Getting Directions

Now we have a simple map with a floor selector where you can search for locations. When finishing this step you'll be able to create a directions between two points and change the transportation mode.

Get Directions Between Two Locations

After having created our list of search results, we have a good starting point for creating directions between two Locations. Since our search only supports a single search, we will hardcode a Location's coordinate into our app, and use that as the basis for our Origin. Then we'll create a route, navigate to a view of the navigation details, and show a route on the map from the Origin to the Destination.

We have already created a point in the basic example, called mUserLocation to use as a starting point for directions on MapsActivity

  • Java

  • Kotlin

private Point mUserLocation = new Point(38.897389429704695, -77.03740973527613,0);

Now we will create a method that can generate a route for us with a Location (picked from the search list). Start by implementing OnRouteResultListener to your MapsActivity.

  • Java

  • Kotlin

public class MapsActivity extends FragmentActivity implements OnMapReadyCallback, OnRouteResultListener

Implement the onRouteResult method and create a method called createRoute(MPLocation mpLocation) on your MapsActivity.

Use this method to query the MPRoutingProvider, which generates a route between two coordinates. We will use this to query a route with our hardcoded mUserLocation and a point from a MPLocation.

To generate a route with the MPLocation, we start by creating an onClickListener on our search ViewHolder inside the SearchItemAdapter. In the method onBindViewHolder we will call our createRoute on the MapsActivity for our route to be generated.

  • Java

  • Kotlin

SearchItemAdapter.java

public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
...
holder.itemView.setOnClickListener(view -> {
        mMapActivity.createRoute(mLocations.get(position));
        //Clearing map to remove the location filter from our search result
        mMapActivity.getMapControl().clearMap();
    });
...
}

We start by implementing logic to our createRoute method to query a route through MPRoutingProvider and assign the onRouteResultListener to the activity. When we call the createRoute through our onClickListener we will receive a result through our onRouteResult implementation.

When we receive a result on our listener, we render the route through the MPDirectionsRenderer.

We create global variables of the MPdirectionsRenderer and MPRoutingProvider and create a getter to the MPDirectionsRenderer to access it from fragments later on.

  • Java

  • Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

void createRoute(MPLocation mpLocation) {
    if (mpRoutingProvider == null) {
        mpRoutingProvider = new MPRoutingProvider();
        mpRoutingProvider.setOnRouteResultListener(this);
    }
    mpRoutingProvider.query(mUserLocation, mpLocation.getPoint());
}

@Override
public void onRouteResult(@Nullable Route route, @Nullable MIError miError) {
    ...
    //Create the MPDirectionsRenderer if it has not been instantiated.
    if (mpDirectionsRenderer == null) {
        mpDirectionsRenderer = new MPDirectionsRenderer(this, mMap, mMapControl, i -> {
            //Listener call back for when the user changes route leg. (By default is only called when a user presses the RouteLegs end marker)
            mpDirectionsRenderer.setRouteLegIndex(i);
            mMapControl.selectFloor(mpDirectionsRenderer.getCurrentFloor());
        });
    }

    //Set the route on the Directions renderer
    mpDirectionsRenderer.setRoute(route);
    //Create a new instance of the navigation fragment
    mNavigationFragment = NavigationFragment.newInstance(route, this);
    //Add the fragment to the BottomSheet
    addFragmentToBottomSheet(mNavigationFragment);
    //As camera movement is involved run this on the UIThread
    runOnUiThread(()-> {
        //Starts drawing and adjusting the map according to the route
        mpDirectionsRenderer.initMap(true);
        ...
    });
}

See the full implementation of these methods here: MapsActivity.java or MapsActivity.kt

Now we will implement logic to our NavigationFragment that we can put into our BottomSheet and show the steps for each route, as well as the time and distance it takes to travel the route.

Here we'll use a viewpager to allow the user to switch between each step, as well as display a "close" button so we are able to remove the route and the bottom sheet from the activity.

We will start by making a getter for our MPDirectionsRenderer that we store on MapsActivity:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

MapsActivity.java

public MPDirectionsRenderer getMpDirectionsRenderer() {
    return mpDirectionsRenderer;
}

Inside the NavigationFragment we will implement logic to navigate through Legs of our Route.

  • Java

  • Kotlin

NavigationFragment.java

public class NavigationFragment extends Fragment {
    private Route mRoute;
    private MapsActivity mMapsActivity;
    ...
    @Override
    public void onViewCreated(@NonNull View view, @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        RouteCollectionAdapter routeCollectionAdapter = new RouteCollectionAdapter(this);
        ViewPager2 mViewPager = view.findViewById(R.id.view_pager);
        mViewPager.setAdapter(routeCollectionAdapter);
        mViewPager.registerOnPageChangeCallback(new ViewPager2.OnPageChangeCallback() {
            @Override
            public void onPageSelected(int position) {
                super.onPageSelected(position);
                //When a page is selected call the renderer with the index
                mMapsActivity.getMpDirectionsRenderer().setRouteLegIndex(position);
                //Update the floor on mapcontrol if the floor might have changed for the routing
                mMapsActivity.getMapControl().selectFloor(mMapsActivity.getMpDirectionsRenderer().getCurrentFloor());
            }
        });

        ...
        //Button for closing the bottom sheet. Clears the route through directionsRenderer as well, and changes map padding.
        closeBtn.setOnClickListener(v -> {
            mMapsActivity.removeFragmentFromBottomSheet(this);
            mMapsActivity.getMpDirectionsRenderer().clear();
        });

        //Next button for going through the legs of the route.
        nextBtn.setOnClickListener(v -> {
            mViewPager.setCurrentItem(mViewPager.getCurrentItem() + 1, true);
        });

        //Back button for going through the legs of the route.
        backBtn.setOnClickListener(v -> {
            mViewPager.setCurrentItem(mViewPager.getCurrentItem() - 1, true);
        });

        //Describing the distance in meters
        distanceTxtView.setText("Distance: " + mRoute.getDistance() + " m");
        //Describing the time it takes for the route in minutes
        infoTxtView.setText("Time for route: " + TimeUnit.MINUTES.convert(mRoute.getDuration(), TimeUnit.SECONDS) + " minutes");
    }
    public class RouteCollectionAdapter extends FragmentStateAdapter {
        ...
    }
}

See the full implementation of NavigationFragment and the accompanying adapter here: NavigationFragment.java or NavigationFragment.kt

We will then create a simple textview to describe each step of the Route Leg in the RouteLegFragment for the ViewPager:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

RouteLegFragment.java

public class RouteLegFragment extends Fragment {
    private RouteLeg mRouteLeg;
    ...
    @Override
    public void onViewCreated(@NonNull View view, @Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onViewCreated(view, savedInstanceState);
        //Assigning views
        TextView fromTxtView = view.findViewById(R.id.from_text_view);
        String stepsString = "";
        //A loop to write what to do for each step of the leg.
        for (int i = 0; i < mRouteLeg.getSteps().size(); i++) {
            RouteStep routeStep = mRouteLeg.getSteps().get(i);
            stepsString += "Step " + (i + 1) + routeStep.getManeuver() + "\n";
        }
        fromTxtView.setText(stepsString);
    }
}

See the full implementation of the fragment here: RouteLegFragment.java or RouteLegFragment.kt

Change Transportation Mode

In MapsIndoors, the transportation mode is referred to as travel mode. There are four travel modes, walking, bicycling, driving and transit (public transportation). The travel modes generally applies for outdoor navigation. Indoor navigation calculations are based on walking travel mode.

To swap Travel Modes you set the Travel Mode before making a query for the route:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

void createRoute(MPLocation mpLocation) {
    //If MPRoutingProvider has not been instantiated create it here and assign the results call back to the activity.
    if (mpRoutingProvider == null) {
        mpRoutingProvider = new MPRoutingProvider();
        mpRoutingProvider.setOnRouteResultListener(this);
    }
    mpRoutingProvider.setTravelMode(TravelMode.WALKING);
    //Queries the MPRouting provider for a route with the hardcoded user location and the point from a location.
    mpRoutingProvider.query(mUserLocation, mpLocation.getPoint());
}

Expected result:

Last updated