Howdy. Thanks to Axel, I finished my Address Book plug-in and thought I'd ask for your comments. Here is the link:
This plug-in works with the Mac's Address Book. I know it works in 10.6.8 and 10.7.4 and I see no reason why it won't work with other versions of 10.6 and 10.7. It expands on the "Map This Address" option that pops up when you click on the LABEL next to a physical address in Address Book. "Map This Address" launches Google Maps in your default browser and shows you the address on the map. For me, the very next thing I want to do is "Get Directions To" that location. So first I use "Map This Address" and then I click "Get Directions" in Google Maps, and then I have to TYPE IN my starting point, which is most of the time my own home address. I got tired of doing that so I made a plug-in to do it for me.
My plug-in, the first time it's used, looks at the user's Address Book and tries t find "My Card." If it finds it, it looks for street addresses on that card and presents them in a list, for the user to choose from. If there is only one address on the card the plug-in chooses it by itself. What I'm doing there is getting a default starting point, and while it is not ALWAYS the starting point you care about it will be at least some of the time. In my case, almost all of the time.
When you choose "Map Directions To" rather than "Map This Address" you go straight to Google Maps and you see how to get to the address in question, starting at your default starting point. Of course you can still use "Map This Address" as you did before, and of course you can change the starting address that "Map Directions To" gives you after the web page loads.
At this time, the only way to reset the default starting point is to run the installer again (or ditch the preferences which Axel helped me write). Which reminds me, the link above gives you an installer, my first, which places the plug-in into the proper folder. Hang onto the installer for a bit in case you want to run it again and get a fresh start.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this before I release it into the wild. It was a lot of fun to make and it solves a problem for me that I've had for years. Thanks one more time to Axel and the rest of the list. What a resource.
You can look at the code-- it's all right out there in the open.
c
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Christian Boyce
Christian Boyce and Associates
Mac, iPhone, and iPad Consultants