Matching Options

Matching options let you set match restrictions, fallback, and multiple match settings so that the matching can be as strict or relaxed as you need. The strictest matching conditions require an exact match on house number, street name, postal code and no fallback to postal code centroids. The geocoder looks for an exact street address match within the postal code in the input address. Relaxing the conditions broadens the area in which it searches for a match. For example, by relaxing the postal code, the geocoder searches for candidates outside the postal code but within the city of your input address.

Note: As Enterprise Geocoding transitions its administrative tasks to a web-based Management Console, labels for the options may use different wording than what you see in Enterprise Designer. There is no difference in behavior.

Table 1. Matching Options for Bahamas
Parameter	Description
KeepMultimatch	Specifies whether to return results when the address matches to multiple candidates in the database. If this option is not selected, an address that results in multiple candidates will fail to geocode. If you select this option, specify the maximum number of candidates to return using the MaxCandidates option (see below). Y Yes, return candidates when multiple candidates are found. Default. N No, do not return candidates. Addresses that result in multiple candidates will fail to geocode.
MaxCandidates	If you specify KeepMultimatch=Y, this option specifies the maximum number of results to return. The default is 1. Specify -1 (minus one) to return all possible candidates.
ReturnRanges	Specifies whether to return address range information. If you enable this option, the output field `Ranges` will be included in the output. A range is a series of addresses along a street segment. For example, 5400-5499 Main St. is an address range representing addresses in the 5400 block of Main St. A range may represent just odd or even addresses within a segment, or both odd and even addresses. A range may also represent a single building with multiple units, such as an apartment building. Y Yes, return address range information. N No, do not return address range information. Default.
MaxRanges	If you choose to return ranges, this option specifies the maximum number of ranges to return for each candidate. Since the geocoder returns one candidate per segment, and since a segment may contain multiple ranges, this option allows you to see the other ranges in a candidate's segment.
MaxRangeUnits	If you choose to return ranges, this option specifies the maximum number of units (for example, apartments or suites) to return for each range. For example, if you were to geocode an office building at 65 Main St. containing four suites, there would be a maximum of four units returned for the building's range (65 Suite 1, 65 Suite 2, 65 Suite 3, and 65 Suite 4. If you were to specify a maximum number of units as 2, then only two units would be returned instead of all four.
CloseMatchesOnly	Specifies whether to return only those geocoded results that are close match candidates. For example, if there are 10 candidates and two of them are close candidates, and you enable this option, only the two close matching candidates would be returned instead of all 10. To specify what is considered a close match, use the MustMatch options. Address candidates are ranked according to how closely the input address matches these preferences. Y Yes, return only close matches. N No, do not return only close matches. Default.
MatchMode	Specifies how to determine whether a candidate is a close match. One of the following: CustomMode This option allows you to specify which parts of a candidate address must match the input address to be considered a close match. Use the MustMatch<Element> options to specify the address elements you want. This is the default value for most countries. RelaxedMode All candidate addresses are considered a close match.
MustMatchInput	Specifies whether candidates must match all non-blank input fields to be considered a close match. For example, if an input address contains a city and postal code, then candidates for this address must match the city and postal code to be considered a close match. Y Yes, a candidate must match all input to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match all input to be considered a close match. Default.
MustMatchHouseNumber	House number data is not available for every country. Y Yes, a candidate must match the house number to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the house number to be considered a close match.
MustMatchStreet	Specifies whether candidates must match the street name to be considered a close match. Y Yes, a candidate must match the street name to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the street name to be considered a close match.
MustMatchLocality	BHS (Bahamas)—Not used Y Yes, a candidate must match the locality to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the locality to be considered a close match.
MustMatchCity	Specifies whether candidates must match the city to be considered a close match. If you do not require exact matches on city, the geocoder searches on the street address matched to the particular postal code, and considers other cities that do not match the name, but do match the postal code. Y Yes, a candidate must match the city to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the city to be considered a close match.
MustMatchCounty	Specifies whether candidates must match the county (or equivalent) to be considered a close match. The meaning of county varies for different countries. BHS (Bahamas)—Not used One of the following: Y Yes, a candidate must match the county to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the county to be considered a close match.
MustMatchStateProvince	Specifies whether candidates must match the state or province (or equivalent) to be considered a close match. BHS (Bahamas)—District One of the following: Y Yes, a candidate must match the state or province to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the state or province to be considered a close match.
MustMatchPostalCode	Specifies whether candidates must match the postal code to be considered a close match. If you do not require exact match on postal codes, the geocoder searches a wider area for a match. While this results in slower performance, the match rate is higher because the request does not need to match exactly when it compares match candidates. This field is not used in this country. Y Yes, a candidate must match the postal code to be considered a close match. N No, a candidate does not have to match the postal code to be considered a close match.
SortCandidatesUsingLocale	This is a Reverse geocoding option that applies to Greece, Russia, Ukraine, and any other country that supports dual character sets (such as the Middle East countries). Specifies whether candidates are sorted and returned based on the input language. That is, if the input was in Russian, the Russian character candidate is returned first followed by the English language candidate. This will override the dictionary order. Y Yes, candidates are sorted and returned based on input language. N No, candidates are returned in the order that the dictionary was added to the database, regardless of input language.

You may want to use a balanced strategy between match rate and geographic precision. That is, you may want to geocode as many records as possible automatically, but at the same time want to minimize the number of weaker matches (false positives). For example, false positives can occur when the geocoder:

finds a street that sounds like the input street.
finds the same street in another city (if postal code match is not required).
finds the street but with a different house number (if house number is not required).

The following settings may achieve a good balance between match rate and precision:

CloseMatchesOnly—Specify "Y".
MustMatchHouseNumber—Specify "Y".
MustMatchStreet—Specify "Y".
FallbackToPostal—Specify "N".