our main map activity for the user to input the text they want to search for. This is already setup in the basic example app.

To perform a search you will need to have initiated MapsIndoors. This was shown in the previous section of the getting started tutorial how you do this.

For advanced usage of the search functionality read the Search guide and tutorials connected to it: Search Guide

Show a List of Search Results​

Create a search method that takes a search string as a parameter on your MapsActivity class. In this example we only use the setTake on the MPFilter to limit our result to 30 locations. We will expand on this method later.

• Java

• Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

void search(String searchQuery) {
    //Query with a string to search on
    MPQuery mpQuery = new MPQuery.Builder().setQuery(searchQuery).build();
    //Filter for the search query, only taking 30 locations
    MPFilter mpFilter = new MPFilter.Builder().setTake(30).build();
    //Query for the locations
    MapsIndoors.getLocationsAsync(mpQuery, mpFilter, (list, miError) -> {
      //Implement UI handling of the search result here
    });
}

To be able to search we will use a text input field where a user can write what they want to search for. This is placed at the top of the MapsActivity

To call our search method with the text in the search input field, we then add an EditorActionListener and a OnClickListener to the text input field and the search button in the onCreate of MapsActivity. Find the full onCreate example here: MapsActivity.java or MapsActivity.kt

• Java

• Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    ...
    mSearchBtn = findViewById(R.id.search_btn);
    mSearchTxtField = findViewById(R.id.search_edit_txt);
    ...
    //ClickListener to start a search, when the user clicks the search button
    mSearchBtn.setOnClickListener(view -> {
        if (mSearchTxtField.getText().length() != 0) {
            //There is text inside the search field. So lets do the search.
            search(mSearchTxtField.getText().toString());
        }
    });

    //Listener for when the user searches through the keyboard
    mSearchTxtField.setOnEditorActionListener((textView, i, keyEvent) -> {
        if (i == EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_DONE || i == EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_SEARCH) {
            if (textView.getText().length() != 0) {
                //There is text inside the search field. So lets do the search.
                search(textView.getText().toString());
            }
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    });
    ...
}

Find the full onCreate example here: MapsActivity.java or MapsActivity.kt

To accompany this we use the SearchFragment that is already created for you and a BottomSheet to handle the SearchFragment.

Observe that the SearchFragmentis just a simple fragment with a RecyclerView and a SearchItemAdapter added to it

• Java

• Kotlin

SearchFragment.java

public class SearchFragment extends Fragment {

    private List<MPLocation> mLocations = null;
    private MapsActivity mMapActivity = null;

    public static SearchFragment newInstance(List<MPLocation> locations, MapsActivity mapsActivity) {
        final SearchFragment fragment = new SearchFragment();
        fragment.mLocations = locations;
        fragment.mMapActivity = mapsActivity;
        return fragment;
    }

    ...

    @Override
    public void onViewCreated(@NonNull View view, @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        final RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView) view;
        recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(getContext()));
        recyclerView.setAdapter(new SearchItemAdapter(mLocations, mMapActivity));
    }

    ...
}

See the full example of SearchFragment here: SearchFragment.java or SearchFragment.kt

Create a getter for your MapControl object on the MapsActivity so that it can be used in the SearchAdapter.

• Java

• Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

public MapControl getMapControl() {
    return mMapControl;
}

Inside the SearchItemAdapter implement logic to display the locations you get from a search result. Here we show an image of the location marker and show the name of the locations.

• Java

• Kotlin

SearchItemAdapter.java

class SearchItemAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<ViewHolder> {
    private final List<MPLocation> mLocations;
    private final MapsActivity mMapActivity;

    ...

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
        //Setting the the text on the text view to the name of the location
        holder.text.setText(mLocations.get(position).getName());

        if (mMapActivity != null) {
            //We start by checking if there is a specific Location icon assigned to the location
            LocationDisplayRule locationDisplayRule = mMapActivity.getMapControl().getDisplayRule(mLocations.get(position));

            if (locationDisplayRule != null && locationDisplayRule.getIcon() != null) {
                //There is a specific icon on this location so we use that
                mMapActivity.runOnUiThread(()-> {
                    holder.imageView.setImageBitmap(locationDisplayRule.getIcon());
                });
            }else {
                //Location does not have a specific displayRule, we instead use type Display rule
                LocationDisplayRule typeDisplayRule = mMapActivity.getMapControl().getDisplayRule(mLocations.get(position).getType());

                if (typeDisplayRule != null) {
                    mMapActivity.runOnUiThread(()-> {
                        holder.imageView.setImageBitmap(typeDisplayRule.getIcon());
                    });
                }
            }
        }
    }

    ...
}
class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
    final TextView text;
    final ImageView imageView;

    ViewHolder(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup parent) {
        super(inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_search_list_item, parent, false));
        text = itemView.findViewById(R.id.text);
        imageView = itemView.findViewById(R.id.location_image);
    }
}

See the full example of SearchItemAdapter and accompanying ViewHolder here: SearchItemAdapter.java or SearchItemAdapter.kt

We have already implemented the BottomSheet in the UI. Now we add the search fragment to the BottomSheet in our search query method on our MapsActivity. You can use the addFragmentToBottomSheet too add the created fragment to the BottomSheet. When we have received the search results

• Java

• Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

void search(String searchQuery) {
    //Query with a string to search on
    MPQuery mpQuery = new MPQuery.Builder().setQuery(searchQuery).build();
    //Filter for the search query, only taking 30 locations
    MPFilter mpFilter = new MPFilter.Builder().setTake(30).build();

    //Query for the locations
    MapsIndoors.getLocationsAsync(mpQuery, mpFilter, (list, miError) -> {
        //Check if there is no error and the list is not empty
        if (miError == null && !list.isEmpty()) {
            //Create a new instance of the search fragment
            mSearchFragment = SearchFragment.newInstance(list, this);
            //Make a transaction to the bottomsheet
            addFragmentToBottomSheet(mSearchFragment);
            //Clear the search text, since we got a result
            mSearchTxtField.getText().clear();
            ...
        }
    });
}

See the full example of the search method here: MapsActivity.java or MapsActivity.kt

Filter Locations on Map Based on Search Results​

When getting a search result, you might want to only show those search results on the map. You can do this through calling displaySearchResults(List<MPLocation> locations) on MapControl. This method has different parameters to make it easier for you as a developer to fit your exact need in terms of animation and more. This can be read in the JavaDoc of MapControl.

The standard implementation animates the camera to fit all Locations on the map and show the info window of a Location, if it's a list of only one Location.

When you are done showing the search results you can call clearMap() on MapControl.

Since the default displaySearchResults(List<MPLocation> locations) uses camera animation we will call it from the UI Thread and implement it in our search method inside the getLocationsAsync result with the list from the method.

• Java

• Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

void search(String searchQuery) {
    ...
    MapsIndoors.getLocationsAsync(mpQuery, mpFilter, (list, miError) -> {
        ...
        //Calling displaySearch results on the ui thread as camera movement is involved
        runOnUiThread(()-> {
            mMapControl.displaySearchResults(list, true);
        });
    });
}

Expected result:

An animation showing the desired behaviour of this tutorial

The accompanying UI and implementation of this search experience can be found in the getting started app sample. Getting Started App sample or Getting Started App sample kotlin.