Sharing Location by URL
- Amanda Shepherd Smith
The Viewer’s URL is a powerful tool that can be utilized to share what you’re seeing with your colleagues.
Setting Up the Correct URL
The URL is dynamic and updates every time you pan on the screen or zoom in or out. The URL references the location in the exact center of the screen. Therefore, to avoid confusion, ensure that you’ve centered the Viewer on your location of interest (right click > center map here) and zoomed in on that location before copying the URL to share.
For building your own URL manually, see the Building URLs section below.
Sharing the URL
To copy and share the Viewer’s URL, highlight it in the top bar in your browser and copy it by either right click > copy or ctrl + c (cmd + c for Mac). Paste it into another tab, browser, an email, or a message to a colleague to share it with others (right click > paste or ctrl + v (cmd + v for Mac)).
When clicked or pasted into a browser, the URL automatically opens to the exact state of the Viewer when it was copied. Note that for others to access the link, they must have their own set of credentials to access the Viewer (or be able to access via federated auth) and they must access the URL via a supported browser.
Manually Building URLs
If you’d like to manually build your own URL, the Viewer supports several key/value pair parameters:
Parameter name | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 37.2378544 | Required. Latitude parameter must be provided in decimal degrees. Along with the longitude parameter, latitude determines the center of the map. |
| -121.8281929 | Required. Longitude parameter must be provided in decimal degrees. Along with the latitude parameter, longitude determines the center of the map. |
| 20 | Required. Lower zoom levels (e.g., 5) are more zoomed out than higher zoom levels (e.g., 20). Max zoom = 23 |
| 495%20Safari%20Dr,%20San%20Jose,%20CA%2095123,%20USA | The address parameter controls whether or not the info box is open at the address location. The |
| [auth token value] | Authorization tokens valid for 12 hours may be obtained from the API. |
| [state] | State is a parameter that can’t be defined by the user - it’s defined by the application itself and appears as a long string of random numbers and letters. It’s not readable to humans, but the Viewer is able to use this string to ensure that the URL will replicate the exact current state of the Viewer. |
The base URL to build on is: https://app.vexcelgroup.com/#/app/home?
After the ? symbol, you can add custom values into the URL using key/value pairs. For example, you can add “latitude=37.2378544,” “longitude=-121.8281929,” and “zoom=20.” All parameters after the first one should be separated by an & symbol.
Note that the latitude and longitude control the center of the map and change dynamically as you pan the map around, whereas the address parameter determines where the info box is open.
If you search for a location, leave the info box open, and then pan away, your URL will be centered on a different location than the address in the info box.
The minimum recommended parameters to use are latitude, longitude, and zoom.
Sample URL broken down into components:
Base URL: https://app.vexcelgroup.com/#/app/home?
Parameter: latitude=
Parameter value: 37.2378544
Connector: &
Parameter: longitude=
Parameter value: -121.8281929
Connector: &
Parameter: zoom=
Parameter Value: 20.291939529975256
Connector: &
Parameter: address=
Parameter value: 495%20Safari%20Dr,%20San%20Jose,%20CA%2095123,%20USA
Result: Vexcel Viewer
The link above causes the Viewer to open to this view:
Troubleshooting your URL: If you experience errors with your URL, ensure that
The parameters are spelled correctly
You are not missing any connectors between parameters (&)
You are not missing the = in the parameter
Your values are within the correct range (for example, your latitude and longitude are in decimal degrees and not missing a “-” sign where applicable.
If your URL is not opening to show the address you think it should, make sure your latitude/longitude values match the address. If you searched for a location, left the info box open, panned away, then copied the URL, your URL will be centered on a different location than the address in the info box.
Your auth token is valid/not expired (if using the token parameter).