Windows Phone 8 Dev Guide – Maps Tasks Launcher in Windows Phone

There are 4 different maps related launchers available for developers for integrating the maps functionality in their Windows Phone App. These launchers are defined in the Microsoft.Phone.Tasks namepace. These include

• MapsTask
• MapsDirectionTask
• MapDownloaderTask
• MapUpdaterTask

MapsTask

If you are looking out to open a map from your windows phone app and find out something that is near by to you , you can use the MapsTask and specify the SearchTerm and the ZoomLevel.

There are 3 properties that is available in MapsTask class , these include

• Center – to set the location that will be used as the centre for the map.
• SearchTerm – This property is used to search and tag locations on to the map.
• ZoomLevel – This is the initial zoom level of the map.

Below is a code snippet demonstrating the usage of the MapsTask .

MapsTask btnGKmap1 = new MapsTask();        
btnGKmap1.ZoomLevel = 11;        
btnGKmap1.SearchTerm = locationToFind.Text;        
btnGKmap1.Show()

MapsDirectionTask

Want to find out the direction from a location to another ?. MapsDirectionsTask is one of the option to do it. The MapsDirectionTask is has the properties Start and End which can be used to specify the geographical location .The Start and End are of type LabeledMapLocation class.

Below is a sample code snippet demonstrating the MapsDirectionsTask.

MapsDirectionsTask direction = new MapsDirectionsTask();  
direction.End = new LabeledMapLocation("End", new GeoCoordinate(13.0022, 077.5980)); 
direction.Show(); 

MapDownloaderTask

Want to download a map for offline usage ? The MapDownloaderTask lets the users to download the necessary map to your device. Below is a code snippet demonstrating the usage of the MapDownloaderTask.

private void BtndownloadMaps(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) 
{    
    MapDownloaderTask DownloadTask = new MapDownloaderTask();    
    DownloadTask.Show(); 
}

MapUpdaterTask

Want to update a map that was already downloaded ? . Use the MapUpdaterTask . Below is a code snippet demonstrating how to use MapUpdaterTask.

private void btnUpdateMap(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)        
{            
    MapUpdaterTask UpdateTask = new MapUpdaterTask();            
    UpdateTask.Show();        
}