Can you create a Google map in a virtual element

Question

I am wondering it is possible to create a working Google map in a virtual element which can then be pasted into any page at any time.

So here is my JS when targeting an element which already exists on the page.

var mapLatLong = new google.maps.LatLng(51.5174456, -0.1305081);
var markerLatlng = new google.maps.LatLng(51.5170951, -0.1367416);

var mapOptions = {
    zoom: 16,
    center: mapLatLong,
    mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
}

var map = new google.maps.Map($('#map_canvas'), mapOptions);

var contentString = '<div id="content">'+
                        '<div id="siteNotice">'+
                        '</div>'+
                        '<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">BrocklebankPenn</h1>'+
                        '<div id="bodyContent">'+
                            '<p>5th floor, 58-60 Berners Street,<br />London,<br />W1T 3NQ,<br />United Kingdom</p>'+
                            '<p>+44 (0)20 3137 7034</p>'+
                        '</div>'+
                    '</div>';

var infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
    content: contentString
});

var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
    position: markerLatlng,
    map: map,
    title: 'BrocklebankPenn'
});

google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function() {
    infowindow.open(map,marker);
});

infowindow.open(map,marker);

What I want to do is something like this:

this.mapCanvas = document.createElement('div');
this.mapCanvas.setAttribute('id', 'map_canvas');

var mapLatLong = new google.maps.LatLng(51.5174456, -0.1305081);
var markerLatlng = new google.maps.LatLng(51.5170951, -0.1367416);

var mapOptions = {
    zoom: 16,
    center: mapLatLong,
    mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
}

var map = new google.maps.Map($(this.mapCanvas), mapOptions);

var contentString = '<div id="content">'+
                        '<div id="siteNotice">'+
                        '</div>'+
                        '<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">BrocklebankPenn</h1>'+
                        '<div id="bodyContent">'+
                            '<p>5th floor, 58-60 Berners Street,<br />London,<br />W1T 3NQ,<br />United Kingdom</p>'+
                            '<p>+44 (0)20 3137 7034</p>'+
                        '</div>'+
                    '</div>';

var infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
    content: contentString
});

var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
    position: markerLatlng,
    map: map,
    title: 'BrocklebankPenn'
});

google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function() {
    infowindow.open(map,marker);
});

infowindow.open(map,marker);

this.$el.html(this.mapCanvas);

Basically the exact same thing but with a variable instead of #map_canvas, I have taken this approach with JS in the past but it does not seem to be working for Google maps, I get the following error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot set property 'position' of undefined 

Which I am not sure of.

If anyone can help that would be awesome.

Cheers, Luke.

Answer 1

Basically it's possible, Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/doktormolle/5SjnK/

The issues with your code:

var map = new google.maps.Map($(this.mapCanvas), mapOptions);

$(this.mapCanvas) is a jQuery-object, but it's expected to be an HTML-Element

this.$el.html(this.mapCanvas);

Don't set the html, you must insert the original node into the document.

But I wouldn't suggest it, there will be more issues, e.g. when you use API-methods that try to access the parentNode of the map-div or methods that need to calculate positions inside the document(both will fail before the node has been inserted into the document).

Related to pasted into any page:

It's not possible, the document where you use the map must be the same document where you load the API, the API internally uses references to the window/document where the API has been loaded. See this question: Marker drag not working in iframe under Chrome and Firefox

But as long as any page doesn't mean "any document"(regarding to your description it's always the same document) it's possible.