I'm sorting out my blog/map/tracker thing for my hitchike to Tallinn and I've come across a problem with IE and how it handles to data for the marker points.
They're held in a file cunningly named "markers.txt", after previously having to update the txt file manually I decided to get my coding cap on and make it possible to update via a little form online. Far easier than downloading, editing and reuploading.
Anyway, when I update the markers file and refresh in IE the new markers aren't there. When I refresh in Firefox the new ones are there. I assume IE is just caching the file and just using that. Even Ctrl+F5 doesn't force it to download the markers.txt file again.
The code for the sidebar and for the markers to be placed is:
Java Script code:
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
if (GBrowserIsCompatible()) {
// this variable will collect the html which will eventually be placed in the side_bar
var side_bar_html = "";
// arrays to hold copies of the markers and html used by the side_bar
// because the function closure trick doesnt work there
var gmarkers = [];
var htmls = [];
var i = 0;
// A function to create the marker and set up the event window
function createMarker(point,name,html) {
var marker = new GMarker(point);
GEvent.addListener(marker, "click", function() {
marker.openInfoWindowHtml(html);
});
// save the info we need to use later for the side_bar
gmarkers[i] = marker;
htmls[i] = html;
// add a line to the side_bar html
side_bar_html += '<a href="javascript:myclick(' + i + ')">' + name + '</a><br>';
i++;
return marker;
}
// This function picks up the click and opens the corresponding info window
function myclick(i) {
gmarkers[i].openInfoWindowHtml(htmls[i]);
}
// create the map
var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map"));
map.addControl(new GLargeMapControl());
map.addControl(new GMapTypeControl());
map.setCenter(new GLatLng(53.386719, -1.503507), 8);
var side_bar_html = "";
// === Define the function thats going to process the text file ===
process_it = function(doc) {
// === split the document into lines ===
lines = doc.split("\n");
for (var i=0; i<lines.length; i++) {
if (lines[i].length > 1) {
// === split each line into parts separated by "|" and use the contents ===
parts = lines[i].split("|");
var lat = parseFloat(parts[0]);
var lng = parseFloat(parts[1]);
var html = parts[2];
var label = parts[3];
var point = new GLatLng(lat,lng);
// create the marker
var marker = createMarker(point,label,html);
map.addOverlay(marker);
}
}
// put the assembled side_bar_html contents into the side_bar div
document.getElementById("side_bar").innerHTML = side_bar_html;
}
GDownloadUrl("markers.txt", process_it);
}
else {
alert("Sorry, the Google Maps API is not compatible with this browser");
}
//]]>
</script>
I added a "?" here:
code:
GDownloadUrl("markers.txt?", process_it);
Which did nothing.
Anyone with a simple fix?