DEV Community

Cover image for Custom Leaflet GUI
Stevie G
Stevie G

Posted on • Updated on

Custom Leaflet GUI

#javascript #beginners #bootstrap #leaflet

Prerequites:
Font Awesome
Bootstrap 4
jQuery
LeafletJS
Leaflet Draw
Leaflet Sidebar v2

Firstly start a basic HTML5 Template page.



<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Leaflet JS Customisation Demo</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Inside the </head> closing tag, include the following CSS Libraries:



<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto+Mono">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.8.2/css/all.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/leaflet/1.5.1/leaflet.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.1.3/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/leaflet.draw/1.0.4/leaflet.draw.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://gitcdn.link/repo/nickpeihl/leaflet-sidebar-v2/master/css/leaflet-sidebar.min.css">
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Include the following JavaScript libraries just before the </body> closing tag:



<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js'></script>
<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.7/umd/popper.min.js'></script>
<script src='https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.8.2/css/all.css'></script>
<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.3.1/js/bootstrap.min.js'></script>
<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/leaflet/1.5.1/leaflet.js'></script>
<script src='https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/leaflet.draw/1.0.4/leaflet.draw.js'></script>
<script src='https://gitcdn.link/repo/nickpeihl/leaflet-sidebar-v2/master/js/leaflet-sidebar.min.js'></script>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Create the Sidebar and the Map Canvas by inserting the following code inside the <body></body tags



<div id="sidebar" class="leaflet-sidebar collapsed">
  <!-- Nav tabs -->
  <div class="leaflet-sidebar-tabs">
    <ul role="tablist">
      <li><a href="#home" role="tab"><i class="fa fa-bars"></i></a></li>
      <li class="disabled"><a href="#profile" id="toggledraw" role="tab"><i class="fa fa-pen"></i></a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <!-- Tab panes -->
  <div class="leaflet-sidebar-content">
    <div class="leaflet-sidebar-pane" id="home">
      <h1 class="leaflet-sidebar-header">
        Layers
        <span class="leaflet-sidebar-close"><i class="fa fa-caret-right"></i></span>
      </h1>
      <span id="layercontrol"></span>
      <div id="latlng"></div>

    </div>

    <div class="leaflet-sidebar-pane" id="profile">
      <h1 class="leaflet-sidebar-header">Profile<span class="leaflet-sidebar-close"><i class="fa fa-caret-right"></i></span></h1>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

<div id="map"></div>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

You will need to define the following CSS to set the page and map size:



body {
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}
html,
body,
#map {
  height: 100%;
  font-family: "Roboto", sans-serif;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Initialise Leaflet Map options and setup any map baselayers and overlays



//Init Overlays
var overlays = {};

//Init BaseMaps
var basemaps = {
  "OpenStreetMaps": L.tileLayer(
    "https://{s}.tile.openstreetmap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png",
    {
      minZoom: 2,
      maxZoom: 19,
      id: "osm.streets"
    }
  ),
  "Google-Map": L.tileLayer(
    "https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=r&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}",
    {
      minZoom: 2,
      maxZoom: 19,
      id: "google.street"
    }
  ),
  "Google-Satellite": L.tileLayer(
    "https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=s&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}",
    {
      minZoom: 2,
      maxZoom: 19,
      id: "google.satellite"
    }
  ),
  "Google-Hybrid": L.tileLayer(
    "https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=y&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}",
    {
      minZoom: 2,
      maxZoom: 19,
      id: "google.hybrid"
    }
  )
};

//Map Options
var mapOptions = {
  zoomControl: false,
  attributionControl: false,
  center: [-29.0529434318608, 152.01910972595218],
  zoom: 10,
  layers: [basemaps.OpenStreetMaps]
};
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Initialise the Leaflet map



//Render Main Map
var map = L.map("map", mapOptions);
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

We must modify the CSS to prepare the layer control to be separated and placed into the sidebar



/* Leaflet Layers Control */

.leaflet-control-layers {
  border-radius: none;
  box-shadow: none;
}

.leaflet-control-layers-expanded {
  width: 100% !important;
  padding: 0px;
  background-color: transparent;
  border: none !important;
}

#layercontrol {
  display: inline-block;
  width: 100%;
  padding: 10px;
  background-color: transparent;
  -webkit-border-radius: 4px;
  -moz-border-radius: 4px;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

#layercontrol .title {
  font-size: 16px;
  font-weight: bold;
  margin-bottom: 5px;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Next we initialise the Map zoom control, sidebar and separating the layer control into the sidebar



//Render Zoom Control
L.control
  .zoom({
    position: "topleft"
  })
  .addTo(map);

var sidebar = L.control
  .sidebar({
    autopan: false,
    container: "sidebar",
    position: "right"
  })
  .addTo(map);

//Render Layer Control & Move to Sidebar
var layerControl = L.control
  .layers(basemaps, overlays, {
    position: "topright",
    collapsed: false
  })
  .addTo(map);
var oldLayerControl = layerControl.getContainer();
var newLayerControl = $("#layercontrol");
newLayerControl.append(oldLayerControl);
$(".leaflet-control-layers-list").prepend("<strong class='title'>Base Maps</strong><br>");
$(".leaflet-control-layers-separator").after("<br><strong class='title'>Layers</strong>");
//$(".leaflet-control-layers-separator").remove();
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Before we initialise the Leaflet Draw control we need to add some CSS to hide the control by default



/* Leaflet Draw */

.leaflet-draw {
  display: none;
}

.leaflet-draw-toolbar {
  display: none;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Initialise the Editable Cosmetic Layer and Leaflet Draw control



//######## Leaflet Draw
var editableLayers = new L.FeatureGroup();
layerControl.addOverlay(editableLayers, "Cosmetic Layer");
map.addLayer(editableLayers);

var drawOptions = {
  position: "topleft",
  draw: {
    polyline: true,
    polygon: {
      allowIntersection: false, // Restricts shapes to simple polygons
      drawError: {
        color: "#e1e100", // Color the shape will turn when intersects
        message: "<strong>Oh snap!<strong> you can't draw that!" // Message that will show when intersect
      }
    },
    circle: true, // Turns off this drawing tool
    rectangle: true,
    marker: true
  },
  edit: {
    featureGroup: editableLayers, //REQUIRED!!
    remove: true
  }
};

var drawControl = new L.Control.Draw(drawOptions);
map.addControl(drawControl);

map.on(L.Draw.Event.CREATED, function(e) {
  var type = e.layerType,
    layer = e.layer;

  if (type === "marker") {
    layer
      .bindPopup(
        "LatLng: " + layer.getLatLng().lat + "," + layer.getLatLng().lng
      )
      .openPopup();
  }

  editableLayers.addLayer(layer);
  $(".drawercontainer .drawercontent").html(
    JSON.stringify(editableLayers.toGeoJSON())
  );
});

map.on(L.Draw.Event.EDITSTOP, function(e) {
  $(".drawercontainer .drawercontent").html(
    JSON.stringify(editableLayers.toGeoJSON())
  );
});

map.on(L.Draw.Event.DELETED, function(e) {
  $(".drawercontainer .drawercontent").html("");
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Next create a jQuery event handler for the toggling of the draw controls



//Edit Button Clicked
$('#toggledraw').click(function(e) {
  $(".leaflet-draw").fadeToggle("fast", "linear");
  $(".leaflet-draw-toolbar").fadeToggle("fast", "linear");
  this.blur();
  return false;
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Before we can capture map clicks to get the coordinates into the sidebar we need to setup the CSS



#latlng {
  position: absolute;
  right: 0px;
  bottom: 0px;
  font-size: 12px;
  font-weight: bold;
  padding: 2px 7px 1px 3px;
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  color: black;
  background-color: white;
  -webkit-border-top-left-radius: 5px;
  -webkit-border-top-right-radius: 5px;
  -moz-border-radius-topleft: 5px;
  -moz-border-radius-topright: 5px;
  border-top-left-radius: 5px;
  border-top-right-radius: 5px;
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0px -2px 5px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75);
  -moz-box-shadow: 0px -2px 5px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75);
  box-shadow: 0px -2px 5px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75);
  z-index: 1000;
  display: none;
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Finally we can add the jQuery map click event handler for the capture of coordinates and also create the click event handler for the clipboard copy when the coordinates are clicked in the sidebar



//Handle Map click to Display Lat/Lng
map.on('click', function(e) {
  $("#latlng").html(e.latlng.lat + ", " + e.latlng.lng);
    $("#latlng").show();
});

//Handle Copy Lat/Lng to clipboard
$('#latlng').click(function(e) {
  var $tempElement = $("<input>");
    $("body").append($tempElement);
    $tempElement.val($("#latlng").text()).select();
    document.execCommand("Copy");
    $tempElement.remove();
    alert("Copied: "+$("#latlng").text());
    $("#latlng").hide();
});
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

You are all done! Feel free to further customise this and show me your creations!

See it in Action on CodePen

and Dark Mode

Join me on HashNode

Top comments (8)

Collapse
 
bjornor profile image
BjornOR • • Edited

I have been working for over a month to save the marker data to a JSON file so that users can save locally and have their data appear on a live map.

When the marker is created I can stringify the data but I can't for the life of me figure out how to append the data to a file.

Collapse
 
itsmestevieg profile image
Stevie G •

Are you trying to save the file client side (JavaScript)? or are you trying to append changes to a server side (PHP etc) JSON File?

Collapse
 
bjornor profile image
BjornOR •

On the server side

Thread Thread
 
itsmestevieg profile image
Stevie G •

I Might look at doing a tutorial on this soon.

Thread Thread
 
bjornor profile image
BjornOR •

That would be super awesome. Thanks

Thread Thread
 
itsmestevieg profile image
Stevie G •

I have a new tutorial which is the start of how to capture GeoJSON or WKT (SQL Spatial Format) if you want to check it out.

Collapse
 
phil24jones profile image
phil24jones • • Edited

This is brilliant, thanks for the tutorial.

Just wondering, do you know of any way to integrate the leaflet-search plugin with the sidebar? I'd like a search icon in the sidebar to open the leaflet-search function, but I'm fairly new to Javascript and can't work it out!

Image attached to show what I mean!

thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i...

Collapse
 
itsmestevieg profile image
Stevie G •

I done up an example, Hope this helps :) codepen.io/ItsMeStevieG/pen/RwJdwjm

Read next

tutortacademy profile image

Regrets Every Programmer Faces: Lessons for Aspiring Coders

Tutort Academy -

mikeyoung44 profile image

Extracting Sensitive Data via Remote Timing Attacks on Efficient Language Models

Mike Young -

mikeyoung44 profile image

Robust Interpretable Reasoning via Neurosymbolic Program Synthesis

Mike Young -

michelledey4you profile image

Created a Npm package for Vite, React Tailwindcss starter code with configuration.

Plain -