geotoolbox

GeoToolbox and PlaceDescriptor Patterns

Portable location representation using PlaceDescriptor from the GeoToolbox framework. Covers place construction from coordinates, addresses, and MapKit items; forward and reverse geocoding with the new async APIs; and multi-service place identifiers for cross-platform interop.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks about GeoToolbox or PlaceDescriptor
• Wants to represent a place with coordinates, address, or common name
• Needs to convert between MKMapItem and PlaceDescriptor
• Asks about forward geocoding (address to coordinates) or reverse geocoding (coordinates to address)
• Wants to store or transmit multi-service place identifiers (Apple Maps, Google Maps, etc.)
• Mentions PlaceRepresentation, SupportingPlaceRepresentation, or MKGeocodingRequest
• Asks about portable or interoperable location data structures

Decision Tree

What do you need?
|
+-- Represent a place with coordinates and/or address
|   +-- From a known coordinate
|   |   +-- PlaceRepresentation.coordinate(CLLocationCoordinate2D)
|   +-- From a known address string
|   |   +-- PlaceRepresentation.address(String)
|   +-- Both coordinate and address
|   |   +-- Pass multiple representations to PlaceDescriptor
|   +-- From an existing MKMapItem
|       +-- PlaceDescriptor(item: MKMapItem)
|
+-- Geocode an address to coordinates
|   +-- MKGeocodingRequest(addressString:)
|   +-- try await request.mapItems
|
+-- Reverse geocode coordinates to an address
|   +-- MKReverseGeocodingRequest(location:)
|   +-- try await request.mapItems
|
+-- Attach service identifiers (Apple Maps, Google, etc.)
|   +-- SupportingPlaceRepresentation.serviceIdentifiers([String: String])
|
+-- Read place properties
    +-- descriptor.coordinate, descriptor.address, descriptor.commonName
    +-- descriptor.serviceIdentifier(for: "com.apple.maps")

API Availability