Inset Overview Map

Maintaining a geographical frame of reference

An inset map is a smaller map to help the user maintain a geographical frame of reference. The overview map is synchronized with the bounds_changed event on the main map.

TypeScript

const OVERVIEW_DIFFERENCE = 5;
const OVERVIEW_MIN_ZOOM = 3;
const OVERVIEW_MAX_ZOOM = 10;

function initMap(): void {
  const mapOptions = {
    center: { lat: 50, lng: 8 },
    zoom: 7,
  };

  // instantiate the primary map
  map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map") as HTMLElement, {
    ...mapOptions,
  });

  // instantiate the overview map without controls
  overview = new google.maps.Map(
    document.getElementById("overview") as HTMLElement,
    {
      ...mapOptions,
      disableDefaultUI: true,
      gestureHandling: "none",
      zoomControl: false,
    }
  );

  function clamp(num, min, max) {
    return Math.min(Math.max(num, min), max);
  }

  map.addListener("bounds_changed", () => {
    overview.setCenter(map.getCenter()!);
    overview.setZoom(
      clamp(
        map.getZoom()! - OVERVIEW_DIFFERENCE,
        OVERVIEW_MIN_ZOOM,
        OVERVIEW_MAX_ZOOM
      )
    );
  });
}

declare global {
  interface Window {
    initMap: () => void;
  }
}
window.initMap = initMap;
index.ts

JavaScript

const OVERVIEW_DIFFERENCE = 5;
const OVERVIEW_MIN_ZOOM = 3;
const OVERVIEW_MAX_ZOOM = 10;

function initMap() {
  const mapOptions = {
    center: { lat: 50, lng: 8 },
    zoom: 7,
  };

  // instantiate the primary map
  map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"), {
    ...mapOptions,
  });
  // instantiate the overview map without controls
  overview = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("overview"), {
    ...mapOptions,
    disableDefaultUI: true,
    gestureHandling: "none",
    zoomControl: false,
  });

  function clamp(num, min, max) {
    return Math.min(Math.max(num, min), max);
  }

  map.addListener("bounds_changed", () => {
    overview.setCenter(map.getCenter());
    overview.setZoom(
      clamp(
        map.getZoom() - OVERVIEW_DIFFERENCE,
        OVERVIEW_MIN_ZOOM,
        OVERVIEW_MAX_ZOOM,
      ),
    );
  });
}

window.initMap = initMap;
index.js

CSS

/* 
 * Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div element
 * that contains the map. 
 */
#map {
  height: 100%;
}

/* 
 * Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. 
 */
html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

#container,
#map {
  height: 100%;
  width: 100%;
}

#map {
  position: relative;
}

#overview {
  position: absolute;
  left: 40px;
  height: 175px;
  width: 175px;
  bottom: 50px;
  box-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
}

style.css

HTML

<html>
  <head>
    <title>Inset Overview Map</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./style.css" />
    <script type="module" src="./index.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="container">
      <div id="map"></div>
      <div id="overview"></div>
    </div>

    <!-- 
      The `defer` attribute causes the script to execute after the full HTML
      document has been parsed. For non-blocking uses, avoiding race conditions,
      and consistent behavior across browsers, consider loading using Promises. See
      https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/load-maps-js-api
      for more information.
      -->
    <script
      src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyB41DRUbKWJHPxaFjMAwdrzWzbVKartNGg&callback=initMap&v=weekly"
      defer
    ></script>
  </body>
</html>
index.html

Try Sample

Clone Sample

Git and Node.js are required to run this sample locally. Follow these instructions to install Node.js and NPM. The following commands clone, install dependencies and start the sample application. 

  git clone -b sample-inset-map https://github.com/googlemaps/js-samples.git
  cd js-samples
  npm i
  npm start

Other samples can be tried by switching to any branch beginning with sample-SAMPLE_NAME. 

  git checkout sample-SAMPLE_NAME
  npm i
  npm start