Proximity Search using Views in Drupal

Problem: I am working on a project that requires the user to input a maximum of two zip codes during. When the user is redirected to their dashboard, based on the zip codes provided, the site should list advertisers within the 30 mile radius. Note that if the user decides to change their zip codes later on, somewhere on their profile, the dashboard will show advertisers within the radius of the given zip codes.

Solution: Implement the advertiser as a node with node location attached to it and create a “Location" type view. Modules used: Location – 6.x-3.0 Views - 6.x-2.7

Implementation: Here are the steps to create the “Location" view, which will do a proximity search, given the user's zip code on their profile:

1) Navigate to "admin/build/views/add".

2) Enter the view name and description.

3) Select “Location" under “View type".

4) Under “Fields", select “Location" and add “Location: Distance / Proximity" NOTE: The distance from the selected location and either the current user or a specific location.

5) Configure “Units" and select the “Origin" to “User's location (blank if unset)" or “User's location (fall back to static if unset)"

6) Click Update.

7) Under “Filters", select “Location" filter

8) Add “Location: Distance / Proximity" and set the “Distance" To make it dynamic we need to modify the view object by inserting the latitude and longitude of the zip code, which corresponds to the user. We also need to modify the filter, so that we can insert the latitude and longitude for the distance. Since the user does not have a location then you will have to calculate the latitude and longitude of the given zip code. In order to do this, we need to implement hook_views_pre_view.

function my_module_views_pre_view(&$view, &$display_id, &$args) {  if (in_array($view->name, $proximity_views)) {  global $user;  $params = array(   'uid' => $user->uid,   'type' => 'subscriber_account',  );  $subscriber_account = node_load($params);  $zip_code = $subscriber_account->field_zip_codes[0]['value'];  if ($zip_code) {   module_load_include('inc', 'location', 'geocoding/google');   $location['postal_code'] = $zip_code;   $points = google_geocode_location($location);   $user->locations[0]['latitude'] = $points['lat'];   $user->locations[0]['longitude'] = $points['lon'];  // will filter advertisers from within 30 miles of this coordinate  if((arg(0) == 'admin') &&   (arg(1) == 'build') &&   (arg(2) == 'views') &&   (arg(4) == 'preview')) {   // NOTE:   // Only works on you are on Views UI and trying to preview the view.    $view->display[$display_id]->handler->handlers['filter']['distance']->value['latitude'] = $points['lat'];    $view->display[$display_id]->handler->handlers['filter']['distance']->value['longitude'] = $points['lon'];    } else {     // NOTE: Will NOT work when using     // Views UI. It will work when you invoke views_embed_view     $item = $view->get_item($display_id, 'filter', 'distance');     $item['value']['latitude'] = $points['lat'];     $item['value']['longitude'] = $points['lon'];     $view->set_item($display_id, 'filter', 'distance', $item);    }   }  } }

There are alternative ways of solving this issue. However, since we only needed to embed the view on some pages, this solution will do. Share some of your ideas and thoughts on how we can solve the issues of proximity searching, given the users zip code.