This is made at the suggestion of Copper over at this thread.

http://mystbyte.net16.net/saberforge/location_calculator_v2.php

This is code I wrote in case Phil ever wants to include something like this into Saberforge! How it works is you can sign up to the list with your Username and your postal code. Your postal code is then translated into longitude and lattitude!

The username and long/lat coords are then stored in a MySQL database, for use later. Now that you're signed up, you can then enter your longitude and lattitude(I can change it to postal code, but I was lazy XD). You find out your longitude and lattitude when you sign up to the list! Once you enter your long/latt into the form, you can specify a maximum distance to search for fellow duelists. This is in kilometers, because the metric system is the best. So if you put 100 into the distance field, the program will search for members within a 100km radius.

How does the program do all of this with only longitude and lattitude?
I used a formula called the haversine formula. This formula, in it's simplest description, is spherical cosine/sine laws. You can read more about it here.

So if you guys could test it out, and give input, it would be greatly appreciated! If course in order to put it on the site, it will need some CSS work, and a few functional changes, but other than that, it works flawlessly. However due to technical limitations, distances are not based on roads, but as the crow flies.

The more attention the post gets, the more likely it will become a feature of the website!

Nice work Mystbyte.
Is it possible to link the MySQL database to a map application like google maps for a pictorial easy view?
Sorry I know nothing about programming, think my programming stopped at:
10 PRINT "Hello"
20 GOTO 10

Copper wrote: Thanks for the feedback! It seems possible, I could store both the postal codes and lat/long and then display an iframe with google maps pins on player locations. Would definitely be possible and it's a cool idea! I'll look into it!

I emailed saberforge when I posted this thread, and haven't heard back yet. I also tweaked the application a bit, and tomorrow I'll make it accept postal codes when searching for members.

You did it! Awesome!

Darth Revan wrote: Of course I did! Now it just depends on whether Phil wants to implement it

Added the postal code feature so you don't have to enter the Lattitude and longitude to search for members

Yea I don't think SF will be implementing this. They haven't responded to my email I sent a week ago, yet they've responded to other emails sent around the same time.

Well they are supposed to be very busy, think I've only seen 'em on the forums once since I joined.

*sniffs armpits .... Nope not me

Haha I understand that, however I sent an rush email shortly after I sent the Member Finder, and they responded to the rush email quite quickly while they still haven't responded to the Member finder email. If you guys want, you can still use the member finder I host, (at MystByte.net16.net) Everything works fine, it's just not affiliated with SF.