Feature: Expose MapContext

[derekr]

Hey! Digging the project so far! The API and code organization are great. Was wondering if exporting MapContext or a useMapContext hook would be inline with the API you want to support. I'm trying to use refs per the storybook examples, but find it a little clunky and unreliable for certain use cases. Particularly I want to author an Annotation component for custom images instead of using Marker and noticed Marker is consuming the map context instead of refs which feels like a nicer API for extending or building on top of mapkit-react.

[Nicolapps]

Thank you for your suggestion! For the Annotation component, adding it as part of the mapkit-react library is definitely the way to go (thank you very much for your PR!). Do you have other use cases in mind where an API change would be helpful?

[derekr]

The other thing I can think of is maybe custom map controls. Positioning isn't dependent coordinates, but you want access to the map instance to call methods.

function AnnotationsCount() {
  const map = useMap()
  return <div>{ map.annotations.length }</div>
}

<Map>
  <AnnotationsCount />
</Map>

[nikischin]

This alternative implementation here could give an idea how a useMap hook could look like: https://github.com/chrisdrackett/react-mapkit/blob/main/src/useMap.tsx

Would be cool to implement something similar in this library!

[nikischin]

The other thing I can think of is maybe custom map controls. Positioning isn't dependent coordinates, but you want access to the map instance to call methods.

function AnnotationsCount() {
  const map = useMap()
  return <div>{ map.annotations.length }</div>
}

<Map>
  <AnnotationsCount />
</Map>

Hi @derekr,

I was thinking about how an implementation of this could look like and how to make it beneficial recently.

The problem with your example I came up with, is that it could be only used within the component as you already pointed out in your example, as there could be many components within a React application. So usually - looking at the storybook examples - it is supposed to render additional divs outside the component and not inside I suppose.

Also I was thinking about additional controls over the map which might be rendered outside the however, I don't really see a good way of how to give the context the information which component am I looking for.

Could you provide additional information about the expected usages and how to get benefits out of this implementation. I agree it could be very nice to have such a hook, however, I cannot yet think of a suitable implementation.

[remib18]

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone is currently working on this issue. I really need this feature and would be happy to help out if needed. Please let me know how I can help!

[nikischin]

Hey @remib18 I don't think anyone is currently working on this feature, so you are very welcome to participate!

The last thing I personally was working on is the annotation clustering. I made some progress there already but got stuck and haven't yet have time to further investigate. Should be not anything related to this one.

[Nicolapps]

Thank you @remib18 for your interest in the project! What is the use case you would need access to the map context for?

[remib18]

Thank you @remib18 for your interest in the project! What is the use case you would need access to the map context for?

Hey!

I'm updating an old codebase to React. Since I have already implemented geocoding and reverse geocoding using the native MapKit API, it would be practical to have access to the MapKit API within the map context. Moreover, I don't see any particular reason to hide the map context. However, I might be wrong, or there could be other ways to access it that I'm not aware of.

Thanks!