Skip to main content

Measure distances

Click points on a map to create lines that measure distanced using turf.length.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Measure distances</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no">
<link href="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v3.3.0/mapbox-gl.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v3.3.0/mapbox-gl.js"></script>
<style>
body { margin: 0; padding: 0; }
#map { position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; width: 100%; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<style>
.distance-container {
position: absolute;
top: 10px;
left: 10px;
z-index: 1;
}

.distance-container > * {
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
color: #fff;
font-size: 11px;
line-height: 18px;
display: block;
margin: 0;
padding: 5px 10px;
border-radius: 3px;
}
</style>

<div id="map"></div>
<div id="distance" class="distance-container"></div>

<script src="https://unpkg.com/@turf/turf@6/turf.min.js"></script>
<script>
// TO MAKE THE MAP APPEAR YOU MUST
// ADD YOUR ACCESS TOKEN FROM
// https://account.mapbox.com
mapboxgl.accessToken = 'YOUR_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN';
const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
container: 'map',
// Choose from Mapbox's core styles, or make your own style with Mapbox Studio
style: 'mapbox://styles/mapbox/streets-v12',
center: [2.3399, 48.8555],
zoom: 12
});

const distanceContainer = document.getElementById('distance');

// GeoJSON object to hold our measurement features
const geojson = {
'type': 'FeatureCollection',
'features': []
};

// Used to draw a line between points
const linestring = {
'type': 'Feature',
'geometry': {
'type': 'LineString',
'coordinates': []
}
};

map.on('load', () => {
map.addSource('geojson', {
'type': 'geojson',
'data': geojson
});

// Add styles to the map
map.addLayer({
id: 'measure-points',
type: 'circle',
source: 'geojson',
paint: {
'circle-radius': 5,
'circle-color': '#000'
},
filter: ['in', '$type', 'Point']
});
map.addLayer({
id: 'measure-lines',
type: 'line',
source: 'geojson',
layout: {
'line-cap': 'round',
'line-join': 'round'
},
paint: {
'line-color': '#000',
'line-width': 2.5
},
filter: ['in', '$type', 'LineString']
});

map.on('click', (e) => {
const features = map.queryRenderedFeatures(e.point, {
layers: ['measure-points']
});

// Remove the linestring from the group
// so we can redraw it based on the points collection.
if (geojson.features.length > 1) geojson.features.pop();

// Clear the distance container to populate it with a new value.
distanceContainer.innerHTML = '';

// If a feature was clicked, remove it from the map.
if (features.length) {
const id = features[0].properties.id;
geojson.features = geojson.features.filter(
(point) => point.properties.id !== id
);
} else {
const point = {
'type': 'Feature',
'geometry': {
'type': 'Point',
'coordinates': [e.lngLat.lng, e.lngLat.lat]
},
'properties': {
'id': String(new Date().getTime())
}
};

geojson.features.push(point);
}

if (geojson.features.length > 1) {
linestring.geometry.coordinates = geojson.features.map(
(point) => point.geometry.coordinates
);

geojson.features.push(linestring);

// Populate the distanceContainer with total distance
const value = document.createElement('pre');
const distance = turf.length(linestring);
value.textContent = `Total distance: ${distance.toLocaleString()}km`;
distanceContainer.appendChild(value);
}

map.getSource('geojson').setData(geojson);
});
});

map.on('mousemove', (e) => {
const features = map.queryRenderedFeatures(e.point, {
layers: ['measure-points']
});
// Change the cursor to a pointer when hovering over a point on the map.
// Otherwise cursor is a crosshair.
map.getCanvas().style.cursor = features.length
? 'pointer'
: 'crosshair';
});
</script>

</body>
</html>
Was this example helpful?