Free Access To House Number, Street And Zip Code
If there are services related to maps and addresses, development needs to be analyzed and standardized. In this process, there are many difficulties and ways to overcome them. This document provides basic knowledge about standardization methods and some detailed suggestions for selecting the correct methods.
What is
address validation
After the customer on the website enters his/her address, it may be displayed as a stroke. To verify that the address is correct and exists, you must divide the pen into parts. In addition, all addresses entered must be the same. Another way to continue this operation is to check the address in the string and standardize it.
Reasons for difficulties
The main problem is human factors. People rarely enter addresses in the same way, and programs sometimes look like many unreadable combinations.
Another difficulty is the many variations of addresses. There are standards in many countries/regions, and many abbreviations have the same meaning(“st” means “Street” or “Saint”).
We collected and analyzed address processing methods to help solve this problem. The following is a list of popular technologies: They are listed from the most primitive to the most complex and universal.
1. RegEx address analyzer
Processing the address as a regular expression is invalid before reading. Nevertheless, it is useful in some cases. This method requires a schema containing meta symbols and symbols.
For example, FOR_City XX, NAME_FOR_ The address in this format can then be interpreted as city: ”. “NAME_FOR_CITY”;, Postal Code: “; xX”;, Distance: “; select “NAME_FOR_STREET”; house number: “; yY”;. regexp and find the default expression.
Compile this method:
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The most effective technology for strictly structured strings when standardization is not required;
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No external libraries or address resolution APIs are required.
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Free form address is not fully valid.
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Performance, commissioning, and maintenance issues may arise.
2. NPM software package
NPM is a cross platform package manager included in Node. js system. You can search the site for external libraries to verify addresses. They are quite different and conform to the postal code, local conditions and address standards of some countries.
For example, if you want to process an Australian address, you must search for an Australian solution package. Some trends are as follows.
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US address analyzer that understands suffixes and abbreviations, 5-9 digit postal codes, etc;
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Functions used to simplify testing. Attribute address analyzer with getRandomCity
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Helps handle human parsers, names, greetings, prefixes, and address resolution functions.
To use them separately, you must enter “”. Install npm “;
Short summary of this method:
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Convenience of local services;
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It is difficult to find a library that is 100% valid.
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The license cannot be used for commercial purposes.
3. Online parser and certificate
If there are many addresses or non-standard addresses every day, please check this useful online tool. You can view, standardize and verify addresses online in a few minutes.
The mechanism is simple.
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Upload a file whose address can be text, Excel, or CSV.
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Map components(streets, cities, states, and others).
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Tap “; start”; wait for the address to be resolved through geocoding API technology.
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Download standard and verified addresses.
However, this method does not recognize large address packets.
4. Geocoding API
Now let’s take a look at the most common and powerful tools for dealing with locations. The geocoding API provides the entire operation cycle: determination, postal address normalization, verification, and validation.
The purpose of geocoding API is to display the existing location most suitable for each input. It is not only for analysis, but also can save time and effort for developers and improve the operation quality.
For example, let’s take a look at Geoapi’s services. A useful basic function is to provide a trust level for each location.
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OK – Completely modify the existing address as needed.
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PARTIALY_CONFIRMED – The address is correct to some extent, but there are errors.
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NOT_CONFIRMED – This location does not exist, and the most similar location will be obtained.
You can also view coordinates, all address components – number, street, city, zip code, and all relevant information and standardized addresses. The address you entered initially will be tested, analyzed, and validated.
Summarize this approach.
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Provides the most complete information with little additional attention
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However, using an unverified address requires additional work and logic on the part of the developer.
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Perform all necessary tasks, work with most countries/regions, and support multiple languages.
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For large datasets, it is usually not free.
Which is the best
All of the technologies claimed are different, and they all suit your situation. If there are many free format addresses, please select Geocoding API to meet all purposes at the same time. Of course, NPM packages and regular expressions are also good for local projects. At the same time, try different ways of working and find better ways of working.