How do I limit panning in Google maps API V3?

Question

In V2 there was a way to limit panning/dragging so the map stays within certain bounds. How is that done in V3?

Let's say I want the users to only look at Europe. I've already limited the zoom, but if I allow dragging (which I have to in this case, for other reasons) then the user can pan beyond the area I want to show.

Please give working example or code snippet - I'm not an expert coder...

Answer 1

I guess I'm a little bit late to the party, but since this was exactly what I needed just now AND I improved on it, I thought I'd post an answer anyway.

With both the answers of Daniel Vassallo and brendo, the user can still use the pan-control (if it's activated) to move away from the wanted area. The thing @Yauhen.F mentioned in a comment.

So instead of using the dragend event, I use the center_changed event. This is continuously fired during dragging and every time someone uses the pan control.

// bounds of the desired area var allowedBounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds(      new google.maps.LatLng(70.33956792419954, 178.01171875),       new google.maps.LatLng(83.86483689701898, -88.033203125) ); var lastValidCenter = map.getCenter();  google.maps.event.addListener(map, 'center_changed', function() {     if (allowedBounds.contains(map.getCenter())) {         // still within valid bounds, so save the last valid position         lastValidCenter = map.getCenter();         return;      }      // not valid anymore => return to last valid position     map.panTo(lastValidCenter); }); 

By saving the last valid position continuously during the dragging, the movement will just stop once it's out of bounds, instead of yerking back once the dragging ended. ......