Google Places get LatLng

Question

I am using the Autocomplete method to get Place Suggestions and when I click the Place I want to choose, I want to extract the Lat and Lng which is placed under place.geometry.location as below.

As per my observation, the keys ib and jb keep changing with every session. Is there any way I can extract the Lat and Lng predictably?

$(document).ready(function() {

    var mapOptions = {
        center : new google.maps.LatLng(-33.8688, 151.2195),
        zoom : 13,
        mapTypeId : google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
    };
    var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById('map'), mapOptions);

    $('#searchTextField').bind('keydown keypress', function() {
        setTimeout(function() {
            var inputQuery = $('#searchTextField').val();

            if (inputQuery.length >= 2) {
                //console.log(inputQuery);

                /*
                var service = new google.maps.places.AutocompleteService();

                service.getPlacePredictions({
                    input : inputQuery
                }, callback);
                */

                var input = document.getElementById('searchTextField');
                var options = {
                    types : ['geocode']
                };

                var autocomplete = new google.maps.places.Autocomplete(input, options);

                // Acting on Selecting a place
                google.maps.event.addListener(autocomplete, 'place_changed', function() {
                    //infowindow.close();
                    var place = autocomplete.getPlace();

                    console.log(place);
                    console.log(place.formatted_address);
                    console.log(place.name);
                    console.log(place.geometry.location);
                    console.log(place.geometry.location[0]);

                    // Show the map to the current location selected
                    if (place.geometry.viewport) {
                        map.fitBounds(place.geometry.viewport);
                    } else {
                        map.setCenter(place.geometry.location);
                        map.setZoom(17);
                        // Why 17? Because it looks good.
                    }

                    var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
                        position : place.geometry.location,
                        map : map,
                        draggable : true,
                    });

                    $.each(place.geometry.location, function(key, value) {
                        console.log(key + ": " + value);
                    }); 
                });
            }

        }, 0);

    });
});

Answer 1

place.geometry.location is a LatLng, so you can call its .lat() and .lng() methods.

var location = place.geometry.location;
var lat = location.lat();
var lng = location.lng();

You'll see that these methods are present in your inspection of this object.

Never use undocumented properties such as the ib and jb you discovered. Google compiles the Maps API using the Closure Compiler or a similar tool, which generates random names for private properties and variables.