The geoxml3 project is an effort to develop a KML processor for use with Version 3 of the Google Maps JavaScript API. This API is specifically designed to be lightweight and modular; accordingly, it did not originally contain the built-in KML support of Version 2. This library was originally intended to fill that need; as KML support has been added natively in Version 3, it now allows access to individual markers, polylines and polygons, rendered from KML.

Original code inspired by Mike Williams' EGeoXml object (http://econym.org.uk/gmap/egeoxml.htm).

History

• trunk - original version
• network_link branch - development branch for network link functionality, not well tested
• polys branch - development branch for polylines, polygons, current active development branch. Supports polylines, polygons, markers and groundoverlays

Future Work

• currently geoxml3 does 2 passes through the points that define polylines and polygons (and markers, but that isn't as big a performance hit); contemplating modifying the code so it only has to process those arrays once.

General Notes

• Be aware that this code, like v3 itself, is a work in progress. There is no support for 3D, labels, or any other aspect of KML that the underlying Maps API fundation does not support. In other words, the current version only supports markers and ground overlays.

• Support for polylines and polygons is currently under development in the polys branch.

• One other area that's not supported is a sidebar, and it may never be. In my experience, this is something that's a real stretch for any general-purpose library; everyone has their own idea of what they want their sidebar entries to look like. There's also a valid argument that content outside the map is off-topic for a map extension anyway. If you want to create sidebar entries, there are callbacks that you can use to do it yourself.

• In keeping with the modular nature of v3, ground overlay support in geoxml3 relies upon the ProjectedOverlay class released by John Coryat (http://www.usnaviguide.com). A compatible version of ProjectedOverlay.js is available for download from the Source section of this site.

• Geoxml3 is subject to the same cross-domain download restrictions as any JavaScript, so any KML document you expect it to process will need to be served from the same domain as the containing map page.

Basic Usage

1. Download geoxml3.js to your web site from the Source tab above. You may also need ProjectedOverlay.js (see above).

2. Include it in your map page, something like this:

<script src="geoxml3.js"></script>

3. Instantiate and initialize the object in JS, something like this:

var myParser = new geoXML3.parser({map: map});
myParser.parse('/path/to/data.kml');

For more information, see the Wiki tab above.