> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://forest-chore-open-api.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Calculate the distance between two string addresses

**Context**: As a user I want to be able to obtain the distance between two objects that have address information as a string.

**Example**: I have a collection `places` that has `lineAddress1`, `addressCity` and `country` fields.

In a smart action called `get distance to another place` called from a specific place, I want to be able to select another place, choosing the locomotion mode and get the distance between the two and duration of trip.

### Implementation

First you need to declare the action and the content of the form.

`forest/places.js`

Then you need to implement the logic of the action. Here we use the service `superagent` to handle api calls.

The process has two main steps:

* call to the places api to retrieve the place\_id identifier corresponding to the string address of the origin and destination (that is computed as a complete address based on the separate `addressLine1`, `addressCity` and `country` fields)
* call to the distance matrix api to retrieve the distance information based on the origin and destination's place\_ids

The result returned to the UI is formatted in html to enable a good display to the user.

`routes/places.js`