Date: 2026-01-27

# Introduction to amapro

#### 2026-01-27

Welcoming JavaScript library AMap into the world of R.
AMap is an advanced mapping library made in China and widely used there. It features 2D/3D animation, supports a multitude of layers and markers, data import, flyover playback, etc.
Library amapro let you control AMap from R and Shiny. It uses AMap’s native commands/parameters wrapped in just a few commands.

# Translation

AMap’s documentation is in Chinese and most links here make reference to it. If you happen not to know Chinese, it is convenient to set your browser to auto-translate. This will help a little or a lot depending on the website/page structure. One can also copy/paste text to Google translate.

# Installation

Install amapro from Github with
`remotes::install_github("helgasoft/amapro")`
CRAN version also available but usually outdated.

Run with the following commands
`library(amapro); am.init()`
A pop-up dialog will ask for an API key (shows once, will not be repeated).
API key is obtained through registration, expecting you to provide a Chinese phone number for SMS verification.
How to get an API key if you reside out of China?

- ask a friend from China to help, or hire a local freelancer
- search the web for a shared key
- use a temporary Chinese phone number from sites like sms24.me, turtle-sms.xyz, etc. However most are probably blacklisted as the registration page shows them as ‘already registered’.
- select temporarily the ‘demo’ option, without guarantee to work in the long run

# Shiny Demo

Interactive, hands-on showcase of many library features. Activate with the following command:
`library(amapro); demo(am.shiny)`

# API links

amapro is based on version 2.0 of AMap (JSAPI v2.0). “API” auto-translates as “Reference book” in web menus.

## AMap

The base library with optional plugins. Most important links are

- Summary
- Guide
- API CN documentation, good auto-translation
- API EN documentation in English, not recent/complete
- Examples - live demos

## LOCA

AMap extension with enhanced 3D features. In amapro it is invoked with a parameter - `am.init(loca=TRUE, ...)`. The documentation auto-translates well in the browser.

- Intro
- API documentation
- Examples - live demos

# Commands

Controlling map and elements is done by sending AMap commands to them. Commands can be chained with the pipe operator |> or %>% and are executed sequentially in the order received.
Example: `am.cmd('setAngle', 'carIcon', -90)`
amapro uses native AMap commands and introduces these additional:

- set - create new element
  - with name: add new global JS object outside the map
    `am.cmd('set', 'VectorLayer', name='e$layer1')`
  - without name: add new element to map
    `am.cmd('set', 'e$marker1', position= c(116.478, 39.998))`
- addTo - append one existing JS object to another by name
  `am.cmd('addTo', 'e$layer1', 'e$marker1')`
- var - set a JavaScript variable
  `am.cmd('var', 'e$myOpacity', 0.8)`
- code - execute JavaScript code
  `am.cmd('code', 'alert("I am JS");')`

AMap commands starting with ‘get’ return data from the map or related objects. Put the data in a Shiny input variable by setting its name in parameter r.
Example: `am.cmd('getCenter', 'map', r='inShiny1')`
Above command will update input$inShiny1 with the Lng/Lat coordinates of the map center.

# Events

Events could be defined for map and elements. All types of instances use on/off methods to bind and remove events.
Events are set in attribute on(or off) as a list of lists. Each event is a separate list with event name in e, a JS function f and optionally a query q.
Example:

    am.init(center= c(116.475, 39.997), zoom= 17,
            on= list(list(e= 'complete',
                          f= "function() {alert('loaded!');}")) )

on/off events without name are ignored, except for the map itself (as above example).
JavaScript function Shiny.setInputValue() can be used to send data back to Shiny.

# Limitations

- only one map is created by am.init per session. It is a JS global called ‘m$jmap’.
- AMap command addTo is overwritten by amapro and cannot be used.
- most built-in AMap tile layers (Satellite, Traffic, Roads) are limited to China only. However, with command am.item(‘TileLayer’), one can use any Leaflet provider for worldwide coverage.
- AMap built-in map layers are GCJ-02 coded and coordinates collected on them will display incorrectly in Leaflet or other WGS-84 based maps, and vice-versa. They need to be converted. Conversion is available through function convertFrom.
- the supported AMap plugins are: ControlBar, Scale, ToolBar, MoveAnimation, MouseTool, HeatMap, GeoJSON, ElasticMarker.
- AMap ecosystem is vast, unsupported features and plugins include: ‘BesizerCurve’, ‘MarkerCluster’, ‘HawkEye’, IndoorMap, CustomLayer, ‘GLCustomLayer’, ‘DistrictLayer’, ‘LayerGroup’, all editors like ‘PolygonEditor’,‘Webservice’, ‘Search(AMap.Autocomplete, AMap.PlaceSearch)’, ‘Geocoding(AMap.Geocoder)’, Route planning, other services(weather, districts, etc.), positioning, utilities.
- most Loca elements are supported, but not all have been tested. Latest AmbientLight, DirectionalLight and PointLight objects are not supported, but parameters ambLight, dirLight and pointLight accomplish the same.
- Loca events are not supported yet.

# Tips

- all named objects created in JS are global variables (window.name). Good practice is to use a name prefix (m$) to avoid overwriting accidentally external variables.

- API attributes could be set to a JS function instead of a value. Function is defined as a string starting with word “function”.

- usually WMS/WMTS tiles come from external servers and may present a CORS problem - browser refusal to load. One can install a small extension in Chrome or Firefox to fix this problem manually inside the browser.

- AMap has several predefined Map styles. Could be set in map options with mapStyle.

- amapro silent errors are collected in the browser Console. Press key F12 to open the dev.environment, then open tab “Console” to view them.

- am.init has a debug (boolean) parameter, results are displayed in the browser Console

- Chrome/Firefox extensions may interfere with map presentation (like ‘uBlock’)