toCoordinates.function.php

<?php
function toCoordinates($address)
{
    $bad = array(
        " " => "+",
        "," => "",
        "?" => "",
        "&" => "",
        "=" => ""
    );
    $address = str_replace(array_keys($bad), array_values($bad), $address);
    $data = new SimpleXMLElement(file_get_contents("http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?output=xml&q={$address}"));
    $coordinates = explode(",", $data->Response->Placemark->Point->coordinates);
    return array(
        "latitude" => $coordinates[0],
        "longitude" => $coordinates[1]
    );
}