I have a database of 250 restaurants and I want to develop an app to search the database and return a menu list sorted by distance from the users current location. Is there a way to accomplish that using buzztouch? Can you direct me to some resources for help? Thanks.

Hi... this is tough, really tough, in v1.4. If you're on the Early Adopter list (I can't check it from here), you can do this using v1.5 However, there are some caveats... Oh wait, I think this screen name is the NY guy, upstate right? Cool, you're on the list already right? a) v.15 is only available for iOS today (and only to our wonderful Early Adopters) b) You'll need at least 'some' web-dev skills to understand what to do with the data, requests, etc. Basic stuff but can get overwhelming for super-new-folks ;-) c) The menu-list that you returns, we're should each item go? In other words, what's going to happen when user taps a row? In 99% of the cases, you'll end up outputting data on your server (.PHP, .NET, .ASP, etc) in RSS / XML format and the 'menu' on the device will show a list of selections that lead to individual web-pages with 'details' Hope this makes sense. If it does, I can walk you through the steps ;-)

Yes, I'm the Upstate NY guy. Thanks very much for your response. I've been able to create 3 apps in the month that I've been using your great software. Pretty amazing for someone who had never worked with Xcode. One app was submitted to Apple a few days ago and is waiting for review, another will be submitted next week. I would appreciate it very much if you would walk me through the steps. I'd like to give it a try using .PHP. We're try to created a very stripped down version of Yelp, just a nearby list linked to a detail page including a map link. Thanks!

OK, cool. Not much time this morning to write a long response, however, you can get some back-end work done in the meantime ;-) Create a .PHP server-side script to recieve the request from the device. The device will request a file you name in your control panel and will be sending it's location along with it. Have a look at a v1.5 app's control panel in the Report To Cloud URL (Core Settings). You'll see how the URL could be setup. Notice the merge fields where the device's info will be inserted before making the URL request. So.. your PHP script would do something like this: $latitude = $_GET['latitude']; $latitude = $_GET['longitude']; It use these variables to figure out what Restaraunts to show. 'Go to database and get a list of restaurants that meet this criteria' Next, it would output the data in RSS format. A title, a description, an imageURL and linkURL. The phone would display this list of restaraunts with an icon. Clicking a restaurant would laod a web-page with details. This means you'll need to start creating 'details pages' for each restaurant. Not sure what you want to show when user clicks a restaurant. Back later.

I'm ready to focus on this and try to get it done. I've have a MYSQL database setup with about 100 venues that are geocoded. Any php guru want to help with the basic php script? I want the RSS output to be in order of distance from the current location. Thanks.

Hi again... I've been using a .PHP script to do this sort of thing on several other projects for a few years now. I'de be happy to share the logic with you. I'm crazy-busy and can't offer much by way of programming on your server, just can't do it. But, I think the script will get you pointed in the right direction. Your project is a good motivator and as such, lets do this: a) I'll dig up in the next day or two, write some notes in it, and make a video on how to accomplish what your trying to do so others can benefit from our efforts b) I'll email you the script so you can adjust it to your needs and plop it on your server. I'll get the needed parts together on this end and get the video / project created in the next few days.

Sounds great! I will also being using maps. Will I be able to pull locations from a database or will I have to add individually to location map screen? Thanks very much David!

No, the Map Screen (on the phone) will pull the locations dynamically from your server. v1.5 supports this type of thinking by way of the dataURL that provides the locations. Blah, blah. I'll get something put together so you can see it working. Off to teenager baseball game on a sunny Saturday morning ;-)

Great! Enjoy the game!

I know this is an old post but I was hoping to get my hands on the php script mentioned above. Thanks

@ Mag37: Check your email ;-)

Thanks David!

Hi David, I am looking to create an app where certain content and features are made available in certain geo-locations (kind of like a treasurehunt) - would the php code be able to provide this? If so can you send it on please thanks in advance - and great work with Buzztouch - it's incredible!

Hi in Dublin: I can think of a few way to do this. Start with this script (save it as a .php file) http://www.buzztouch.com/docs/v1.5/sample-locations-near.txt and see if you can get something going. The sample files it's reading is here: http://www.buzztouch.com/docs/v1.5/sample-locations.csv

David, That is beyond incredible. I'll work on this over the weekend and hopefully be able to post my results here. The app isnt due to be launched until Septemnber, but will keep you posted on this. All the best, Declan