Using Firebase Realtime Database like suggested in other questions means that you can't filter your results set by location and other fields simultaneously, the main reason I want to switch to Firestore in the first place.
UPDATE: Firestore does not support actual GeoPoint queries at present so while the below query executes successfully, it only filters by latitude, not by longitude and thus will return many results that are not nearby. The best solution would be to use geohashes. To learn how to do something similar yourself, have a look at this video.
This can be done by creating a bounding box less than greater than query. As for the efficiency, I can't speak to it.
Note, the accuracy of the lat/long offset for ~1 mile should be reviewed, but here is a quick way to do this:
SWIFT 3.0 Version
func getDocumentNearBy(latitude: Double, longitude: Double, distance: Double) {
// ~1 mile of lat and lon in degrees
let lat = 0.0144927536231884
let lon = 0.0181818181818182
let lowerLat = latitude - (lat * distance)
let lowerLon = longitude - (lon * distance)
let greaterLat = latitude + (lat * distance)
let greaterLon = longitude + (lon * distance)
let lesserGeopoint = GeoPoint(latitude: lowerLat, longitude: lowerLon)
let greaterGeopoint = GeoPoint(latitude: greaterLat, longitude: greaterLon)
let docRef = Firestore.firestore().collection("locations")
let query = docRef.whereField("location", isGreaterThan: lesserGeopoint).whereField("location", isLessThan: greaterGeopoint)
query.getDocuments { snapshot, error in
if let error = error {
print("Error getting documents: \(error)")
} else {
for document in snapshot!.documents {
print("\(document.documentID) => \(document.data())")
}
}
}
}
func run() {
// Get all locations within 10 miles of Google Headquarters
getDocumentNearBy(latitude: 37.422000, longitude: -122.084057, distance: 10)
}
UPDATE: Firestore does not support actual GeoPoint queries at present so while the below query executes successfully, it only filters by latitude, not by longitude and thus will return many results that are not nearby. The best solution would be to use geohashes. To learn how to do something similar yourself, have a look at this video.
(First let me apologize for all the code in this post, I just wanted anyone reading this answer to have an easy time reproducing the functionality.)
To address the same concern the OP had, at first I adapted the GeoFire library to work with Firestore (you can learn a lot about geo-stuff by looking at that library). Then I realized I didn't really mind if locations were returned in an exact circle. I just wanted some way to get 'nearby' locations.
I can't believe how long it took me to realize this, but you can just perform a double inequality query on a GeoPoint field using a SW corner and NE corner to get locations within a bounding box around a center point.
So I made a JavaScript function like the one below (this is basically a JS version of Ryan Lee's answer).
/**
* Get locations within a bounding box defined by a center point and distance from from the center point to the side of the box;
*
* @param {Object} area an object that represents the bounding box
* around a point in which locations should be retrieved
* @param {Object} area.center an object containing the latitude and
* longitude of the center point of the bounding box
* @param {number} area.center.latitude the latitude of the center point
* @param {number} area.center.longitude the longitude of the center point
* @param {number} area.radius (in kilometers) the radius of a circle
* that is inscribed in the bounding box;
* This could also be described as half of the bounding box's side length.
* @return {Promise} a Promise that fulfills with an array of all the
* retrieved locations
*/
function getLocations(area) {
// calculate the SW and NE corners of the bounding box to query for
const box = utils.boundingBoxCoordinates(area.center, area.radius);
// construct the GeoPoints
const lesserGeopoint = new GeoPoint(box.swCorner.latitude, box.swCorner.longitude);
const greaterGeopoint = new GeoPoint(box.neCorner.latitude, box.neCorner.longitude);
// construct the Firestore query
let query = firebase.firestore().collection('myCollection').where('location', '>', lesserGeopoint).where('location', '<', greaterGeopoint);
// return a Promise that fulfills with the locations
return query.get()
.then((snapshot) => {
const allLocs = []; // used to hold all the loc data
snapshot.forEach((loc) => {
// get the data
const data = loc.data();
// calculate a distance from the center
data.distanceFromCenter = utils.distance(area.center, data.location);
// add to the array
allLocs.push(data);
});
return allLocs;
})
.catch((err) => {
return new Error('Error while retrieving events');
});
}
The function above also adds a .distanceFromCenter property to each piece of location data that's returned so that you could get the circle-like behavior by just checking if that distance is within the range you want.
I use two util functions in the function above so here's the code for those as well. (All of the util functions below are actually adapted from the GeoFire library.)
distance():
/**
* Calculates the distance, in kilometers, between two locations, via the
* Haversine formula. Note that this is approximate due to the fact that
* the Earth's radius varies between 6356.752 km and 6378.137 km.
*
* @param {Object} location1 The first location given as .latitude and .longitude
* @param {Object} location2 The second location given as .latitude and .longitude
* @return {number} The distance, in kilometers, between the inputted locations.
*/
distance(location1, location2) {
const radius = 6371; // Earth's radius in kilometers
const latDelta = degreesToRadians(location2.latitude - location1.latitude);
const lonDelta = degreesToRadians(location2.longitude - location1.longitude);
const a = (Math.sin(latDelta / 2) * Math.sin(latDelta / 2)) +
(Math.cos(degreesToRadians(location1.latitude)) * Math.cos(degreesToRadians(location2.latitude)) *
Math.sin(lonDelta / 2) * Math.sin(lonDelta / 2));
const c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
return radius * c;
}
boundingBoxCoordinates(): (There are more utils used in here as well that I've pasted below.)
/**
* Calculates the SW and NE corners of a bounding box around a center point for a given radius;
*
* @param {Object} center The center given as .latitude and .longitude
* @param {number} radius The radius of the box (in kilometers)
* @return {Object} The SW and NE corners given as .swCorner and .neCorner
*/
boundingBoxCoordinates(center, radius) {
const KM_PER_DEGREE_LATITUDE = 110.574;
const latDegrees = radius / KM_PER_DEGREE_LATITUDE;
const latitudeNorth = Math.min(90, center.latitude + latDegrees);
const latitudeSouth = Math.max(-90, center.latitude - latDegrees);
// calculate longitude based on current latitude
const longDegsNorth = metersToLongitudeDegrees(radius, latitudeNorth);
const longDegsSouth = metersToLongitudeDegrees(radius, latitudeSouth);
const longDegs = Math.max(longDegsNorth, longDegsSouth);
return {
swCorner: { // bottom-left (SW corner)
latitude: latitudeSouth,
longitude: wrapLongitude(center.longitude - longDegs),
},
neCorner: { // top-right (NE corner)
latitude: latitudeNorth,
longitude: wrapLongitude(center.longitude + longDegs),
},
};
}
metersToLongitudeDegrees():
/**
* Calculates the number of degrees a given distance is at a given latitude.
*
* @param {number} distance The distance to convert.
* @param {number} latitude The latitude at which to calculate.
* @return {number} The number of degrees the distance corresponds to.
*/
function metersToLongitudeDegrees(distance, latitude) {
const EARTH_EQ_RADIUS = 6378137.0;
// this is a super, fancy magic number that the GeoFire lib can explain (maybe)
const E2 = 0.00669447819799;
const EPSILON = 1e-12;
const radians = degreesToRadians(latitude);
const num = Math.cos(radians) * EARTH_EQ_RADIUS * Math.PI / 180;
const denom = 1 / Math.sqrt(1 - E2 * Math.sin(radians) * Math.sin(radians));
const deltaDeg = num * denom;
if (deltaDeg < EPSILON) {
return distance > 0 ? 360 : 0;
}
// else
return Math.min(360, distance / deltaDeg);
}
wrapLongitude():
/**
* Wraps the longitude to [-180,180].
*
* @param {number} longitude The longitude to wrap.
* @return {number} longitude The resulting longitude.
*/
function wrapLongitude(longitude) {
if (longitude <= 180 && longitude >= -180) {
return longitude;
}
const adjusted = longitude + 180;
if (adjusted > 0) {
return (adjusted % 360) - 180;
}
// else
return 180 - (-adjusted % 360);
}
///
/// Checks if these coordinates are valid geo coordinates.
/// [latitude] The latitude must be in the range [-90, 90]
/// [longitude] The longitude must be in the range [-180, 180]
/// returns [true] if these are valid geo coordinates
///
bool coordinatesValid(double latitude, double longitude) {
return (latitude >= -90 && latitude <= 90 && longitude >= -180 && longitude <= 180);
}
///
/// Checks if the coordinates of a GeopPoint are valid geo coordinates.
/// [latitude] The latitude must be in the range [-90, 90]
/// [longitude] The longitude must be in the range [-180, 180]
/// returns [true] if these are valid geo coordinates
///
bool geoPointValid(GeoPoint point) {
return (point.latitude >= -90 &&
point.latitude <= 90 &&
point.longitude >= -180 &&
point.longitude <= 180);
}
///
/// Wraps the longitude to [-180,180].
///
/// [longitude] The longitude to wrap.
/// returns The resulting longitude.
///
double wrapLongitude(double longitude) {
if (longitude <= 180 && longitude >= -180) {
return longitude;
}
final adjusted = longitude + 180;
if (adjusted > 0) {
return (adjusted % 360) - 180;
}
// else
return 180 - (-adjusted % 360);
}
double degreesToRadians(double degrees) {
return (degrees * math.pi) / 180;
}
///
///Calculates the number of degrees a given distance is at a given latitude.
/// [distance] The distance to convert.
/// [latitude] The latitude at which to calculate.
/// returns the number of degrees the distance corresponds to.
double kilometersToLongitudeDegrees(double distance, double latitude) {
const EARTH_EQ_RADIUS = 6378137.0;
// this is a super, fancy magic number that the GeoFire lib can explain (maybe)
const E2 = 0.00669447819799;
const EPSILON = 1e-12;
final radians = degreesToRadians(latitude);
final numerator = math.cos(radians) * EARTH_EQ_RADIUS * math.pi / 180;
final denom = 1 / math.sqrt(1 - E2 * math.sin(radians) * math.sin(radians));
final deltaDeg = numerator * denom;
if (deltaDeg < EPSILON) {
return distance > 0 ? 360.0 : 0.0;
}
// else
return math.min(360.0, distance / deltaDeg);
}
///
/// Defines the boundingbox for the query based
/// on its south-west and north-east corners
class GeoBoundingBox {
final GeoPoint swCorner;
final GeoPoint neCorner;
GeoBoundingBox({this.swCorner, this.neCorner});
}
///
/// Defines the search area by a circle [center] / [radiusInKilometers]
/// Based on the limitations of FireStore we can only search in rectangles
/// which means that from this definition a final search square is calculated
/// that contains the circle
class Area {
final GeoPoint center;
final double radiusInKilometers;
Area(this.center, this.radiusInKilometers):
assert(geoPointValid(center)), assert(radiusInKilometers >= 0);
factory Area.inMeters(GeoPoint gp, int radiusInMeters) {
return new Area(gp, radiusInMeters / 1000.0);
}
factory Area.inMiles(GeoPoint gp, int radiusMiles) {
return new Area(gp, radiusMiles * 1.60934);
}
/// returns the distance in km of [point] to center
double distanceToCenter(GeoPoint point) {
return distanceInKilometers(center, point);
}
}
///
///Calculates the SW and NE corners of a bounding box around a center point for a given radius;
/// [area] with the center given as .latitude and .longitude
/// and the radius of the box (in kilometers)
GeoBoundingBox boundingBoxCoordinates(Area area) {
const KM_PER_DEGREE_LATITUDE = 110.574;
final latDegrees = area.radiusInKilometers / KM_PER_DEGREE_LATITUDE;
final latitudeNorth = math.min(90.0, area.center.latitude + latDegrees);
final latitudeSouth = math.max(-90.0, area.center.latitude - latDegrees);
// calculate longitude based on current latitude
final longDegsNorth = kilometersToLongitudeDegrees(area.radiusInKilometers, latitudeNorth);
final longDegsSouth = kilometersToLongitudeDegrees(area.radiusInKilometers, latitudeSouth);
final longDegs = math.max(longDegsNorth, longDegsSouth);
return new GeoBoundingBox(
swCorner: new GeoPoint(latitudeSouth, wrapLongitude(area.center.longitude - longDegs)),
neCorner: new GeoPoint(latitudeNorth, wrapLongitude(area.center.longitude + longDegs)));
}
///
/// Calculates the distance, in kilometers, between two locations, via the
/// Haversine formula. Note that this is approximate due to the fact that
/// the Earth's radius varies between 6356.752 km and 6378.137 km.
/// [location1] The first location given
/// [location2] The second location given
/// sreturn the distance, in kilometers, between the two locations.
///
double distanceInKilometers(GeoPoint location1, GeoPoint location2) {
const radius = 6371; // Earth's radius in kilometers
final latDelta = degreesToRadians(location2.latitude - location1.latitude);
final lonDelta = degreesToRadians(location2.longitude - location1.longitude);
final a = (math.sin(latDelta / 2) * math.sin(latDelta / 2)) +
(math.cos(degreesToRadians(location1.latitude)) *
math.cos(degreesToRadians(location2.latitude)) *
math.sin(lonDelta / 2) *
math.sin(lonDelta / 2));
final c = 2 * math.atan2(math.sqrt(a), math.sqrt(1 - a));
return radius * c;
}
Hijacking this thread to hopefully help anyone still looking. Firestore still does not support geo-based queries, and using the GeoFirestore library isnt ideal either as it will only let you search by location, nothing else.
There's a GeoFire library for Firestore called Geofirestore: https://github.com/imperiumlabs/GeoFirestore (Disclaimer: I helped develop it). It's super easy to use and offers the same features for Firestore that Geofire does for Firebase Realtime DB)
The easiest way is to calculate a "geo hash" when storing the location in the database.
A geo hash is a string which represents a location down to a certain accuracy. The longer the geo hash, the closer the locations with said geo hash must be. Two location which are e.g. 100m apart may have the same 6-char geo hash but when calculating a 7-char geo hash the last char might be different.
There are plenty libraries allowing you to calculate geo hashes for any language. Just store it alongside the location and use a == query to find locations with the same geo hash.
A workaround for Flutter till we have native query in Firestore to pull ordered documents based on lat/long:
https://pub.dev/packages/geoflutterfire
A plugin to store geo hashes in the Firestore and query the same.
You should use GeoFire (works with Firestore). With this you can filter documents on server and read less documents from your Firestore db. This will reduce your read count as well.
let center = CLLocation(latitude: lat, longitude: lng)
let collection = "Your collection path"
let circleQuery = collection.query(withCenter: center, radius: Double(yourRadiusVal))
let _ = circleQuery.observe(.documentEntered, with: { (key, location) in
//Use info as per your need
})
I have used .documentEntered, you can use other available geo queries like (Document Exited, Document Moved) as per your need.