Map from address field

[Ed_Cooper]

Is there a way to make an address clickable so when a user clicks it bring up a Google map for that address without utilizing a block?

[Justin_Barrett]

You couldn’t do this in the same field as the address components, but you could make a formula field that pieces it all together in a Google Maps URL. It would also partly depend on how you’re storing the address. Here’s an example that pulls the pieces from different fields. If you have everything stored in a long text field, you’ll need to tweak this a bit, but it should still work.

"https://www.google.com/maps/place/" &
ENCODE_URL_COMPONENT(Street & ", " & City & ", " & State & " " & ZIP)

[Ed_Cooper]

Justin,
Thanks. I will try that today.
Also, is there a way to embed a Google map in a cell in Airtable?
Just started using it yesterday

[Bill_French]

@Ed_Cooper,

Ed_Cooper:

is there a way to embed a Google map in a cell in Airtable?

Possibly -

1. Are you thinking about a static image of the map? Or, …
2. Are you imagining a dynamic map in a cell where users can zoom, move, etc?

#1 is possible via an API process that captures the map image and adds it to the record as an attachment. Since the address is never likely to change, this would be relatively useful and sustainable.

#2 is likely possible with a custom block (built as a web app) using the Embed block. The web app would render the map based on the address of a selected record. This could be built using any web app tool such as Firebase hosting, etc.

In either of these two ideas, the effort is non-trivial. Maybe there are some clever things people like @Justin_Barrett are familiar with at a cell-level.

[Ed_Cooper]

OK thanks for the reply. I’ll just do it by copying the address and pasting into Google maps.
Interesting that the android version makes the address clickable and takes you to the map.

[Bill_French]

Ed_Cooper:

Interesting that the android version makes the address clickable and takes you to the map.

I believe what you are seeing in the Android version likely exists in all mobile versions. iOS also likely behaves like this because mobile OS’s (where the app is running) tend to take additional liberties to help users exploit data differently than desktop browsers.

Why is this the case?

One could argue that in a mobile climate, things like telephone numbers automatically transformed into a tappable action are far more useful than they would be on the desktop which tends to not have a SIP phone installed. Mobile OS platform developers can easily argue that these types of automatic transformations are both useful and well-received by their users.

The desktop, however, is a different climate and asserting link behaviors on content that automatically take users into other systems and services is not as easily defended. Ergo, if you want that behavior in Airtable, you have to build and shape the data model to support it.

[Bill_French]

Ideally, Airtable will provide a way to create an embedded link in a text field much the way Excel and Google Sheets do this.

The issue is simple - despite the field being of type:text, it should allow interpretive attributes that are HTML-based. Example - dropping this into any field should render the content of the anchor tag and attach an onClick() event handler for the href attribute. This would create far more agility in terms of the UX.

<a href='http://cnn.com' target='_blank'>CNN</a>

Or… the Markdown syntax:

[CNN](http://cnn.com)

It doesn’t support this approach, of course. And in my view, neither of these behaviors are particularly ideal.

[Ed_Cooper]

Tried it. Works like a charm!
Thank you so much.

[Justin_Barrett]

Bill.French:

In either of these two ideas, the effort is non-trivial. Maybe there are some clever things people like @Justin_Barrett are familiar with at a cell-level.

Not currently. Attachment fields are nearly black box creatures. You can get the filename(s) and file URL(s) out of one, but there are very few ways to put files into them. I’ve got some Integromat scenarios that make PDF files on the fly and drop them into Airtable attachment fields, and had a slim hope that something similar could be done with Google Maps in either Integromat or Zapier. However, only the former has a Google Maps connection, and the few options provided don’t include the ability to save a map.

[Bill_French]

Justin_Barrett:

and the few options provided don’t include the ability to save a map.

Yep. And this is where the solution begins to drift into the non-trivial arena.

An API process could be used to capture the map image and crop as needed, but that involves some scraping - a process that the Google ToS prohibits. So… then you have to use the Maps API if you want specific mapping images and that requires a billing account, etc., Or you need to go to MapBox. Lot of nasty devils down these paths.

But I’m probably guilty of getting off the rails a little here. Back to the business requirements:

Why doesn’t @Ed_Cooper use a Map block?

He specifically said he doesn’t want to use a block, but is it because of the price? Or, is there a functional benefit to not showing a unified map with all the addresses?