Limit Geocode results based on application extent?

Question

I am creating an Esri Flex API application (not the viewer), and have been creating a tool to use the World Places Locator.

For now, I am just zooming to the top scoring candidate returned.

If you search for Brighton, it returns you 20 candidates, sorted by score.

I read on an older blog post:

You can also filter the results by extent using client logic. The candidates field to look for in this case are North_Lat, South_Lat, East_Lon, and West_Lon. Source.

I am thinking it would be a good idea to have a tickbox on my search, that limits the results to the current extent of the map in the Flex app. (Or maybe buffer a litte out from the view).

I understand the logic on how to go about this, but was wondering if anyone has already done this (does not have to be Flex) so that I can save some time coding it.

If not, I will have a go at this next weekend and post my answer.

Answer 1

I have done something similar using C# and LINQ. Basically, I just get the extent from the map, then using LINQ, I queried for the X and Y values that fall within the extent. A crude way to do it would be with if statements. I just googled and found this implementation of linq for ActionScript called ActionLinq:

http://www.srtsolutions.com/introducing%E2%80%A6-actionlinq

So here is some pseudo code without using Linq:

candidatesInExtent = new List;

foreach (candidate in returnedCandidates)
  if(candidate.x > extent.minX || candidate.y > extent.minY)
    if(candidate.x < extent.maxX || candidate.y < extent.maxY)
        candidatesInExtent.add(candidate);