Single Line searching works in the opposite way to Typedown searching: users type in address elements in the order that they appear on an envelope, starting with the most specific (for example, a house number and/or street name) and move onto more general elements (for example, a town or postcode).
Pro API enables users to search on any address element or combination of address elements each separated by a comma. For example:
church st,liverpool
Users can use any mixture of upper and lower case characters, as the Single Line engine does not differentiate between upper and lower case text.
When users submit a search, each component of the entered information becomes a subject of the search.
Single Line searching is also useful if the address information contains one or more spelling mistakes. Even with such mistakes there is still a high likelihood that Pro API will retrieve the required address.
For example, if the user typed Partley St,bristol, which does not exist in the United Kingdom data, Pro API would look for Bartley St, Hartley St and other possibilities, it would therefore return Bartley St, Bristol.
A fuzzy match is a non-exact match, based upon the 'edit distance' between two similar text strings. An edit distance is defined as the number of changes required to change one text string to another.
For example, the words 'Monkey' and 'Money' have an edit distance of one, but the words 'Monkey' and 'Honey' have a minimum edit distance of two.
Pro API uses fuzzy matching when the address information in a user's query is incomplete or misspelled. For example, Pro API can still return the correct address data if a user is not sure how to spell part of the address, or if the postcode is illegible.
For example, if a user types Partley St, Bristol, which does not exist in the United Kingdom data, Pro API will still return Bartley St, Hartley St and a number of other possibilities. Each of these alternatives is an edit distance of one away from Partley St.
Users can use wildcards to replace one or more missing letters in their address information. There are two wildcards available. Users can use a combination of wildcards in a single search line.
Question mark wildcard (?)
This wildcard replaces a single character in an address or postcode.
The Question Mark wildcard cannot be used with ZZ Postcode searching. For more information, see the Getting Started Guide.
Asterisk wildcard (*)
This wildcard replaces any number of characters at the end of an address element.
If too many wildcards are used in a search, there is a risk of a considerably extended searching time, and possibly no returned matches. To prevent this from having an adverse effect on the server, a timeout is provided and also a limit on the number of returned searches.
When users search with a question mark wildcard, Pro API produces a list of all matching streets and postcodes. For example:
Action | Pro API retrieves... |
---|---|
Select the USA dataset and enter ?146? |
A list of all US cities with ZIP Codes beginning 114, 214, 314 etc. Similarly, all ZIP Codes ending with 461, 462 and so on. |
Select the AUS dataset and enter 13 Clarke St, 3?67 | Two addresses at "13 Clarke Street, Abbotsford, VIC 3067" (Two bordering locality matches in Richmond are also returned.) |
Users can use the question mark wildcard on any type of address element, including postcodes, street names, towns and localities.
This wildcard replaces any number of characters at the end of an address element. For example:
Action | Pro API retrieves... |
---|---|
Select the USA dataset and enter Rose *, New Orleans |
Any address starting with "Rose" in New Orleans, including Rosecrest Ln, Rosedale Dr, etc. |
Select the USA dataset and enter Highland Ave, Trent* | Streets called "Highland Ave" in places beginning with "Trent". This could include Trenton, Trentwoods, etc. |
Users can combine * and ? wildcards in one search.
Action | Pro API retrieves... |
---|---|
Select the UK dataset and enter 33 back*, cb?4?a |
The full address: "33 Back Hill, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4DA". |
Select the UK dataset and enter oak house, threemile*, tr?6G* | The full address: "Oak House, Threemilestone, Truro, Cornwall, TR3 6GU". |
A partial address consists of one or more address elements, separated by commas. If the organisation, house or street name is unusual, one such partial address element might be sufficient to identify the complete address.
Users should never need to enter a full address as Pro API is designed to identify addresses even when only certain elements of an address are entered, or abbreviated forms of elements, such as "St and "Rd" are used.
The address elements available for the datasets that you have purchased are explained in the Data Guide supplied with your data.
When users enter address elements, if there are any discrepancies between the spelling of the entry and the spelling as recorded in the dataset, Pro API will usually manage to find the required address.
If a user's search input is not specific enough, the search for matching addresses can take too long or can result in too many addresses to be useful. For example, Green* followed by a town name would retrieve:
By identifying which address elements are represented by parts of the address, searches can be made more efficient.
Therefore users can identify a part of an address as, for example, a street name or an organisation name. If a user tags part of the address as a post town, Pro API only looks through its list of post towns when it endeavours to match that part of the address.
The address elements that can be tagged in the datasets that the user has purchased are explained in the Data Guide supplied with the data.
Integrate this search type: Intranet or Web.