Search for an address

Learn how to find an address or place using a search box and the geocoding service.

A mapping application that performs geocoding to find the location of street addresses

Find the location of addresses with the geocoding service.

Geocoding is the process of converting address or place text into a location. The geocoding service provides address and place geocoding as well as reverse geocoding.

Esri Leaflet provides a geocoder to access the geocoding service. In this tutorial, you use the Geosearch control to search for addresses and places.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.

Steps

Create a new pen

  1. To get started, either complete the Display a map tutorial or .

Get an access token

You need an access token with the correct privileges to access the resources used in this tutorial.

  1. Go to the Create an API key tutorial and create an API key with the following privilege(s):

    • Privileges
      • Location services > Basemaps
      • Location services > Geocoding
  2. Copy the API key access token to your clipboard when prompted.

  3. In CodePen, update the accessToken variable to use your access token.

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          const map = L.map("map", {
            minZoom: 2
          })
    
          map.setView([34.02, -118.805], 13);
    
          const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
    
          const basemapEnum = "arcgis/streets";
    
          L.esri.Vector.vectorBasemapLayer(basemapEnum, {
            token: accessToken
          }).addTo(map);
    

To learn about the other types of authentication available, go to Types of authentication.

Reference the geocoder

  1. Reference the Esri Leaflet Geocoder plugin and its CSS stylesheet.

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        <!-- Load Leaflet from CDN -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/leaflet@1.9.4/dist/leaflet.css" crossorigin="" />
        <script src="https://unpkg.com/leaflet@1.9.4/dist/leaflet.js" crossorigin=""></script>
    
        <!-- Load Esri Leaflet from CDN -->
        <script src="https://unpkg.com/esri-leaflet@3.0.12/dist/esri-leaflet.js"></script>
        <script src="https://unpkg.com/esri-leaflet-vector@4.2.5/dist/esri-leaflet-vector.js"></script>
    
        <!-- Load Esri Leaflet Geocoder from CDN -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unpkg.com/esri-leaflet-geocoder@3.1.4/dist/esri-leaflet-geocoder.css">
        <script src="https://unpkg.com/esri-leaflet-geocoder@3.1.4/dist/esri-leaflet-geocoder.js"></script>
    
    Expand

Update the map

A navigation basemap layer is typically used in geocoding and routing applications. Update the basemap layer to use arcgis/navigation.

  1. Update the basemap style and change the map view to center on location [151.2093, -33.8688], Sydney.

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          const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
    
          const basemapEnum = "arcgis/navigation";
    
          const map = L.map("map", {
            minZoom: 2
          })
    
          map.setView([-33.8688, 151.2093], 14); // Sydney
    
          L.esri.Vector.vectorBasemapLayer(basemapEnum, {
            token: accessToken
          }).addTo(map);
    
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Add the Geosearch control

Use the Geosearch control to access the geocoding service.

  1. Add the control to the topright corner of the map. Create placeholder text and set useMapBounds to false.

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          L.esri.Vector.vectorBasemapLayer(basemapEnum, {
            token: accessToken
          }).addTo(map);
    
          const searchControl = L.esri.Geocoding.geosearch({
            position: "topright",
            placeholder: "Enter an address or place e.g. 1 York St",
            useMapBounds: false,
    
          }).addTo(map);
    
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  2. Set the providers to arcgisOnlineProvider in order to access the geocoding service. Set your accessToken and the lat and lng so that the geocoder returns the geocoded results for Sydney first.

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          const searchControl = L.esri.Geocoding.geosearch({
            position: "topright",
            placeholder: "Enter an address or place e.g. 1 York St",
            useMapBounds: false,
    
            providers: [
              L.esri.Geocoding.arcgisOnlineProvider({
                apikey: accessToken,
                nearby: {
                  lat: -33.8688,
                  lng: 151.2093
                }
              })
            ]
    
          }).addTo(map);
    
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  3. Run your app, and interact with the auto-complete enabled search control.

Display results

You can display the results of the search using a Marker and Popup.

  1. Add a LayerGroup to the map to contain the geocoding results.

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          const searchControl = L.esri.Geocoding.geosearch({
            position: "topright",
            placeholder: "Enter an address or place e.g. 1 York St",
            useMapBounds: false,
    
            providers: [
              L.esri.Geocoding.arcgisOnlineProvider({
                apikey: accessToken,
                nearby: {
                  lat: -33.8688,
                  lng: 151.2093
                }
              })
            ]
    
          }).addTo(map);
    
          const results = L.layerGroup().addTo(map);
    
    
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  2. Create an event handler to access the data from the search results. Call the clearLayers method to remove the previous data from the LayerGroup.

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          const results = L.layerGroup().addTo(map);
    
          searchControl.on("results", (data) => {
            results.clearLayers();
    
          });
    
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  3. Create a loop that adds the coordinates of a selected search results to a Marker.

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          const results = L.layerGroup().addTo(map);
    
          searchControl.on("results", (data) => {
            results.clearLayers();
    
            for (let i = data.results.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
              const marker = L.marker(data.results[i].latlng);
    
              results.addLayer(marker);
    
            }
    
          });
    
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  4. Add a lngLatString variable that stores the rounded search result coordinates. Append the bindPopup method to the marker to display the coordinates and address of the result.

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          const results = L.layerGroup().addTo(map);
    
          searchControl.on("results", (data) => {
            results.clearLayers();
    
            for (let i = data.results.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
              const marker = L.marker(data.results[i].latlng);
    
              const lngLatString = `${Math.round(data.results[i].latlng.lng * 100000) / 100000}, ${
                Math.round(data.results[i].latlng.lat * 100000) / 100000
              }`;
              marker.bindPopup(`<b>${lngLatString}</b><p>${data.results[i].properties.LongLabel}</p>`);
    
              results.addLayer(marker);
    
              marker.openPopup();
    
            }
    
          });
    
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

Click on the geocoder control and enter an address or place such as "Starbucks". When you select a result, the map will zoom to its location.

What's next?

Learn how to use additional ArcGIS location services in these tutorials:

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