Build Your Own URL

v

(required)

Version

Integer

Defines the version of the URL API. Because the API may change as new features are added, you must include the v parameter to ensure backward compatibility. If you omit this parameter, the latest version of the API is used by default.

cp

(optional)

Center point

Double~Double

Defines the center point of the map. Use the following format for the cp parameter: Latitude~Longitude. Both values must be expressed in decimal degrees and use the WGS84 datum.

lvl

(optional)

Level

Integer

Defines the zoom level (map scale). Valid values are 1–19. This parameter is ignored if you omit the cp parameter.

style

(optional)

Map view

String

Defines the map view. Valid values for this parameter are a (for the aerial photo map view), r (for the road map view), h (for the aerial map view with labels), and o for bird's eye (oblique) images.

 Note   If you set the view to o, you must also provide the scene parameter.

scene (optional, but required if style=o)

Bird's eye (oblique) image reference

Integer

Specifies the ID of the bird's eye (oblique) image tile to display.

trfc (optional)

Traffic layer

Boolean

Specifies whether the traffic layer should be displayed. Set trfc=1 to show traffic.

ss

(optional)

Search string

String

Defines the searches that you want to display in one or more search results panels. Separate multiple search strings with a tilde (~). If you use a tilde in a search string, the tilde is automatically converted to a space. You can include a maximum of three search strings, each containing up to 100 characters.

Note In version 1.0 of the URL API, multiple searches were delimited with pipe (|) characters.

where1

(optional)

Location string

String

Defines the location on which to center the map. This parameter represents the text that a user types in the upper search box in Windows Live Local. The string can represent an address or a place name. This parameter takes precedence over the cp parameter.

rtp

(optional)

Route

String

Defines the waypoints of a route to draw on the map. The route is defined as a series of waypoints, each separated by a tilde (~). Each waypoint is defined by either a pos (position) or adr (address) identifier, described in the next table.

A complete route contains at least two waypoints. For example, a route with two waypoints is defined by the following pattern:

rtp="A"~"B".

You can also specify an incomplete route. For example, you can define only the start of a route:

rtp="A"~

or the end of a route:

rtp=~"B"

If you provide only one waypoint, the driving directions panel is displayed with the provided waypoint, but no route is drawn.

pos

(used with the rtp parameter)

Position

Defines a waypoint as a specific position on the map. Use the following format:

rtp=pos.latitude_longitude_name

adr

(used with the rtp parameter)

Address

Defines a waypoint as an address. Use the following format:

rtp=adr.address

sp

(optional)

Scratch Pad

String, or pairing(category.value)

Defines a specific entity, address, or annotation (pushpin) to add to the scratch pad. 

Scratch pad items are defined as a pairing: the category and the value, separated by a period. There are three valid categories: adr, an, and yp, each of which is described in the next table.

Separate multiple scratch pad items with tildes (~). If the item you specify contains a tilde, make sure the tilde is encoded as %7E.

cid

(optional)

Collection ID

String

Specifies the GUID of the collection you want to display.

adr

Address

Specifies an address to add to the scratch pad. For the address, the value can be the address string, the address string and title, or the address string, title, and description:

sp=adr.addressString

sp=adr.addressString_title

sp=adr.addressString_title_description

Make sure that the addresses you provide are as specific as possible.

an

Annotation

Specifies a custom annotation to add to the scratch pad. For annotations, the value includes the latitude, longitude, title, and description to display, separated by underscores (_):

sp=an.latitude_longitude_title_description

yp

Yellow pages listing

Specifies yellow page listings. For yellow page listings, the value is a valid yellow pages entity id:

sp=yp.listingID

v

(required)

Version

Integer

Defines the version of the URL API. Because the API may change as new features are added, you must include the v parameter to ensure backward compatibility. If you omit parameter, the latest version of the API is used by default.

dt

(required)

Details

A pair of values (eaid.eid)

Defines the entity for which you want to display detailed information. Entities are defined as a pairing of the entity authority ID (eaid) and the entity ID (eid), separated with a period.

You can only specify a single entity for each details page. If you pass more than one entity in a URL for a details page, only the first entity is used.

style

Map view

String

Defines the map view. Valid values for this parameter are a (for the aerial photo map view), r (for the road map view), and h (for the aerial photo map view with labels).