Howto: zip code proximity search using Location Module

Note: This issue might lead to more information on the "right" way to do location views.
http://drupal.org/node/430730

Note: There is currently a bug in Location module that causes searches greater than 3285 miles or 5288 kilometers to return no results. Be warned and test within that limit. Update: I've got a theme-based workaround for this problem that makes things at least not break: http://drupal.org/node/471040 comment #3.

I have fully updated and tested this tutorial and added screenshots in response to comments. This is a tutorial on how to use the Location module to search by zip code proximity in Drupal 6.

This view will ultimately accept an inputted user zip code and return a listing of content sorted by distance from that zip code.

The first draft of this tutorial created a view that worked for me for a while but mysteriously quit working. I honestly had two identical views, one of which worked, one of which did not. I re-did it from scratch and took screenshots. I suggest following this tutorial exactly if possible and then modifying it to suit your needs. There seems to be a narrow path. ;^)

First, you must install the Location and Views modules and configure Location fields for whatever content type you desire.

Note:The actual Location fields I am using are not CCK Location fields, but are Node Location fields, that is, Locations attached to the nodes themselves (which one adds to the nodes via CCK) rather than locations attached to a CCK field on that node. Some of the confusions below may have arisen from this difference.

(Note: I also recommend Gmap module, though I won't be using it in this tutorial. The Gmap module essentially provides Views with another way to display data, in place of a listing of fields. You could use the Gmap module to display the described view below by selecting "Style: Gmap" in place of "Style" Field". But I'd first get it working the way below to remove variables.)

Next, upload the zip codes from the country of your choice as per the INSTALL.TXT file found in the Location module. The zip code database tables are located (usually) at /sites/all/modules/location/database/. You can simply open the file of your choice with a text editor, copy all, and paste into a PHPmyAmin SQL execute window. If it's too big, paste it in several batches. This creates a whole list of zip codes to search from.

Create a new view:

1. new view
2. type: Location



3. Select Style: Field
4. Configure the fields your view will display. It seems that you must choose distance/proximity to be displayed or this view will not work consistently. I recommend also selecting the "Location:Address" field as well as the "Title", for testing purposes.




5. Configure the Filters that will be used to limit the locations returned by the query. We will set up a filter that will return only locations that are within a set range of an user-inputted zip code.

Location: Distance / Proximity

Expose the filter

select Form Mode -> Postal Code (with country default)

The following settings are optional:
* Node Type: [node type with locations attached]
* Node: Published [always check this!]

6. Sort Criteria

Note: If your sorting doesn't work, delete the sort criterion and re-add it. Others have confirmed this.
Choose Location: Distance / Proximity (you know the drill by now!)
On extra settings: select use Distance / Proximity filter (this hooks the sort criteria up to the filter that collected the user's entered zip code)


7. Shot of the whole view, in case I missed anything. Remember to add a page view or block view or your view will not be displayed anyplace.

Another way to import to SQL database

Use a command like the following to import the ZIP code database.
Note that this is on a Mac (*nix).

My gui locked up after about 5 minutes. The command above took under 5 seconds :) Amazing!