Global Geocoding Module

New Data Installation Process for SPD International Data

Spectrum 12.1 supports a new data installation process that is easier than ever and allows the same datasets to be used in many different modules. Data bundles are now packaged in a file with the extension .spd. Currently international datasets for the Enterprise Geocoding Module and Global Geocoding Module are available in this format. This change became effective with the Q2 2017 EGM data refresh.

This change does not affect any current data flow or how the geocoding data is used, provided it is SPD data.Older datasets are not supported in Spectrum 12.1 Global Geocoding Module. The new format simplifies the process of installing international database resources. You no longer need dbloader to install data. Now you extract the bundle to a location and in Management Console the datasets will be listed for you to add to your database. You no longer need to navigate to the folder location when adding datasets.

The folder structure of the data has changed as well. It has been flattened such that each dataset in a bundle is now at the same level. The lib folder is no longer included in each geocoding component. There is now one lib folder for each bundle.

If you already have SPD data installed, note that an uninstallation will remove the data along with the rest of Spectrum files. Consider archiving the dataset and changing the location of the default extraction location to keep SPD data available. Information is provided in the Spectrum™ Technology Platform Installation Guide under the Spectrum Databases section.

Using EGM U.S. data in Global Geocoding Module

U.S. data for use in Spectrum™ Technology Platform Global Geocode Module is not yet available in SPD format. However, you can still take advantage of the new SPD extraction and configuration process by creating your own SPD files.

To create an SPD file for U.S. data:

  1. Extract the zip file containing the U.S. data to a location of your choice.
  2. Create a folder at that location. The folder name must be unique.
  3. Copy everything that was extracted and paste into the folder.
  4. From the folder, copy metadata.json back to its original location.
    You will end up with a folder containing data and a file outside the folder called metadata.json. Metadata.json must be at the top of the folder structure.
  5. Zip the data folder and metadata.json together.
  6. Change the .zip extension to .spd.
You are now ready to extract and configure your U.S. SPD bundles. See the instructions under Spectrum Databases in the Spectrum™ Technology Platform Installation Guide.

New data required for GGM after upgrading to Spectrum 12.1

Global Geocoding Module in Spectrum 12.1 requires datasets to be from the Q2 2017 data refresh or newer. GGM does not support older datasets.

If you have any database connections to the older datasets after upgrading, you will need to remove them. Two methods are available.
  • Select the database from Resource > Spectrum Database page in Management Console and click the Delete icon. This can be done whether or not you have extracted any new datasets.
  • Use CLI commands with an updated CLI json file.

New country Geocoders

  • Vietnam (VNM): New geocoder with Vietnamese language support. Data for Vietnam includes streets, cities, localities (towns, districts, precincts) which can result in 4, S5, G3 and G4 matches. This was released in the Q1 2017 data refresh.
  • Colombia (COL): New geocoder with Spanish language support. Data for Colombia includes streets, cities, and municipalities which can result in S4, S5, G3 and G4 matches. This was released in the Q1 2017 data refresh.

  • Bulgaria (BGR): New geocoder with Bulgarian language and latinized support. Data includes streets, cities, and localities (towns, districts) which can result in S4, S5, G3 and G4 matches. Total street addresses is over 229,000. This was released in the Q2 2017 data refresh.

Enhanced data

  • China (CHN): CN6 is an enhanced premium dataset.
    • Street data for 60 cities added.
    • Simplified Chinese address support added
    • Chinese output fields available.
    • Place name geocoding and reverse geocoding.
    • Improved matching and reduction in false positives.
  • Thailand (THA): Improvements for performance (Q1 2017 data refresh)
  • Slovakia (SVK): New address points (Q1 2017 data refresh)
  • Ireland (IRL): New address points dataset IE3 (Q1 2017 data refresh), Added Eircode as additional field. (Q2 2017 data refresh)
  • Hong Kong (HKG): Added more than 54,000 TomTom address points (Q2 2017 data refresh)
  • Austria (AUT): Added more than 2,300,000 TomTom address points with German language support. (Q2 2017 data refresh)
  • Belgium (BEL): Added more than 5,000,000 GIM address points with Dutch, French and German language support. (Q2 2017 data refresh)

Sample input address files available

Sample input addresses for geocoding and reverse geocoding are now provided with EGM Global and GGM modules. The sample address files are known to return a geocode candidate and therefore can be used to verify if the stages have been configured correctly.