This is specifically a question related to Drupal 7x
Here is what I would like to do in summary:
Take a zip code from the url (querystring) or POST data and show a location on the map based on that zip.
I have created a custom module using the form API that generates a simple form with a textfield (zip code) and submit button.
The submit button redirects to search results page with an OpenLayers Map on the page and a querystring in the url as follows: http://url/node?zip=123456
I understand I need to convert that zip to lat/long.
I would normally do with by code...taking the zip from the request parms and passing it to a custom lookup function that would return lat/long similar to Android development.
Really struggling with the hands off approach of relying on other modules to do the work....nothing seems to do what I need it to do.
I can get an OpenLayers map to show in my search results page if I pre-configure it to use a hard-coded zip...but I am lost when it comes to working out of the box and can find little info related to what I am trying to do.
OpenLayers CCK is deprecated in Drupal 7 - and not sure I understand how to use GeoField/GeoMap, etc...
Any help/advice would be appreciated.