m-Power Gets Hooks to Google Maps

August 25, 2009 Alex Woodie

Earlier this month, development tool maker mrc announced a new capability to integrate Google maps directly into applications created with mrc’s m-Power development tool. The new features will make possible some very interesting capabilities involving System i data and maps.

Google maps may be the original Web 2.0 application. With the capability to browse the globe and zoom in and out with the power of a spy satellite (OK, golf balls still don’t show up.), Google made a map fiend’s delight. Add to that the programmatic markup capabilities that the geniuses in Silicon Valley applied to Google maps and the available API, and you have a paradigm-shifting program useful in all kinds of ways.

Now, the smart developers at mrc are making Google maps an integrated feature of m-Power, its codeless, cross-platform rapid Web application development tool. An update that’s available for download from the www.mrc-productivity.com Web site allows m-Power users to chart their data directly into a Google map, and then embed that map into their Web app.

Google maps integration introduces some very cool possibilities to System i developers–or developers on any platform, considering m-Power runs on many major operating systems and databases.

For example, a company could use the feature on the product section of their Web site to create a map that shows where the product can be purchased. Companies in the distribution or delivery business could use the software to track their fleet of trucks in real time. It could even be used as part of an executive dashboard to show where sales are hot and where they are not.

“What’s great about the new Google map functionality, besides the obvious benefits they provide to Web apps, is how easy they are to use,” Brian Crowley, mrc’s director of development, says in a press release. “Just like the m-Power interface, integrating a map into your web application is nothing but point-and-click.”