surplus

surplus is a Python script to convert Google Maps Plus Codes to iOS Shortcuts-like shareable text.

Note

you are on the future branch. this branch contains the latest development changes to surplus, but may be unstable.

checkout the main branch for the a stable version of the repository.

• installation
• usage
  • command-line usage
  • example api usage
• developer's guide
• contributor's guide
  • reporting incorrect output
    • the reporting process
    • what counts as "incorrect"
• output technical details
• api reference
• licence

$ surplus 9R3J+R9 Singapore
surplus version 2.1.0
Thomson Plaza
301 Upper Thomson Road
Sin Ming, Bishan
574408
Central, Singapore

installation

Important

python 3.11 or later is required due to a bug in earlier versions. (python/cpython#88089)

for most, you can install surplus built from the latest stable release:

pip install https://github.com/markjoshwel/surplus/releases/latest/download/surplus-latest-py3-none-any.whl

or directly from the repository using pip:

pip install git+https://github.com/markjoshwel/surplus.git@main

surplus is also a public domain dedicated single python file, so feel free to grab that and embed it into your own program as you see fit.

see licence for licensing information.

usage

command-line usage

usage: surplus [-h] [-d] [-v] [-c {pluscode,localcode,latlong,string}]
               [query ...]

Google Maps Plus Code to iOS Shortcuts-like shareable text

positional arguments:
  query                 full-length Plus Code (6PH58QMF+FX),
                        shortened Plus Code/'local code' (8QMF+FX Singapore),
                        latlong (1.3336875, 103.7749375),
                        string query (e.g., 'Wisma Atria'),
                        or '-' to read from stdin

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d, --debug           prints lat, long and reverser response dict to
                        stderr
  -v, --version         prints version information to stderr and exits
  -c {pluscode,localcode,latlong,sharetext},
  --convert-to {pluscode,localcode,latlong,sharetext}
                        converts query a specific output type, defaults
                        to 'sharetext'

example api usage

here are a few examples to get you quickly started using surplus in your own program:

1. let surplus do the heavy lifting

   >>> from surplus import surplus, Behaviour
   >>> result = surplus("Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore", Behaviour())
   >>> result.get()
   'Ngee Ann Polytechnic\n535 Clementi Road\nBukit Timah\n599489\nNorthwest, Singapore'
   

2. handle queries separately

   >>> import surplus
   >>> behaviour = surplus.Behaviour("6PH58R3M+F8")
   >>> query = surplus.parse_query(behaviour)
   >>> result = surplus.surplus(query.get(), behaviour)
   >>> result.get()
   'MacRitchie Nature Trail\nCentral Water Catchment\n574325\nCentral, Singapore'
   

3. start from a Query object

   >>> import surplus
   >>> localcode = surplus.LocalCodeQuery(code="8R3M+F8", locality="Singapore")
   >>> pluscode_str = localcode.to_full_plus_code(geocoder=surplus.default_geocoder).get()
   >>> pluscode = surplus.PlusCodeQuery(pluscode_str)
   >>> result = surplus.surplus(pluscode, surplus.Behaviour())
   >>> result.get()
   'Wisma Atria\n435 Orchard Road\n238877\nCentral, Singapore'
   

notes:

• you can change what surplus does when passing in a custom Behaviour object

• most surplus functions return a Result object. while you can call .get() to obtain the proper return value, this is dangerous and might raise an exception

see the api reference for more information.

developer's guide

prerequisites:

• Python >=3.11
• Poetry

alternatively, use devbox for a hermetic development environment powered by Nix.

devbox shell    # skip this if you aren't using devbox
poetry install
poetry shell

for information on surplus's exposed api, see the api reference.

contributor's guide

1. fork the repository and branch off from the future branch
2. make and commit your changes!
3. pull in any changes from future, and resolve any conflicts, if any
4. commit your copyright waiver (see below)
5. submit a pull request (or mail in a diff)

when contributing your first changes, please include an empty commit for a copyright waiver using the following message (replace 'Your Name' with your name or nickname):

Your Name Copyright Waiver

I dedicate any and all copyright interest in this software to the
public domain.  I make this dedication for the benefit of the public at
large and to the detriment of my heirs and successors.  I intend this
dedication to be an overt act of relinquishment in perpetuity of all
present and future rights to this software under copyright law.

the command to create an empty commit is git commit --allow-empty

reporting incorrect output

Note

this section is independent of the rest of the contributing section.

different output from the iOS Shortcuts app is expected, however incorrect output is not.

the reporting process

open an issue in the repositories issue tracker, and do the following:

1. ensure that your issue is not an error of incorrect data returned by your reverser function, which by default is OpenStreetMap Nominatim. (don't know what the above means? then you are using the default reverser.)

   also look at the 'what counts as "incorrect"' section before moving on.

2. include the erroneous query. (the Plus Code/local code/latlong coord/query string you passed into surplus)

3. include output from the terminal with the --debug flag passed to the surplus CLI or with debug=True set in function calls.

   Note

   if you are using the surplus API and have passed custom stdout and stderr parameters to redirect output, include that instead.

4. how it should look like instead, with reasoning if the error is not obvious. (e.g., missing details)

   for reference, see how the following issues were written:

   • issue #4: "Incorrect format: repeated lines"
   • issue #6: "Incorrect format: missing details"
   • issue #12: "Incorrect format: State before county"

what counts as "incorrect"

• example (correct)

  • iOS Shortcuts Output

    Plaza Singapura
    68 Orchard Rd
    238839
    Singapore
    

  • surplus Output

    Plaza Singapura
    68 Orchard Road
    Museum
    238839
    Central, Singapore
    

  this should not be reported as incorrect, as the only difference between the two is that surplus displays more information.

other examples that should not be reported are:

• name of place is incorrect/different

  this may be due to incorrect data from the geocoder function, which is OpenStreetMap Nominatim by default. in the case of Nominatim, it means that the data on OpenStreetMap is incorrect.

  (if so, then consider updating OpenStreetMap to help not just you, but other surplus and OpenStreetMap users!)

you should report when the output does not make logical sense, or something similar wherein the output of surplus is illogical to read or is not correct in the traditional sense of a correct address.

see the linked issues in the reporting process for examples of incorrect outputs.

the technical details of surplus's output

Note

this is a breakdown of surplus's output when converting to shareable text. when converting to other output types, output may be different.

$ s+ --debug 8QJF+RP Singapore
surplus version 2.1.0, debug mode
debug: parse_query: behaviour.query=['8QJF+RP', 'Singapore']
debug: _match_plus_code: portion_plus_code='8QJF+RP', portion_locality='Singapore'
debug: cli: query=Result(value=LocalCodeQuery(code='8QJF+RP', locality='Singapore'), error=None)
debug: cli: latlong.get()=Latlong(latitude=1.3320625, longitude=103.7743125)
debug: cli: location={'amenity': 'Ngee Ann Polytechnic', 'house_number': '535', 'road': 'Clementi Road', 'suburb': 'Bukit Timah', 'city': 'Singapore', 'county': 'Northwest', 'ISO3166-2-lvl6': 'SG-03', 'postcode': '599489', 'country': 'Singapore', 'country_code': 'sg', 'raw': "{...}", 'latitude': '1.33318835', 'longitude': '103.77461234638255'}
debug: _generate_text: seen_names=['Ngee Ann Polytechnic', 'Clementi Road']
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  'Ngee Ann Polytechnic'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  '535'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  'Clementi Road'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True, True]         -> True   --------  'Bukit Timah'
debug: _generate_text_line: [False, True]        -> False  filtered  'Singapore'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  '599489'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  'Northwest'
debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  'Singapore'
0       Ngee Ann Polytechnic
1
2
3       535 Clementi Road
4       Bukit Timah
5       599489
6       Northwest, Singapore
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
535 Clementi Road
Bukit Timah
599489
Northwest, Singapore

variables

• variable behaviour.query

  the original query string or a list of strings from space-splitting the original query string passed to parse_query() for parsing

  $ s+ 77Q4+7X Austin, Texas, USA
       --------------------------
       query
  
  behaviour.query -> ['77Q4+7X', 'Austin', 'Texas', 'USA']
  

  >>> surplus("77Q4+7X Austin, Texas, USA", surplus.Behaviour())
  
  behaviour.query -> '77Q4+7X Austin, Texas, USA'
  

• variables portion_plus_code and portion_locality

  (only shown if the query is a local code, not shown on full-length plus codes, latlong coordinates or string queries)

  represents the plus code and locality portions of a shortened plus code (referred to as a "local code" in the codebase) respectively

• variable query

  query is a variable of type Result[Query]

  this variable is displayed to show what query type parse_query() has recognised, and if there were any errors during query parsing

• expression latlong.get()=

  (only shown if the query is a plus code)

  the latitude longitude coordinates derived from the plus code

• variable location

  the response dictionary from the reverser function passed to surplus()

  for more information on the reverser function, see Behaviour and default_reverser

• variable seen_names

  a list of unique important names found in certain nominatim keys used in final output lines 0-3

• _generate_text_line seen name checks

  #                           filter function boolean list   status    element
  #                           =============================  ========  ======================
  debug: _generate_text_line: [True]               -> True   --------  'Ngee Ann Polytechnic'
  debug: _generate_text_line: [False, True]        -> False  filtered  'Singapore'
  

  a check is done on shareable text line 4 keys (SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_4_KEYS - general regional location) to reduce repeated elements found in seen_names

  reasoning is, if an element on line 4 (general regional location) is the exact same as a previously seen name, there is no need to include the element

  • filter function boolean list

    _generate_text_line, an internal function defined inside _generate_text can be passed a filter function as a way to filter out certain elements on a line

    # the filter used in _generate_text, for line 4's seen name checks
    filter=lambda ak: [
        # everything here should be True if the element is to be kept
        ak not in general_global_info,
        not any(True if (ak in sn) else False for sn in seen_names),
    ]
    

    general_global_info is a list of strings containing elements from line 6. (general global information)

  • status

    what all(filter(detail)) evaluates to, filter being the filter function passed to _generate_text_line and detail being the current element

  • element

    the current iteration from iterating through a list of strings containing elements from line 4. (general regional location)

line breakdown of shareable text output, accompanied by their Nominatim keys:

0       name of a place
1       building name
2       highway name
3       block/house/building number, house name, road
4       general regional location
5       postal code
6       general global information

0. name of a place

   (usually important places or landmarks)

   • examples

     The University of Queensland
     Ngee Ann Polytechnic
     Botanic Gardens
     

   • nominatim keys

     emergency, historic, military, natural, landuse, place, railway, man_made,
     aerialway, boundary, amenity, aeroway, club, craft, leisure, office, mountain_pass,
     shop, tourism, bridge, tunnel, waterway
     

1. building name

   • examples

     Novena Square Office Tower A
     Visitor Centre
     

   • nominatim keys

     building
     

2. highway name

   • examples

     Marina Coastal Expressway
     Lornie Highway
     

   • nominatim keys

     highway
     

3. block/house/building number, house name, road

   • examples

     535 Clementi Road
     Macquarie Street
     Braddell Road
     

   • nominatim keys

     house_number, house_name, road
     

4. general regional location

   • examples

     St Lucia, Greater Brisbane
     The Drag, Austin
     Toa Payoh Crest
     

   • nominatim keys

     residential, neighbourhood, allotments, quarter, city_district, district, borough,
     suburb, subdivision, municipality, city, town, village
     

5. postal code

   • examples

     310131
     78705
     4066
     

   • nominatim key

     postcode
     

6. general global information

   • examples

     Travis County, Texas, United States
     Southeast, Singapore
     Queensland, Australia
     

   • nominatim keys

     region, county, state, state_district, country, continent
     

api reference

• constants
• exception classes
• types
  • Query
  • ResultType
• class Behaviour
• class ConversionResultTypeEnum
• class Result
  • Result.__bool__()
  • Result.cry()
  • Result.get()
• class Latlong
  • Latlong.__str__()
• class PlusCodeQuery
  • PlusCodeQuery.to_lat_long_coord()
  • PlusCodeQuery.__str__()
• class LocalCodeQuery
  • LocalCodeQuery.to_full_plus_code()
  • LocalCodeQuery.to_lat_long_coord()
  • LocalCodeQuery.__str__()
• class LatlongQuery
  • LatlongQuery.to_lat_long_coord()
  • LatlongQuery.__str__()
• class StringQuery
  • StringQuery.to_lat_long_coord()
  • StringQuery.__str__()
• def surplus()
• def parse_query()
• def default_geocoder()
• def default_reverser()

constants

• VERSION: tuple[int, int, int]

  a tuple of integers representing the version of surplus, in the format [major, minor, patch]

• VERSION_SUFFIX: Final[str]
BUILD_BRANCH: Final[str]
BUILD_COMMIT: Final[str]
BUILD_DATETIME: Final[datetime]

  string and a datetime.datetime object containing version and build information, set by releaser.py

• SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_0_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_1_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_2_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_3_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_4_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_5_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]
SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_6_KEYS: tuple[str, ...]

  a tuple of strings containing nominatim keys used in shareable text line 0-6

• SHAREABLE_TEXT_NAMES: tuple[str, ...]

  a tuple of strings containing nominatim keys used in shareable text line 0-2 and special keys in line 3

• EMPTY_LATLONG: Latlong
  a constant for an empty latlong coordinate, with latitude and longitude set to 0.0

exception classes

• class SurplusException(Exception)
  base skeleton exception for handling and typing surplus exception classes
• class NoSuitableLocationError(SurplusException)
• class IncompletePlusCodeError(SurplusException)
• class PlusCodeNotFoundError(SurplusException)
• class LatlongParseError(SurplusException)
• class EmptyQueryError(SurplusException)
• class UnavailableFeatureError(SurplusException)

types

Query

Query: typing.TypeAlias = PlusCodeQuery | LocalCodeQuery | LatlongQuery | StringQuery

type alias representing either a PlusCodeQuery, LocalCodeQuery, LatlongQuery or StringQuery

ResultType

ResultType = TypeVar("ResultType")

generic type used by Result

class Behaviour

typing.NamedTuple representing how surplus operations should behave

attributes

• query: str | list[str] = ""
  original user-passed query string or a list of strings from splitting user-passed query string by spaces

• geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong] = default_geocoder
  name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• reverser: Callable[[Latlong], dict[str, Any]] = default_reverser
Latlong object to dictionary function, must take in a string and return a dict. keys found in SHAREABLE_TEXT_LINE_*_KEYS used to access address details are placed top-level in the dict, exceptions are handled by the caller. see the playground notebook for example output

• stderr: typing.TextIO = sys.stderr
  TextIO-like object representing a writeable file. defaults to sys.stderr.

• stdout: typing.TextIO = sys.stdout
  TextIO-like object representing a writeable file. defaults to sys.stdout.

• debug: bool = False
  whether to print debug information to stderr

• version_header: bool = False
  whether to print version information and exit

• convert_to_type: ConversionResultTypeEnum = ConversionResultTypeEnum.SHAREABLE_TEXT
  what type to convert the query to

class ConversionResultTypeEnum

enum.Enum representing what the result type of conversion should be

values

• PLUS_CODE: str = "pluscode"
• LOCAL_CODE: str = "localcode"
• LATLONG: str = "latlong"
• SHAREABLE_TEXT: str = "sharetext"

class Result

typing.NamedTuple representing the result for safe value retrieval

attributes

• value: ResultType
  value to return or fallback value if erroneous

• error: BaseException | None = None
  exception if any

example usage

# do something
def some_operation(path) -> Result[str]:
    try:
        file = open(path)
        contents = file.read()

    except Exception as exc:
        # must pass a default value
        return Result[str]("", error=exc)

    else:
        return Result[str](contents)

# call function and handle result
result = some_operation("some_file.txt")

if not result:  # check if the result is erroneous
    # .cry() raises the exception
    # (or returns it as a string error message using string=True)
    result.cry()
    ...

else:
    # .get() raises exception or returns value,
    # but since we checked for errors this is safe
    print(result.get())

methods

• def __bool__(self) -> bool: ...
• def cry(self, string: bool = False) -> str: ...
• def get(self) -> ResultType: ...

Result.__bool__()

method that returns True if self.error is not None

• signature

  def __bool__(self) -> bool: ...
  

• returns bool

Result.cry()

method that raises self.error if is an instance of BaseException, returns self.error if is an instance of str, or returns an empty string if self.error is None

• signature

  def cry(self, string: bool = False) -> str: ...
  

• arguments

  • string: bool = False
    if self.error is an Exception, returns it as a string error message

• returns str

Result.get()

method that returns self.value if Result is non-erroneous else raises error

• signature

  def get(self) -> ResultType: ...
  

• returns self.value

class Latlong

typing.NamedTuple representing a latitude-longitude coordinate pair

attributes

• latitude: float
• longitude: float

methods

• def __str__(self) -> str: ...

Latlong.__str__()

method that returns a comma-and-space-separated string of self.latitude and self.longitude

• signature

  def __str__(self) -> str: ...
  

• returns str

class PlusCodeQuery

typing.NamedTuple representing a full-length Plus Code (e.g., 6PH58QMF+FX)

attributes

• code: str

methods

• def to_lat_long_coord(self, ...) -> Result[Latlong]: ...
• def __str__(self) -> str: ...

PlusCodeQuery.to_lat_long_coord()

• signature

  def to_lat_long_coord(self, geocoder: Callable[[str], Latlong]) -> Result[Latlong]:
      ...
  

• arguments

  • geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong]
    name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• returns Result[Latlong]

PlusCodeQuery.__str__()

method that returns string representation of query

• signature

  def __str__(self) -> str: ...
  

• returns str

class LocalCodeQuery

typing.NamedTuple representing a shortened Plus Code with locality, referred to by surplus as a "local code"

attributes

• code: str
  Plus Code portion of local code, e.g., "8QMF+FX"

• locality: str
  remaining string of local code, e.g., "Singapore"

methods

• def to_full_plus_code(self, ...) -> Result[str]: ...
• def to_lat_long_coord(self, ...) -> Result[Latlong]: ...
• def __str__(self) -> str: ...

LocalCodeQuery.to_full_plus_code()

exclusive method that returns a full-length Plus Code as a string

• signature

  def to_full_plus_code(self, geocoder: Callable[[str], Latlong]) -> Result[str]:
      ...
  

• arguments

  • geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong]
    name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• returns Result[str]

LocalCodeQuery.to_lat_long_coord()

method that returns a latitude-longitude coordinate pair

• signature

  def to_lat_long_coord(self, geocoder: Callable[[str], Latlong]) -> Result[Latlong]:
      ...
  

• arguments

  • geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong]
    name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• returns Result[Latlong]

LocalCodeQuery.__str__()

method that returns string representation of query

• signature

  def __str__(self) -> str: ...
  

• returns str

class LatlongQuery

typing.NamedTuple representing a latitude-longitude coordinate pair

attributes

• latlong: Latlong

methods

• def to_lat_long_coord(self, ...) -> Result[Latlong]: ...
• def __str__(self) -> str: ...

LatlongQuery.to_lat_long_coord()

method that returns a latitude-longitude coordinate pair

• signature

  def to_lat_long_coord(self, geocoder: Callable[[str], Latlong]) -> Result[Latlong]:
      ...
  

• arguments

  • geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong]
    name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• returns Result[Latlong]

LatlongQuery.__str__()

method that returns string representation of query

• signature

  def __str__(self) -> str: ...
  

• returns str

class StringQuery

typing.NamedTuple representing a pure string query

attributes

• query: str

methods

• def to_lat_long_coord(self, ...) -> Result[Latlong]: ...
• def __str__(self) -> str: ...

StringQuery.to_lat_long_coord()

method that returns a latitude-longitude coordinate pair

• signature

  def to_lat_long_coord(self, geocoder: Callable[[str], Latlong]) -> Result[Latlong]:
      ...
  

• arguments

  • geocoder: typing.Callable[[str], Latlong]
    name string to location function, must take in a string and return a Latlong, exceptions are handled by the caller

• returns Result[Latlong]

StringQuery.__str__()

method that returns string representation of query

• signature

  def __str__(self) -> str: ...
  

• returns str

def surplus()

query to shareable text conversion function

• signature

  def surplus(query: Query | str, behaviour: Behaviour) -> Result[str]: ..
  

• arguments

  • query: str | Query
    query object to convert or string to attempt to query for then convert

  • behaviour: Behaviour
    surplus behaviour namedtuple

• returns Result[str]

def parse_query()

function that parses a query string into a query object

• signature

  def parse_query(behaviour: Behaviour) -> Result[Query]: ...
  

• arguments

  • behaviour: Behaviour
    surplus behaviour namedtuple

• returns Result[Query]

def default_geocoder()

default geocoder for surplus, uses OpenStreetMap Nominatim

Note

function is not used by surplus and not directly by the user, but is exposed for convenience being Behaviour objects. pass in a custom function to Behaviour to override the default reverser.

• signature

  def default_geocoder(place: str) -> Latlong:
  

def default_reverser()

default reverser for surplus, uses OpenStreetMap Nominatim

Note

function is not used by surplus and not directly by the user, but is exposed for convenience being Behaviour objects. pass in a custom function to Behaviour to override the default reverser.

• signature

  def default_reverser(latlong: Latlong) -> dict[str, Any]:
  

licence

surplus is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain. for more information, please refer to the UNLICENCE, https://unlicense.org, or the python module docstring.

however, direct dependencies of surplus are licensed under different, but still permissive and open-source licences.

geopy 2.4.0 Python Geocoding Toolbox
└── geographiclib >=1.52,<3
pluscodes 2022.1.3 Compute Plus Codes (Open Location Codes).

• geopy: Python Geocoding Toolbox

  MIT Licence

  • geographiclib: The geodesic routines from GeographicLib

    MIT Licence

• pluscodes: Compute Plus Codes (Open Location Codes)

  Apache 2.0