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The Java API wrapper is useful for Java developers who wish to seamlessly integrate the what3words API into their Java applications, without the hassle of having to manage the low level API calls themselves.

The what3words API is a fast, simple interface which allows you to convert 3 word addresses such as ///index.home.raft to latitude and longitude coordinates such as (-0.203586, 51.521251) and vice versa. It features a powerful autosuggest function, which can validate and autocorrect user input and limit it to certain geographic areas (this powers the search box on our map site). It allows you to request a section of the what3words grid (which can be requested as GeoJSON for easy display on online maps), and to request the list of all languages supported by what3words. For advanced users, autosuggest can be used to post-process voice output. See links on the left to navigate.

All coordinates are latitude,longitude pairs in standard WGS-84 (as commonly used worldwide in GPS systems). All latitudes must be in the range of -90 to 90 (inclusive).

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Installation

The library is available through Maven Central. Please add one of the following to either your pom.xml or gradle.build files.

Maven:

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.what3words</groupId>
  <artifactId>w3w-java-wrapper</artifactId>
  <version>3.1.17</version>
</dependency>
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Gradle:

implementation 'com.what3words:w3w-java-wrapper:3.1.17'
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Setup

Instantiate an instance of What3WordsV3, from which all API requests can be made

// For all requests a what3words API key is needed
What3WordsV3 api = new What3WordsV3("what3words-api-key");
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Usage

Convert to 3 word address

This function converts coordinates (expressed as latitude and longitude) to a 3 word address.

More information about convertTo3wa, including returned results is available in the what3words REST API documentation.

Find the words for (51.508344,0.12549900):

// Convert coordinates to a 3 word address
ConvertTo3WA words = api.convertTo3wa(new Coordinates(51.508344, -0.12549900))
        .language("en")
        .execute();
System.out.println("Words: " + words);
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Convert to coordinates

This function converts a 3 word address to a position, expressed as coordinates of latitude and longitude.

This function takes the words parameter as a string of 3 words 'table.book.chair'

More information about convertToCoordinates, including returned results is available in the what3words REST API documentation.

Find the words for ///filled.count.soap:

// Convert a 3 word address to coordinates
ConvertToCoordinates coordinates = api.convertToCoordinates("filled.count.soap")
        .execute();
System.out.println("Coordinates: " + coordinates);
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AutoSuggest

When presented with a 3 word address that may be incorrectly entered, AutoSuggest returns a list of potential correct 3 word addresses. It needs the first two words plus at least the first character of the third word to produce suggestions.

This method provides corrections for mis-typed words (including plural vs singular), and words being in the wrong order.

Optionally, clipping can narrow down the possibilities, and limit results to:

  • One or more countries
  • A geographic area (a circle, box or polygon)

This dramatically improves results, so we recommend that you use clipping if possible.

To improve results even further, set the focus to user’s current location. This will make autosuggest return results which are closer to the user.

More information about autosuggest, including returned results is available in the what3words REST API documentation.

Example: Basic Autosuggest call

Autosuggest autosuggest = api.autosuggest("fun.with.code")
        .execute();
System.out.println("Autosuggest: " + autosuggest);
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Example: AutoSuggest, clipping the results returned to France and Germany

Autosuggest autosuggest = api.autosuggest("fun.with.code")
        .clipToCountry("FR", "DE")
        .execute();
System.out.println("Autosuggest: " + autosuggest);
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Example: AutoSuggest, Focus on (51.4243877,-0.34745)

Autosuggest autosuggest = api.autosuggest("fun.with.code")
        .focus(new Coordinates(51.4243877,-0.34745))
        .execute();
System.out.println("Autosuggest: " + autosuggest);
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Example: AutoSuggest, with Generic Voice input type

Autosuggest autosuggest = api.autosuggest("fun with code")
        .inputType(AutosuggestInputType.GENERIC_VOICE)
        .language("en")
        .execute();
System.out.println("Autosuggest: " + autosuggest);
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Grid section

Grid Section returns a section of the what3words 3m x 3m grid as a set of horizontal and vertical lines covering the requested area, which can then be drawn onto a map.

The requested box must not exceed 4km from corner to corner, or a BadBoundingBoxTooBig error will be returned.

More information about gridSection, including returned results is available in the what3words REST API documentation.

Get a grid for (51.527649, -0.191746) in the south-west, and (51.515900, -0.212517 in the north-east:

// Obtain a grid section within the provided bounding box
GridSection gridSection = api.gridSection(
        new BoundingBox(
            new Coordinates(51.515900, -0.212517), 
            new Coordinates(51.527649, -0.191746)
        )
    ).execute();
System.out.println("Grid section: " + gridSection);
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Serializing To GeoJSON

If GeoJSON format is required (you are using on a map in an app for example) a function such as geoJsonSerializer can be added. This should be registered to Gson as a TypeAdapter and then you can then serialize the objects returned from the wrapper into GeoJSON.

JsonSerializer<GridSection> geoJsonSerializer = api.getGridSectionJsonSerializer();
GsonBuilder gsonBuilder = new GsonBuilder();
gsonBuilder.registerTypeAdapter(GridSection.class, geoJsonSerializer);
Gson geoJsonGson = gsonBuilder.create();  
String geoJson = geoJsonGson.toJson(gridSection);
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Available languages

This function returns the currently supported languages. It will return the two letter code, and the name of the language both in that language and in English.

More information about availableLanguages, including returned results is available in the what3words REST API documentation.

// Obtain the list of available languages
AvailableLanguages languages = api.availableLanguages().execute();
System.out.println("Languages: " + languages);
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Handling errors

Errors returned from the API can be caught with the wrapper through the use of a catch function.

Within the catch function, code and message values which represent the error, are accessible from the error object parameter

Autosuggest autosuggest = api.autosuggest("freshen.overlook.clo")
    .clipToCountry("fr")
    .execute();

if (autosuggest.isSuccessful()) {
    ...
} else { // An error occurred
    What3WordsError error = autosuggest.getError();

    if (error == What3WordsError.BAD_CLIP_TO_COUNTRY) { // Invalid country clip is provided
        System.out.println("BadClipToCountry: " + error.getMessage());
    }
}
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Server and ScriptingAdd a 3 word address input fieldBatch convert 3 word addresses or co-ordinatesUse 3 word addresses with a mapUse 3 word addresses with voice inputUse 3 word addresses within an address searchJava

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