This is only relevant to Windows users working with the User Interface API.
All address searches are performed on the user interface. You can select which searching facility you want to use, which address layout to work with and which dataset to search against.
This section covers the ways in which you can set up the user interface, and details every option available.
When you first run Pro, the user interface should look similar to this:
Some of the options on the user interface might not be available to you. The options available depend on what has been specified in the vlFlags parameter of QAProWV_UIStartup, or what has been specified in the Configuration Editor.
There are six parts to the Pro interface, which are described in this section.
The menu bar consists of five drop-down menus, from which every option available with Pro can be selected. The menu options can be summarised as follows:
Pro | Minimise Pro to the taskbar or Close Pro to the system tray. To fully exit Pro, right-click on the Pro icon in the system tray and select Exit from the menu. |
Search | Start a new search, step back to the previous search level, select the searching method and specify advanced search options. |
Dataset | Select a dataset. This menu option is available only if more than one dataset is installed. |
View | Select an address layout to work with, show or hide the menu bar, toolbar and partial address bar, and select the user interface language. |
Help | Get help on all aspects of Pro from this Help program. |
To view the options on a menu, either click on the menu name with your mouse, or hold down the Alt key and press the key of the underlined letter in the menu name. For example, to select the Search menu, press Alt+S.
Similarly, once the menu options are displayed, you can select an option by either clicking on the option name with your mouse, or by holding down the Alt key and pressing the key of the underlined letter in the menu option name.
For example, to select the New Search option using the menus instead of the hotkeys, press Alt+S to select the Search menu, and then Alt+N to select the New Search option.
To hide the menu bar, select Menu from the View menu. To make the bar visible again:
The toolbar contains the following options, as shown in the screenshot above (from left to right):
New Search | Clears the existing search and starts a new one. |
Back | Steps back to the previous search level. |
Typedown Search | Selects Typedown searching. |
Single Line Search | Selects Single Line searching. |
Key Search | Selects Key searching. |
Verification | Selects Verification searching. |
Select Layout | Allows you to choose the address layout you want to use. |
Dataset | If you have more than one dataset installed, you can select the dataset you want to search with from this dropdown list. |
When using Pro, you can find out the function of a button on the toolbar by placing the cursor over it and holding it there for a few seconds. A short description of the button (known as a tooltip) appears.
To hide the toolbar, select Toolbar from the View menu. Repeat this action to make the toolbar visible again.
The Search area is used to type in address elements to search on.
The Search area prompt depends on the search method you select.
Search area for Single Line or Verification searching:
Search area for Typedown searching:
Search area for Keyfinder searching:
As you work through the stages of searching, the refinement prompts above the search field provide specific pointers to the type of information that should be entered at each stage; for example, 'Enter postcode or place'.
The main part of the user interface, the Results area, displays the matches returned in response to your search. If there are several alternatives, this area displays a picklist. If there is only one match, or a number of picklists have been worked through to reach a final selection, a full address will be displayed on the "Address Edit Screen".
The results area also displays informational prompts to clarify the current state of the search, for example, 'Continue typing (or select to show all matches)'.
An address can be returned to the address edit screen at any point during a search by pressing Ctrl+Enter. Please note that in doing so the returned address will not be fully validated by Pro and, as such, its accuracy can not be guaranteed.
The partial address bar displays the information that is currently selected in the results picklist as the most complete address possible. For example, the screenshot above shows a partial address from the Netherlands Typedown search results shown below:
Pressing Ctrl+Enter returns the address that you last stepped into. However, you should be aware that this will not produce a fully postally correct address from a dataset.
To hide the partial address bar, select 'Partial Address' from the View menu. Repeat this action to make the bar visible again.
The status bar indicates the current action and status of the Pro Dialog. When Pro is first run, the status bar displays the searching method - Single Line, Typedown or Key search - that is currently selected, as shown in the screenshot below.
Other information that can be viewed on the status bar is described below:
Stop button |
This allows you to abort a search. |
Number of matches |
Displays the current number of matches during any search. during a Typedown search, you might see 'Too many' on the status bar. This means that the number of matches found so far exceeds the specified match threshold, and you need to enter more information. |
Search in progress |
During a Single Line search, a blue bar travels from side to side on the status bar, indicating that the search is in progress. This line disappears when Pro has found all possible matches, or when a search has been stopped. |
Elements have overflowed |
Displayed when an address has been returned to the address edit screen, but one or more address elements are not visible due to lack of space. Existing lines can be widened or more address lines can be added with the Configuration Editor. |
Elements are truncated |
Displayed when an address has been returned to the address edit screen, but the information on an address line is too long for the line. Address lines can be widened with the Configuration Editor. |
Select Back for close matches |
Displayed when Pro has found one 100% match in Single Line searching, and returned a full address to the address edit screen. Click the Back button or press Ctrl+Z to see a picklist of every other possible match found by Pro. |
Bordering Localities |
When conducting an Australia search, this is displayed when the picklist contains bordering localities. For example, when searching on 'Parramatta', Pro will return a number of bordering localities, including 'Parramatta East', 'Parramatta North', 'North Parramatta', etc. |
Alias match |
Displayed when the current selection on the picklist is an alias match - i.e. Pro has recognised the information that was typed in, but returned a different , postally-correct version. |
Postcode recoded or Locality recoded |
Displayed when either the postcode or locality has been recoded. If you select a recoded entry from the picklist, the message will be displayed in white text on a blue background. This message will also be displayed on the final address screen. |
Warning - address not verified |
Displayed when an incomplete address is returned to the address edit screen. |
Exact matches shown - continue typing for more matches |
Displayed when there are exact matches, and a higher number of close matches than the limit of the threshold allows. Type in a * or press Select to view the complete list of matches. |
DPV - Delivery Point Validated |
The address has been validated by the DPV DataPlus set. |
DPV validated but secondary number incorrect or missing |
DPV validated by dropping missing or inaccurate secondary information. |
WARNING - DPV Not Validated |
The address has not been validated by the DPV DataPlus set. |
WARNING - DPV - Seed address hit |
The DPV DataPlus has hit a seed address and locked. |
WARNING - DPV validation locked |
This is returned after a seed address is hit until the DPV functionality is unlocked. |
DPV - Data updating |
A live data update is taking place, and the data is unavailable. Try again in 20 seconds. |
When you use Typedown searching, Pro will always look for an exact match first. If an exact match is found, and other close matches are below the match threshold, all of the matches are displayed. However, if the close matches exceed the match threshold, only exact matches are displayed.
You can click the Select button to display a full list of all results.
When more than one address is returned from a search, a picklist of the available selections will be displayed. Various symbols are used to display the nature and state of the addresses.
The picklist will vary slightly depending on whether Single Line or Typedown searching has been used. These two picklists are covered in the following section.
There are five symbols that you might see next to matches in a picklist:
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This symbol of a letter and a magnifying glass in the grey box at the top of a picklist in Single Line searching shows what Pro is currently searching on. |
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Single full address A single white envelope indicates a single match. Select this to return a full address directly to the address edit screen. |
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Expandable item A + sign and a symbol of multiple white envelopes next to the item signifies an expandable item. By selecting an expandable item you will see a further picklist containing every component of that item. For example, if the item is a road, expanding it will cause all the premises in that road to be displayed. |
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Names entry symbol The symbol of a person indicates a name entry. If you select a name entry, both the name and full address are returned to the address edit screen. This symbol can only be seen if your dataset includes name data. |
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Alias match symbol A symbol of single or multiple grey envelopes indicates an alias match. This means that although Pro has recognised the address information as a possible version of the address, it has replaced it with the official version from the dataset. |
The results of a Typedown search (in this case looking for a place in the US beginning with "camb") are returned in a picklist similar to this:
As this is the first stage of a Typedown search, every match is an expandable item.
Every item in a Typedown picklist precisely matches what you have typed in so far.
The results for a Single Line search (in this case, on an Australian street name and state code) are returned in a picklist similar to this:
There are a number of ways to select a picklist item:
In Single Line, picklist items are displayed in match percentage order, with the highest at the top of the list, then sorted by address.
If there is only one postal/ZIP code which covers the whole of a picklist item, it is displayed in the picklist. However, if a street or other expandable item contains more than one postal/ZIP code, the postal/ZIP codes are not displayed. Select the item to see the postal/ZIP codes available.
The results for a Verification search which matches equally to more than one address (in this case, the US address "200 Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills") are returned in a picklist similar to this:
When you enter property information, you can return an unrecognised address by pressing Ctrl+Enter. For example, using GBR data:
Type PA16 9LZ into the Enter postcode or place box and press Enter. When the street address is displayed, press Enter again to display a list of premises.
Pro returns two matches, and identifies the second match as an even range:
Type 28 into the Enter building number/name or organisation box.
The picklist area displays the following informational prompt:
Although the address you typed is not valid, and the suggestion of the highlighted prompt at the bottom of the screen is to 'Use another search', you can press Ctrl+Enter to return the full address.
For the purpose of this example you are confident that the input address is correct. Press Ctrl+Enter to return the address to the address edit screen.
The address edit screen will display a warning that the returned address has not been verified.
Pro will not display the Ctrl+Enter prompt if it has been disabled by your system administrator.
When you select an address from a picklist, the address is returned to the address edit screen, which replaces the picklist in the Results area.
The format of the address edit screen depends on the layout you select. If the current dataset has additional DataPlus information, the screen will have two tabs labelled 'Address' and 'DataPlus' in the lower left-hand corner.
Once you have a full address, you can edit it directly on this screen if you wish by clicking in the boxes or using the cursor keys. However, editing a postally correct retrieved address is not recommended.
You may prefer an address element to be on the next line. However, you cannot transfer it to the second line by pressing Enter. This is because pressing Enter is the same as pressing the Accept button, and causes the address to be pasted to the underlying application as it is. Instead, the command to insert a hard return (that is, to move all the text to the right of the cursor position on to the next line) is Ctrl+Enter.
There are a number of options that you can specify on the Pro user interface. As well as choosing whether to view or hide the menu bar, toolbar, partial address bar, and informational prompts, you can:
It is possible to control the options that a user can change with the functionality flags used in the call to QAProWV_UIStartup, and also in the User Interface Options pane on the Configuration Editor. Therefore, you might not be able to change some of these options from the Pro User interface
There are several search methods in Pro. It is easy to switch between them as necessary.
To select Typedown searching:
Either select Typedown from the Search menu, press Ctrl+T or click the Typedown search toolbar button.
Each of these actions calls the function QAProWV_UISetFlags with the qaattribs_TYPEDOWNSEARCH flag.
To select Single Line searching:
Either select Single Line from the Search menu, press Ctrl+S or click the Single Line search toolbar button.
Each of these actions calls the function QAProWV_UISetFlags with the qaattribs_SINGLELINESEARCH flag.
To select Key searching:
Either select Key Search from the Search menu, press Ctrl+K or click the Key Search toolbar button.
Each of these actions calls the function QAProWV_UISetFlags with the qaattribs_KEYFINDERSEARCH flag.
To select Verification searching:
Either select Verification from the Search menu, press Ctrl+F or click the Verification toolbar button.
Each of these actions calls the function QAProWV_UISetFlags with the qaattribs_VERIFICATIONSEARCH flag.
When you start up the Pro API, the search method will default to whatever was used last, or to the flag that has been set with QAProWV_UIStartup. If the flag qaattribs_NOCHANGEMODE has been set, you cannot change the search mode from the user interface.
There are a number of advanced options that can be set for each searching method. To view the Options dialog, select Options... from the Search menu.
You can select which installed dataset to search on using the Dataset list.
Either click on the arrow to the right of the Dataset list, or press Alt+D followed by the arrow down cursor key to see the list of available datasets.
This action performs the equivalent of calling the following functions:
Primary API Functions | UI API Functions |
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To select a dataset, either click on it or use the cursor keys to highlight it and press Enter. This performs the equivalent of calling the following functions:
Primary API Functions | UI API Functions |
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A dataset can be selected by pressing Ctrl+Shift and typing in the first letter, or couple of letters of the dataset code to select a dataset. For example, Ctrl+Shift+DN selects the Denmark dataset (if the Denmark dataset is installed).
If a different dataset is selected in the middle of a search, the current search is stopped. The search term you entered is retained in readiness for a new search using the new dataset.
An address layout is a collection of settings that determine how the final address is formatted when you complete a search in Pro.
For example, a layout could specify that the address will be on five lines, each of width 50 characters, with the town and postal/ZIP code always on the fourth and fifth lines respectively.
Each dataset comes pre-configured with a standard address layout that follows appropriate standards.
When Pro is started, it automatically uses the default layout for the dataset that is selected. However, you can have several layouts set up for each dataset.
Click on the Select Layout button or choose Select Layout... from the View menu to see a list of available layouts for the currently selected dataset.
This actions performs the equivalent of calling the following functions:
Primary API Functions | UI API Functions |
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To select another layout, either click on the layout name to highlight it and click OK, or double-click on the layout name, or use the cursor keys to move to the layout name and press Enter. This performs the equivalent of calling the following functions:
Primary API Functions | UI API Functions |
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The Preview area at the bottom of the Select layout dialog shows the address format of any layout that you highlight.
When you create a layout, you can set the layout comment that appears as the bottom of the Select Layout dialog using the Comment setting.