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.
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Option Name optionName Parameter |
Description |
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Keep multiple matches KeepMultimatch Option.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). next to the check box. Specify -1 (minus one) to return all possible candidates.
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MaxCandidates Option.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. |
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ReturnRanges Option.ReturnRanges Return ranges |
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.
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MaxRanges Option.MaxRanges Maximum ranges per candidate |
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. |
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MaxRangeUnits Option.MaxRangeUnits Maximum units per range |
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. |
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Expand candidates ExpandCandidates Option.ExpandCandidates |
This option applies to U.K. addresses only. Specifies whether to return multiple close matches (one for each delivery point on the street). By default, if a street has multiple addresses/delivery points, Geocode Address GBR returns a single close match, with each individual delivery point available as a range. |
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Close matches only CloseMatchesOnly Option.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 MustMatchClose match criteria options. Address candidates are ranked according to how closely the input address matches these preferences.
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Match mode MatchMode Option.MatchMode |
Specifies how to determine whether a candidate is a close match. One of the following:
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All input MustMatchInput Option.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.
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House number MustMatchHouseNumber Option.MustMatchHouseNumber |
Specifies whether candidates must match the house number to be considered a close match. House number data is not available for every country. The Africa and Middle East countries do not generally have house numbers in the data source. Some countries covered in the Latin America database have house number data. See Address Guidelines for Latin America for details of Latin America house number and postal coverage. If you select this option you should also require an exact match on street name. This option does not significantly affect performance. It does, however, affect the type of match if the candidate address corresponds to a segment that does not contain any ranges. The type of match can also be affected when the house number range for a candidate does not contain the input house number. If you relax the house number, you should set the maximum ranges to be returned to a value higher than 0.
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Street MustMatchStreet Option.MustMatchStreet |
Specifies whether candidates must match the street name to be considered a close match. This option is not used for this country. If a close match is found, the geocoder attempts expanded street name manipulation, which looks for candidates with names that sound like the input address or that are spelled improperly. This slows down performance but increases the match rate . If the geocoding database is indexed, the performance impact is reduced.
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Locality MustMatchLocality Option.MustMatchLocality |
Specifies whether candidates must match the locality (or equivalent) to be considered a close match. The meaning of Locality varies for different countries. If you do not require exact matches on locality, the geocoder searches on the street address matched to the particular postal code, and considers other localities that do not match the name, but do match the postal code. The majority of African and Middle East countries do not use locality or equivalent as part of an address. If a locality is matched it can contribute to a higher candidate ranking, but there is no penalty if locality is omitted or unmatched.
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City MustMatchCity Option.MustMatchCity |
Specifies whether candidates must match the city to be considered a close match. For Japan, this field specifies whether the candidate must match the municipality subdivision (oaza). 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. Specifies whether candidates must match the municipality subdivision (oaza) 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.
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County MustMatchCounty Option.MustMatchCounty |
Specifies whether candidates must match the county (or equivalent) to be considered a close match. The meaning of county varies for different countries. The majority of countries in the Africa database (XA1) do not use a county or equivalent as part of an address. The majority of countries in the Middle East database (XM1) do not use a county or equivalent as part of an address. The majority of countries in the Latin American database (XL1) do not use a county or equivalent as part of an address.
One of the following:
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State/Province MustMatchStateProvince Option.MustMatchStateProvince |
Specifies whether candidates must match the state or province (or equivalent) to be considered a close match. This option is not used for this country. The majority of African and Middle East countries do not use a state/province or equivalent as part of an address. If a state/province is matched it can contribute to a higher candidate ranking, but there is no penalty if state/province is omitted or unmatched.
One of the following:
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Postal code MustMatchPostalCode Option.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. 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. For Argentina, you must use HERE data for postal geocoding. The majority of African countries and Middle Eastern countries do not include postal code data, and therefore do not support postal centroid geocoding. Some countries covered in the Latin America database have postal code data. See Address Guidelines for Latin America for details of Latin America house number and postal coverage. For India, the Postal code must match preference can be used for geographic geocoding. This can produce better geographic matched candidates. For other countries, Postal code match preference can be used with street or postal geocoding only.
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Prefer postal code over city PreferPostalCodeOverCity Option.PreferPostalCodeOverCity |
Specifies whether to return a close match when the postal code and street match exactly but the city does not. If you enable this option, the City input field is ignored if the postal code and street address are an exact match. If you do not enable this option, there may be situations where street address and postal code input are an exact match but the city name is not, and close matches are not returned. For example, without this option enabled, the following input address would return no close matches: 5 East St With this option enabled, this same input address would return the following close match: 5 EAST ST
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Candidate must have LDU MustMatchFullPostalCode Option.MustMatchFullPostalCode |
Specifies whether a candidate address must have a full postal code (FSA and LDU) to be considered a close match. Canadian postal codes are divided into two sections: the Forward Sortation Area (FSA) and the Local Delivery Unit (LDU). For example, the postal code M6H 2P8 has an FSA of M6H and an LDU of 2P8. Some candidate addresses may contain only the FSA. This option allows you to prevent such addresses from being classified a close match.
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Postal district MustMatchPostalDistrict Option.MustMatchPostalDistrict |
Specifies whether the postal district portion of the postcode must match in order for the match to be considered a close match. UK postcodes are divided into two sections: the outward code, which is to the left of the space, and the inward code, which is to the right. The outward code represents the postal district. For example, in the postcode CB3 OHH, the postal district is CB3, which is Cambridge. |
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First two postal code digits MustMatch2DigitPostalCode Option.MustMatch2DigitPostalCode |
Specifies whether the first two digits of the postcode must match in order for the match to be considered a close match. |
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Return point of interest matches with street matches ReturnPOIWithStreet Option.ReturnPOIWithStreet |
Specifies whether to return both point of interest (POI) matches and street matches when both street and POI information are provided in the input. If you select this option, a POI candidate is returned with candidates that matched on street name. A sublocality candidate returns an S8 result code. If you set this option to No, only street information is returned.
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Prefer point of interest matches PreferPOIOverStreet Option.PreferPOIOverStreet |
If you specify
FirmName: India Gate If POIs are returned and street names preferred (the default settings), the following candidates are returned in the order listed. Note that the street name candidates are at the top with the India Gate POI candidate (S8 result code) listed last. If POIs were preferred over street candidates, the India Gate candidate would be listed first.
One of the following:
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Return sublocality candidates ReturnSublocalityCandidates Option.ReturnSublocalityCandidates |
Specifies whether to return a sublocality (block or sector) match. A sublocality candidate returns an SL result code, and requires a match on other geographic input fields (city, district, or state). You can combine this with the Return street candidates preference to get both SL and S4 candidates.
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Return street candidates ReturnStreetCandidates Option.ReturnStreetCandidates |
Specifies whether to return a street match. A street candidate returns an S4 result code. You can combine this with the Return sublocality candidates preference to get both S4 and SL candidates.
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Return locality candidates ReturnLocalityCandidates Option.ReturnLocalityCandidates |
Specifies whether to explicitly return a geographic locality (G4) match in preference to a town (G3) candidate.
If both Return locality candidates and Return town candidates are true (the default in Management Console), it is possible that only a town or a locality candidate will be returned, even though both types of geographies exist. |
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Return town candidates ReturnTownCandidates Option.ReturnTownCandidates |
Specifies whether to explicitly return a geographic town (G3) match in preference to a locality (G4) candidate.
If both Return town candidates and Return locality candidates are true (the default Management Console), it is possible that only a town or a locality candidate will be returned, even though both types of geographies exist. |
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Place Name MustMatchPlaceName Option.MustMatchPlaceName |
Specifies whether a candidate address must match the place name to be considered a close match.
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Sort candidates using locale SortCandidatesUsingLocale Option.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.
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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:
- CloseMatchesOnlyClose matches only—Specify "Y"Select this option.
- Close match criteria—Select House number and Street only.
- MustMatchHouseNumber—Specify "Y".
- MustMatchStreet—Specify "Y".
- FallbackToPostalPostal centroid—Specify "N"Do not select this fallback level.