4 Steps GPS Tracking System With PHP and Javascript

Welcome to a tutorial on how to create a GPS tracking system with PHP and Javascript. Need to track where a vehicle is at? Where an order is, or just making sure that it has been delivered to the right place?

Let us walk through a simple example in this guide – Read on!

ⓘ I have included a zip file with all the source code at the start of this tutorial, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything… Or if you just want to dive straight in.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Download & Notes	The Database	PHP Core
Tracker	Admin	Useful Bits & Links
The End

 

 

SOURCE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here to download the source code, I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

QUICKSTART

1. Create a database and import the 1-database.sql file.
2. Change the database settings in 2a-core.php to your own.
3. 3-track.html is the client/rider tracking page, 4-admin.html is the demo admin page. Captain Obvious – Use http:// not file://

If you spot a bug, please feel free to comment below. I try to answer questions too, but it is one person versus the entire world… If you need answers urgently, please check out my list of websites to get help with programming.

 

 

 

LAST KNOWN LOCATION

CREATE TABLE `gps_track` (
  `rider_id` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `track_time` datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  `track_lng` decimal(11,7) NOT NULL,
  `track_lat` decimal(11,7) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

ALTER TABLE `gps_track`
  ADD PRIMARY KEY (`rider_id`),
  ADD KEY `track_time` (`track_time`);

Field	Description
rider_id	Primary key, the rider ID… Or the ID of whatever you want to track.
track_time	Time the rider last “checked in”.
track_lng	Longitude.
track_lat	Latitude.

Yep, that is all we need. Just a table to store the last-known locations of the riders.

 

 

 

GPS TRACKING PHP CORE LIBRARY

<?php
class Track {
  // (A) CONSTRUCTOR - CONNECT TO DATABASE
  public $pdo = null;
  public $stmt = null;
  public $error = "";
  function __construct () {
    try {
      $this->pdo = new PDO(
        "mysql:host=".DB_HOST.";dbname=".DB_NAME.";charset=".DB_CHARSET, 
        DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, [
          PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
          PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC
        ]
      );
    } catch (Exception $ex) { exit($ex->getMessage()); }
  }

   // (B) DESTRUCTOR - CLOSE CONNECTION
  function __destruct () {
    if ($this->stmt !== null) { $this->stmt = null; }
    if ($this->pdo !== null) { $this->pdo = null; }
  }

  // (C) HELPER FUNCTION - EXECUTE SQL QUERY
  function query ($sql, $data=null) {
    try {
      $this->stmt = $this->pdo->prepare($sql);
      $this->stmt->execute($data);
      return true;
    } catch (Exception $ex) {
      $this->error = $ex->getMessage();
      return false;
    }
  }
 
  // (D) UPDATE RIDER COORDINATES
  function update ($id, $lng, $lat) {
    return $this->query(
      "REPLACE INTO `gps_track` (`rider_id`, `track_time`, `track_lng`, `track_lat`) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)",
      [$id, date("Y-m-d H:i:s"), $lng, $lat]
    );
  }
 
  // (E) GET RIDER COORDINATES
  function get ($id) {
    $this->query("SELECT * FROM `gps_track` WHERE `rider_id`=?", [$id]);
    return $this->stmt->fetch();
  }

  // (F) GET ALL THE RIDER LOCATIONS
  function getAll () {
    $this->query("SELECT * FROM `gps_track`");
    return $this->stmt->fetchAll();
  }
}
 
// (G) DATABASE SETTINGS - CHANGE THESE TO YOUR OWN
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_NAME', 'test');
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASSWORD', '');
 
// (H) START!
$_TRACK = new Track();

This one looks intimidating at first, but keep calm and analyze slowly.

• A & B – When the $_TRACK = new Track() object is created, the constructor will automatically connect to the database. The destructor closes the connection.
• C – query() is a simple helper function that runs an SQL query.
• D – update() records a rider’s GPS coordinates.
• E – get() returns a rider’s last known coordinates.
• F – getAll() returns all riders’ last known coordinates.

 

 

AJAX ENDPOINT

<?php
// (A) INIT
require "2a-core.php";
switch ($_POST['req']) {
  // (B) INVALID REQUEST
  default:
    echo "Invalid request.";
    break;

  // (C) UPDATE RIDER LOCATION
  case "update":
    $pass = $_TRACK->update($_POST['rider_id'], $_POST['lng'], $_POST['lat']);
    echo json_encode([
      "status" => $pass ? 1 : 0,
      "message" => $pass ? "OK" : $trackLib->error
    ]);
    break;

  // (D) GET RIDER LOCATION
  case "get":
    $location = $_TRACK->get($_POST['rider_id']);
    echo json_encode([
      "status" => is_array($location) ? 1 : 0,
      "message" => $location
    ]);
    break;

  // (E) GET ALL RIDER LOCATIONS
  case "getAll":
    $location = $_TRACK->getAll();
    echo json_encode([
      "status" => is_array($location) ? 1 : 0,
      "message" => $location
    ]);
    break;
}

The core library is not going to work itself, so here is the AJAX endpoint. How it works is very simple – Just pass in a $_POST['req'] to specify the request, followed by the required parameters.

Request	Description
update	Update the location of the given rider. Parameters: rider_id lng lat
get	Get the last known location of a given rider. Parameters: rider_id
getAll	Get all the last-known locations of the riders.

 

 

 

JAVASCRIPT GPS TRACKER

<script>
var track = {
  // (A) PROPERTIES & SETTINGS
  rider : 999, // Rider ID - Fixed to 999 for this demo.
  delay : 10000, // Delay between GPS update, in milliseconds.
  timer : null, // Interval timer.
  display : null, // HTML <p> element.
 
  // (B) INIT
  init : function () {
    track.display = document.getElementById("display");
    if (navigator.geolocation) {
      track.update();
      setInterval(track.update, track.delay);
    } else {
      track.display.innerHTML = "Geolocation is not supported!";
    }
  },
 
  // (C) UPDATE CURRENT LOCATION TO SERVER
  update : function () {
    navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(function (pos) {
      // (C1) LOCATION DATA
      var data = new FormData();
      data.append('req', 'update');
      data.append('rider_id', track.rider);
      data.append('lat', pos.coords.latitude);
      data.append('lng', pos.coords.longitude);
 
      // (C2) AJAX
      var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
      xhr.open('POST', "2b-ajax-track.php");
      xhr.onload = function () {
      var res = JSON.parse(this.response);
        if (res.status==1) {
          track.display.innerHTML = Date.now() + " | Lat: " + pos.coords.latitude + " | Lng: " + pos.coords.longitude;
        } else {
          track.display.innerHTML = res.message;
        }
      };
      xhr.send(data);
    });
  }
};
window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", track.init);
</script>
 
<p id="display"></p>

Yep, this seems massive at first. But it is basically using navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition() to get the current GPS location, and uploading it to the server via AJAX. That is the gist of it, and of course, there is always the option to create an Android/iOS app to do this as well.

 

 

 

THE CENTRAL CONTROL

<script>
var track = {
  // (A) PROPERTIES
  map : null, // HTML map
  delay : 10000, // Delay between location refresh
 
  // (B) INIT
  init : function () {
    track.map = document.getElementById("map");
    track.show();
    setInterval(track.show, track.delay);
  },
 
  // (C) GET DATA FROM SERVER AND UPDATE MAP
  show : function () {
    // (C1) DATA
    var data = new FormData();
    data.append('req', 'getAll');
 
    // (C2) AJAX
    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
    xhr.open('POST', "2b-ajax-track.php");
    xhr.onload = function () {
      track.map.innerHTML = "<div>LOADED "+Date.now()+"</div>";
      var res = JSON.parse(this.response);
      if (res.status==1) {
        for (let rider of res.message) {
          var dummy = document.createElement("div");
          dummy.innerHTML = "Rider ID " + rider.rider_id + " | Lng " + rider.track_lng + " | Lat " + rider.track_lat + " | Updated " + rider.track_time;
          track.map.appendChild(dummy);
        }
      } else { track.map.innerHTML = res.message; }
    };
    xhr.send(data);
  }
};
window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", track.init);
</script>
 
<div id="map"></div>

This is just a dummy admin page that shows all the locations of the riders.

 

 

WHERE ARE THE MAPS?

Yes, there are no maps in this example. Because there are dozens of map services in the world, I don’t want to advocate nor restrict anyone to using one. If you need an example of how to create a map, check out the links below.

 

LIMITATIONS & REAL-TIME TRACKING?

Hey, this is not a real-time system! Of course, it is not. While it is possible to do so, we have to consider the technical limitations and is it worth doing.

• Firstly, real-time will drain out the smartphone batteries fast.
• Secondly, you will need a powerful network infrastructure to support a lot of “always-on” socket connections.
• Lastly, a very robust server system that is capable of crunching real-time data.

So aye… If someone is willing to shell out that kind of money and think that it is beneficial for their business – Then why not?

 

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Captain Obvious to the rescue, this tutorial totally disregarded the login mechanism and security – Remember to implement your own rider/customer/admin login. Restrict the information that each can access.

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• The Javascript geolocation API
• Need Maps?
  • Google Maps
  • HERE Maps
  • Apple Maps
  • Bing Maps
  • Leaflet (Open Street Maps)
  • Mapzen
  • Mapbox
  • OpenLayers
  • Thunderforest
  • maps.stamen.com

Here’s a tutorial that I did on MapBox if you are interested.

How To Get GPS Coordinates & Generate Map In Javascript

 

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