Geocoding or How to transform a list of addresses into Latitude/Longitude values and display them on a map? Sourcecode included!

<dataroot>WoIstDanielConnectionString <MapPoint> <EntityID>1</EntityID> <Name>Haus der Kunst</Name> <Description>Art museum in Munich with changing exhibitions.</Description> <AddressLine>Prinzregentenstrasse 1</AddressLine> <PostalCode>80538</PostalCode> <PrimaryCity>Munich</PrimaryCity> <CountryRegion>Germany</CountryRegion> <URL>https://www.hausderkunst.de/</URL> <Latitude>48.143927081912203</Latitude> <Longitude>11.5844456484113</Longitude> <MatchCode>Good</MatchCode> <MatchedMethod>Address</MatchedMethod> <MatchedAddress>Prinzregentenstraße 1, 80538 München</MatchedAddress> </MapPoint> <MapPoint> <EntityID>2</EntityID> <Name>Deutsches Museum</Name> <Description>The world's largest museum of technology and science.</Description> <AddressLine>Museumsinsel 1</AddressLine> <PostalCode>80538</PostalCode> <PrimaryCity>Munich</PrimaryCity> <CountryRegion>Germany</CountryRegion> <URL>https://www.deutsches-museum.de/</URL> <Latitude>48.130676514922399</Latitude> <Longitude>11.5836371247683</Longitude> <MatchCode>Ambiguous</MatchCode> <MatchedMethod>Address</MatchedMethod> <MatchedAddress>Museumsinsel 1, 80538 München</MatchedAddress> </MapPoint> ... <MapPoint> <EntityID>5</EntityID> <Name>Hofbräuhaus</Name> <Description>Famous Brewery in Munich.</Description> <AddressLine>Platzl 9</AddressLine> <PostalCode>80331</PostalCode> <PrimaryCity>Munich</PrimaryCity> <CountryRegion>Germany</CountryRegion> <URL>https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/</URL> <Latitude>48.137615987119098</Latitude> <Longitude>11.579696959390899</Longitude> <MatchCode>Good</MatchCode> <MatchedMethod>Address</MatchedMethod> <MatchedAddress>Platzl 9, 80331 München</MatchedAddress> </MapPoint></dataroot>

Imports System.Web.ServicesImports System.Web.Services.ProtocolsImports System.ComponentModel

' ScriptService >> To allow this Web Service to be called from script, using ASP.NET AJAX.<System.Web.Script.Services.ScriptService()> _<System.Web.Services.WebService(Namespace:="https://tempuri.org/")> _<System.Web.Services.WebServiceBinding(ConformsTo:=WsiProfiles.BasicProfile1_1)> _<ToolboxItem(False)> _Public Class Locations    Inherits System.Web.Services.WebService

    <WebMethod()> _    Public Function GetLocations() As List(Of Location)        Dim _xmlLocations = String.Format("{0}App_Data\MapPointOutput.xml", AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory)        Dim query = From item In XElement.Load(_xmlLocations)...<MapPoint> _                    Select New Location With {.Name = item.<Name>.Value, _                                              .Description = item.<Description>.Value, _                                              .MatchedAddress = item.<MatchedAddress>.Value, _                         .URL = item.<URL>.Value, _                                              .Latitude = item.<Latitude>.Value.ReplaceDecimalSeparator, _                                              .Longitude = item.<Longitude>.Value.ReplaceDecimalSeparator}        Return query.ToList    End Function

End Class

Public Class Location    Public Name As String    Public Description As String    Public MatchedAddress As String    Public URL As String    Public Latitude As Double    Public Longitude As DoubleEnd Class

Public Module Tools    ''' <summary>    ''' This tiny function enables to call ReplaceDecimalSeparator on any String Type    ''' </summary>    ''' <param name="Value"></param>    ''' <returns></returns>    ''' <remarks>Needed to convert a value into a Double. Based on the decimalseparator the conversion from String to Double can sometimes return wrong values.</remarks>    <Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension()> _    Public Function ReplaceDecimalSeparator(ByVal Value As String) As Double

        If String.IsNullOrEmpty(Value) Then            Return 0        End If

        Return CDbl(Value.Replace(".", Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.NumberDecimalSeparator))

    End Function

End Module

<%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="ShowLocationsOnVirtualEarth._Default" %><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" ><head runat="server">    <title>How to show a list of locations on a Virtual Earth map.</title>    <script src="https://dev.virtualearth.net/mapcontrol/mapcontrol.ashx?v=6" type="text/javascript"></script>

    <script type="text/javascript">

        function pageLoad() {            // InitializeMap is located in VEMap.js and takes care            // that the map gets initialized and loads the data            // afterwards

            InitializeMap();        }

    </script></head><body>    <form id="form1" runat="server">    <div>        <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">            <Scripts>                <asp:ScriptReference Path="~/JavaScript/VEMap.js" />            </Scripts>            <Services>                <asp:ServiceReference Path="~/WebServices/Locations.asmx" />            </Services>        </asp:ScriptManager>

        <div id='myMap' style="position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; width:800px; height:600px;"></div>    </div>    </form></body></html>

var map = null; // this var holds the VE map

// Initializes the VE map and calls the method to load the datafunction InitializeMap() {

    // make sure map is initialized    if (map == null) {        map = new VEMap('myMap'); // initialize map        map.LoadMap(); // load it        map.SetMapStyle('r'); // set the MapStype to "Road"        map.SetCenter(new VELatLong("48.132241398091125", "11.575480699539175")); // and zoom to Munich    }

    // load the locations and display them on the map

    GetLocations();}

// calls the WS and retrieves the Locations. Since this call is async we need// to wire up a method which should be called when the call to the webservice// succeeds and one if the call failsfunction GetLocations() {

    // wire up the methods to call in case of success and failure    ShowLocationsOnVirtualEarth.Locations.set_defaultSucceededCallback(OnSucceededCallbackRoute);    ShowLocationsOnVirtualEarth.Locations.set_defaultFailedCallback(OnErrorCallbackRoute);

    // call the webservice    ShowLocationsOnVirtualEarth.Locations.GetLocations();}

// Callback function invoked when the call to // the Web service methods succeeds.function OnSucceededCallbackRoute(result) {

    // draw the locations on the map  DrawLocationsOnMap(result);}

// this function draws the locations on a mapfunction DrawLocationsOnMap(ListOfLocations) {

    if ((map != null) && (ListOfLocations != null) && (ListOfLocations.length > 0)) {

        // this array holds all the VELatLong values        // used later to set the zoom of the map to display        // all the locations         var points = new Array();        var vELatLong;

        // draw the Locations on the map        for (i = 0; i < ListOfLocations.length; i++) {          

            vELatLong = CreateVELatLongFromLocations(ListOfLocations[i]);            points[i] = vELatLong;           

            // add the location to the map            map.AddShape(AddDot(vELatLong,                                 ListOfLocations[i].Name,                                 ListOfLocations[i].Description,                                 ListOfLocations[i].MatchedAddress,                                ListOfLocations[i].URL));

            // Zoom the map according to all locations            map.SetMapView(points);        }    }}

// ************************************************************// *** some tools ;-) *** // ************************************************************

// Converts a Location into a VELatLong object// Parameters:// Location: a Location// return: a VELatLong instancefunction CreateVELatLongFromLocations(Location) {    return new VELatLong(Location.Latitude, Location.Longitude);}

// Creates a custom VEShape (which represents a dot on the map)function AddDot(Point, Name, Description, MatchedAddress, URL) {

    var shape = new VEShape(VEShapeType.Pushpin, Point);    shape.SetTitle(Name);   

    var descriptionText = '<b>Description:</b> ' + Description +                           '<br /><br /><b>Address:</b> ' + MatchedAddress +                           '<br /><br /><b>Homepage:</b> <a href = "' + URL + '">' + URL + '</a>';   

    shape.SetDescription(descriptionText);    shape.SetCustomIcon('<div><img src="images/info.png" /></div>');    return shape;}

// Callback function invoked when the call to // the Web service methods fails.function OnErrorCallbackRoute(error) {  alert("Error (route): " + error.get_message());}

if(typeof(Sys) !== "undefined") Sys.Application.notifyScriptLoaded();