Custom Match Criteria

Difference Between Match Criteria for U.S. and Non-U.S. Geocoding

The "must match criteria" used in the custom match mode of Geocode US Address work differently than the "close match criteria" in non-U.S. geocoders. For Geocode US Address, the custom match criteria specify which address elements must match the reference database in order for the match to be returned as a candidate. All candidates returned by Geocode US Address will match the elements you specify as long as those elements are available in the reference database. However, in non-U.S. geocoders, the "close match" criteria are used to determine which candidates are close matches and which are non-close matches. Non U.S. geocoders can return both close candidates and non-close candidates, depending on whether you enable the Close matches only option. In summary, the "must match" criteria used by Geocode US Address automatically limit the candidates returned, whereas the "close match criteria" used by non-U.S. geocoders do not limit the candidates returned.

Custom Match Criteria Options


Option Name	Description
All input	Specifies whether candidates must match all non-blank input fields. For example, if an input address contains a city and postal code, then candidates for this address must match the city and postal code. Default = disabled.
Street	Specifies whether candidates must match the street name. Default = disabled.
State	Specifies whether candidates must match the state. Default = disabled.
House Number	Specifies whether candidates must match the house number. If the input house number is not within a range from the street, Geocode US Address selects the nearest range on the street which has the same parity (even or odd house number) as the input address number. Geocode US Address returns one or more of the closest matches inside this range that preserves street parity. This requires Geocode US Address to change the house number. The new house number is equal to one of the range's endpoints, possibly plus or minus one to preserve street parity. Default = enabled. Note: Even when this option is disabled and an inexact match on the house number is found, Geocode US Address still returns an error code. When this option is disabled and no exact matching house number is found, a match code of either E029 (no matching range, single street segment found), or E030 (no matching range, multiple street segment) is returned. Geocode US Address does not change the house number on the output address. In order to access the inexact address number candidates, you must enable the Keep multiple matches option. If there are inexact house number candidates returned, the corresponding match codes begin with the letter 'H' indicating that the house number was not matched. Additionally, even when one or more exact candidates are found, inexact matches to the house number are still on the list of possible candidates, and these can be differentiated from the others by their Hxx match codes. For more information about match codes, see Match Codes.
City	Specifies whether candidates must match the city. 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. Default = disabled.
Postal code	Specifies whether candidates must match the postal code. 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. Default = disabled.