how to display tile layers in google earth api? - google-maps-api-3

Question

I am creating an interactive map for a non profit association "Friends of Knox Mountain Park" but I am getting trouble with the Google Earth view.
This is the project: http://www.virtualbc.ca/knoxmountain/
and this is the code associated to google map's code:
google.load('earth', '1');
var map;
var googleEarth;
var gmarkers = [];
var iconShadow = new google.maps.MarkerImage('icons/shadow.png',
// The shadow image is larger in the horizontal dimension
// while the position and offset are the same as for the main image.
new google.maps.Size(46, 42),
new google.maps.Point(0,0),
new google.maps.Point(13, 42));
var sites = [
['1',49.905305,-119.491191, 37, '<img src="images/parking.jpg" />','parking'],
['2',49.905842,-119.481927, 36, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['3',49.907366,-119.490439, 35, '<img src="images/shelter.jpg" />','shelter'],
['4',49.907878,-119.491058, 34, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['5',49.908405,-119.491083, 33, '<img src="images/parking.jpg" />','parking'],
['6',49.910402,-119.492423, 32, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['7',49.911380,-119.480236, 31, '<img src="images/shelter.jpg" />','shelter'],
['9',49.911389,-119.480571, 30, '<img src="images/playground.jpg" />','playground'],
['a',49.911417,-119.485104, 29, '<img src="images/shelter.jpg" />','shelter'],
['b',49.911578,-119.479905, 28, '<img src="images/parking.jpg" />','parking'],
['8',49.911656,-119.480227, 27, '<img src="images/picnic.jpg" />','picnic'],
['c',49.91174271,-119.48507050, 26, '<img src="images/apex_point_high.jpg" />','icon'],
['d',49.911916,-119.485581, 25, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['e',49.912234,-119.485175, 24, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['f',49.912662,-119.485008, 23, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['g',49.91286999,-119.48413424, 22, '<img src="images/apex_point_low.jpg" />','icon'],
['h',49.913207,-119.482843, 21, '<img src="images/parking.jpg" />','parking'],
['i',49.914174,-119.472531, 20, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['j',49.914445,-119.482013, 19, '<img src="images/information.jpg" />','information'],
['k',49.914687,-119.482042, 18, '<img src="images/washroom.jpg" />','washroom'],
['l',49.914747,-119.482432, 17, '<img src="images/shelter.jpg" />','shelter'],
['m',49.914814,-119.483070, 16, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['n',49.915162,-119.482393, 15, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['o',49.916277,-119.481530, 14, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['p2',49.919028,-119.479564, 13, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['p',49.919065,-119.478622, 12, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['q',49.91971281,-119.47954356, 11, '<img src="images/gordon_trail_1.jpg" />','icon'],
['r',49.919778,-119.479044, 10, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['s',49.920243,-119.480118, 9, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['t',49.922075,-119.481165, 8, '<img src="images/viewpoint.jpg" />','viewpoint'],
['u',49.924514,-119.478223, 7, '<img src="images/swim.jpg" />','swimming'],
['v',49.924599,-119.477396, 6, '<img src="images/washroom.jpg" />','washroom'],
['w',49.924867,-119.477636, 5, '<img src="images/picnic.jpg" />','picnic'],
['x',49.925053,-119.477334, 4, '<img src="images/picnic.jpg" />','picnic'],
['y',49.925211,-119.476506, 3, '<img src="images/picnic.jpg" />','picnic'],
['z',49.925446,-119.476789, 2, '<img src="images/swim.jpg" />','swimming'],
['z2',49.92555541,-119.47710250, 1, '<img src="images/tomb_bay.jpg" />','icon']
];
var infowindow = null;
var overlay;
// Used to make Google Map quard coords to MapCruncher/BingMaps quard coords
function TileToQuadKey ( x, y, zoom)
{
var quad = "";
for (var i = zoom; i > 0; i--)
{
var mask = 1 << (i - 1);
var cell = 0;
if ((x & mask) != 0)
cell++;
if ((y & mask) != 0)
cell += 2;
quad += cell;
}
return quad;
}
function init() {
var centerMap = new google.maps.LatLng(49.909671,-119.482241);
var myOptions = {
zoom: 10,
center: centerMap,
mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.SATELLITE
}
map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map_canvas"), myOptions);
// Create the tile layers
// ASTER Tile Layer
myASTEROptions = {
getTileUrl : function (a,b) {
return "http://www.virtualbc.ca/knoxmountain/map/" + TileToQuadKey(a.x,a.y,b) + ".png";
},
isPng: true,
opacity: 1.0,
tileSize: new google.maps.Size(256,256),
name: "ASTER",
minZoom:13,
maxZoom:20
}
ASTERMapType = new google.maps.ImageMapType( myASTEROptions );
map.overlayMapTypes.insertAt(0, ASTERMapType);
// Aerial Tile Layer
myAerialOptions = {
getTileUrl : function (a,b) {
return "http://www.virtualbc.ca/knoxmountain/map/" + TileToQuadKey(a.x,a.y,b) + ".png";
},
isPng: true,
opacity: 1.0,
tileSize: new google.maps.Size(256,256),
name: "Aerial",
minZoom:15,
maxZoom:21
}
AerialMapType = new google.maps.ImageMapType( myAerialOptions );
map.overlayMapTypes.insertAt(1, AerialMapType);
var panorama = new google.maps.StreetViewPanorama(map.getDiv());
panorama.setVisible(false);
panorama.set('enableCloseButton', true);
map.setStreetView(panorama);
panorama.setPosition(centerMap);
setMarkers(map, sites);
setZoom(map, sites);
infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
content: "Loading..."
});
googleEarth = new GoogleEarth(map);
google.maps.event.addListenerOnce(map, 'tilesloaded', addOverlays);
}
/*
This functions sets the markers (array)
*/
function setMarkers(map, markers) {
for (var i = 0; i < markers.length; i++) {
var site = markers[i];
var siteLatLng = new google.maps.LatLng(site[1], site[2]);
var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
position: siteLatLng,
map: map,
title: site[0],
zIndex: site[3],
html: site[4],
// Markers drop on the map
animation: google.maps.Animation.DROP,
icon: 'http://www.virtualbc.ca/knoxmountain/icons/'+site[5]+'.png',
shadow: iconShadow
});
gmarkers.push(marker);
google.maps.event.addListener(marker, "click", function () {
infowindow.setContent(this.html);
infowindow.open(map, this);
});
}
}
/*
Set the zoom to fit comfortably all the markers in the map
*/
function setZoom(map, markers) {
var boundbox = new google.maps.LatLngBounds();
for ( var i = 0; i < markers.length; i++ )
{
boundbox.extend(new google.maps.LatLng(markers[i][1], markers[i][2]));
}
map.setCenter(boundbox.getCenter());
map.fitBounds(boundbox);
}
// This function picks up the click and opens the corresponding info window
function myclick(i) {
google.maps.event.trigger(gmarkers[i-1], "click");
// gmarkers[i].setAnimation(null);
// gmarkers[i-1].setAnimation(google.maps.Animation.BOUNCE);
// value = i-1;
}
google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, 'load', init);
The questions:
How to make the tiles visible in Google Earth API?
or how to display a KML file ONLY in Google Earth Tab?
is there any way to run code only when Google Earth Tab is selected?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

There are a few ways to do what you're aiming for. To clarify the original question somewhat, this page is using the GoogleEarth part of the Google Maps v3 Utility Library, so my answers will take advantage of its features.
First, it is possible to run code only when the Google Earth view is selected. You can test at any time if you're in the Earth view by checking the current MapTypeId. The utility library provides a custom id, which indicates the user is using the Earth view if
map.getMapTypeId() === GoogleEarth.MAP_TYPE_ID
That's the passive test. To be notified any time the user switches to the Earth map type, you can register an event listener like this:
google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'maptypeid_changed', function() {
if (map.getMapTypeId() === GoogleEarth.MAP_TYPE_ID) {
// using the Earth plugin, can run custom code
} else {
// some other map type (roadmap, satellite, etc)
}
});
Finally, the utility library only synchronizes KML overlays between Maps and Earth if you add them via the Maps API. If you instead add the KML directly to the Earth plugin, it will only be displayed in the Earth plugin, not in the regular Maps view. To do this, you need a reference to the actual plugin instance, which you can get from the utility library by
var ge = googleEarth.getInstance();
(this is using your code where googleEarth is the name of the instance you created with the utility library). At this point, you can use the plugin as you normally would with the Earth API. See this example of loading KML, for instance: Fetch Good KML