Envinsa Batch Geocding Guide - Documentation - MapInfo

BATCH GEOCODING GUIDE

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Table of Contents 

Chapter 1: Batch Geocoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Introduction to Geocoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Geocoding a Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Preparing Your Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Registering Data Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 

Geocoding Remotely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 

Identifying the Input and Output Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Specifying the Geocoding Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Geocoding the Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Setting Geocoding Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 

Understanding Result Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 

Single Close Match (S category) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Best Match From Multiple Candidates (M category) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Postal Centroid Matches (Z category) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Geographic Matches (G category) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Non-Match Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

S3 and Z3 Result Codes: What’s the Difference? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Appendix A: Country Code Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Batch Geocoding 

This document describes how to geocode a Content using the batch 

geocode facility available in the Content Manager Console. Batch 

geocoding enables the display of address and x,y data on a map. You can 

also use this utility to add Lat/Long values for a point into a table, enabling 

the use of spatial filters. 

In this section: 

� Introduction to Geocoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

� Geocoding a Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

� Setting Geocoding Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

� Understanding Result Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

1

Batch Geocoding Guide Chapter 1: Batch Geocoding 

Introduction to Geocoding 

Geocoding turns ordinary data records containing address information into geographic objects that can 

be displayed on a map. This helps you better visualize the relationships among your data. Once your 

records are geocoded, you can display them visually or add other map objects to give your data a 

geographic reference. You can then perform a wide variety of functions, such as query and find, and 

analyze your data in geographic terms. 

As addresses are semi-static, they do not change frequently. Rather than having the application 

geocode these addresses every time a spatial query is performed, their geographic x,y locations can 

be predetermined using the batch geocoder. This gives a much faster response time when queries are 

processed. This also ensures that all location-related operations can work quickly with data with 

geographic locations. Questions that users may want to answer are: What is near me?, Where are 

these landmarks?, and How do I get to the nearest restaurant? 

Geocoding a Content 

This section describes how to geocode a Content in the Content Manager Console. The geocoding 

process follows these steps: 

1. Prepare your data to have the necessary columns with the correct names. 

Refer to Preparing Your Data on page 5. 

2. Open the Domain you wish to use and select a Content to geocode. 

Refer to Getting Started on page 8. 

3. Register any Geocode Data Components you wish to use. 

Refer to Registering Data Components on page 8. 

4. Open the Content to be geocoded and identify the columns that contain address information. 

Refer to Identifying the Input and Output Locations on page 10. 

5. Set up the geocoder to match as many records as possible. 

Refer to Specifying the Geocoding Criteria on page 12. 

6. Geocode your Content. 

Refer to Geocoding the Content on page 14. 

Preparing Your Data 

Before you start to geocode your Content, you need to ensure that your data source is set up correctly. 

Geometry/X,Y Column 

In order to geocode a Content, the Content must have a geometry column or an x,y column associated 

with it. Without a destination column defined in the Content, batch geocode functionality is not 

available. 

Note: The current TAB data provider requires that a TAB file be mappable (specifically, contain 

geometry columns). Non-mappable TAB files are not supported. 

Envinsa Location Platform 4.0 

© 2006 MapInfo Corporation. All rights reserved. 5 Envinsa40_BatchGeocode_Guide.pdf


If both a geometry column and x,y columns are available, it is possible to specify the spatial columns to 

use in the Content definition table. If the x,y columns are used as the spatial column, the geocode 

result (Lat/Long) is written back to the x,y column instead of to the geometry column. 

Georesult Column 

We recommend preparing a Georesult column in the source table if you want to write any address 

match codes back to the source table. The type of the Georesult column is String(10) and the default 

value should be empty or NULL. See Using a Georesult Column on page 11 for more information. 

Address Columns 

Each part of the address in the source table should be organized in separate columns. For example: 

Name Address 1 Address 2 City 

Organizing the source data in this way allows the address columns to be matched with the Address 

Parts, listed in Address Part on page 10, that are required for geocoding. 

Setting up the Content 

The Content you want to geocode must be set up to satisfy the following conditions: 

• The Content must have a primary key column as a attribute. If not, go to the source data to set 

it. For example, if a Oracle database is used, set the primary key in Oracle, and mark this 

column in the Content. 

Note: After setting the primary key in Oracle, you may need to restart the Content Manager 

Console to refresh the settings. 

• All address parts columns and output columns are defined as attributes of the Content, 

including the Georesult column if used. 

• Ensure the spatial column is defined properly. 

• Ensure that the columns for the output are big enough to hold the resulting address data. 

Batch Geocoding with an Oracle Database 

A table must have a primary key defined for it to update tables during batch geocoding. When 

uploading tables into Oracle using EasyLoader (a utility that facilitates the upload of MapInfo .TAB data 

files to remote databases), a unique index is created, but a primary key is not set. Set the primary key 

after the upload by using Oracle's Enterprise Manager or SQL tools, such as Oracle SQL Plus. 

A primary key is not mandatory for querying Content using Directory and Web Feature Services. 

Oracle Enterprise Manager Instructions 

To set a primary key using Oracle Enterprise Manager: 

1. Ensure that your Oracle Enterprise Manager is configured for the database for which you wish 

to connect (refer to Oracle’s Documentation for details on how to do this). 


Country 

SubDivision Postal Code 

MapInfo Corporation One Global View Troy New York 12180-8399 

MapInfo Canada Inc. 26 Wellington Street East Suite 500 Toronto Ontario M5E 1S2 



2. Select Database > Schema and then the table for which you want to set a primary key. 

3. Select constraints from the Constraints tab: 

a. Enter a name. For example, MI_PRINX_PK. 

b. Select Type as PRIMARY KEY. 

c. Select the column, usually MI_PRINX if the table is uploaded using EasyLoader, that you 

want to set as the key. 

SQL Plus Instructions 

To set a primary key using SQL Plus: 

1. Log into the Oracle instance using SQL Plus (refer to Oracle’s documentation to configure SQL 

Plus), or use any other tool that lets you execute arbitrary SQL statements against the Oracle 

database. 

2. Enter the following SQL statement. Replace schema, table, and column names as required. 

ALTER TABLE . ADD PRIMARY KEY () 

For example: 

ALTER TABLE WIRELESS.CANADALCBOPOINT ADD PRIMARY KEY (MI_PRINX) 

Note: After setting the primary key in Oracle, if the column is not shown as a primary key 

even after 'Live connection' is checked, restart the Content Manager Console and try 

again. 




Getting Started 

The first steps in geocoding require you to open a Domain and select the Content you want to 

geocode. This process assumes that you have already defined the Content in the Domain. For more 

information about this, refer to the Content Manager Guide. 

1. Open the Domain where the source Content is defined. 

From the Content Manager Console select File > Open. This displays the Open Domain dialog 

box. 

2. Browse to the Domain you want to open. 

Select the Enterprise and Domain, click OK to open the Domain. If you have already opened a 

Domain in the Content Manager Console, the most recent Domain is listed in File > Recent 

and can be selected from there. 

Click OK to open the Domain. 

3. Select a Content to geocode. 

The Batch Geocode button becomes active. 

If you select a Content that cannot be geocoded, the Batch Geocode button remains inactive 

and non-selectable. The Batch geocode button is also not available when a reference of 

Contents (a Category entry) is selected. 

4. Click the Batch Geocode button, or choose Tools > Batch Geocode to display the geocoding 

panel in the right side of the Content Manager Console. 

This panel contains several tabs that allow you to specify the columns for geocoding and to set 

geocoding preferences in order to optimize accuracy and match rates for your data. 

Registering Data Components 

The first time you geocode a Content, you must ensure that you have installed geocode data 

components for the countries you wish to geocode. The Content Manager Console’s batch geocoder 

requires that the data components for every country you want to geocode be installed and registered 

for successful geocoding. For example, if you wish to geocode Contents which contain German and 

U.K. addresses, you must ensure that you have installed both these components. If you attempt to 

geocode a Content but have not installed or registered the data component, the addresses are 

geocoded but returned with no matches found. 

To register the geocode data components from the Batch Geocode interface: 

1. Select the Input/Output tab. 

2. Click the Register button at the bottom of the geocoding panel. 




3. Browse to select the country-specific geocode data component folder. The format of the 

geocode data component is Geocode followed by the two-letter country code. 

For example, the component for Canada may be found at: 

C:\Envinsa\domain\data\GeocodeCA 

Ask your Envinsa Location Platform administrator for these locations. 

4. Click Open to register the component. 

5. Repeat this process for every geocode data component you wish to register for geocoding. 

6. Drop-down the Country list and note that the Country codes for those components you 

registered have now been added. For example, USA is listed for the GeocodeUS component. 

After the geocode data component is registered, addresses in that country are instantly 

supported. 

Note: Components only need to be registered once. When registered, they are stored 

permanently in the Content Manager Console. 

Note: Some data components may require a post-installation, such as setting up 

environment variables. Usually a script file needs to be run or included in the Content 

Manager Console startup script. See the Location Utility Service Reference and the 

Install Guide for more information. 

Geocoding Remotely 

If you do not have a registered geocode data component you can set up your geocode process to use 

a remote Location Utility Service. This is useful if geocode data components are not available locally; 

for example, if Envinsa is not installed locally. In this case the remote Location Utility Service is used as 

the geocoding engine and the geocoder works as a Location Utility Service client. 

Using the Location Utility Service in this way means that only those countries supported by the 

Location Utility Service are available for geocoding. Any countries not supported are still processed, 

but not matched. 

To perform geocoding using the Location Utility Service from the Batch Geocode interface: 

1. Select the Geocode tab. 

2. Check the box to use the Location Utility Service. 

The text boxes for this utility become enabled. 

3. Enter the remote Host Name, Port Number, and User Name and Password if needed. 

The host name is the host URL of the Location Utility Service. 

For example: envinsa.mapinfo.com 

Ask your Envinsa Location Platform administrator for further guidance. 

4. Click the Test button to confirm the remote service is up, running, and can be connected. 

5. Ensure the Country field in the Input/Output tab has the correct value. 

6. Click the Geocode button to begin geocoding. 

Note: Results may not always work the same when using a remote Location Utility Service. 

This is because the Location Utility Service has a Gazetteer that handles additional 

address variations to find a city centroid match. In addition, the remote Location Utility 

Service may not be using the same version of data components, including gazetteer 

data, as those registered locally. 




Identifying the Input and Output Locations 

There are four areas to consider when identifying the Input location of the address information, and 

choosing the Output locations for the geocoding results: 

• Specifying the Input Columns 

• Specifying the Country 

• Using a Georesult Column 

• Specifying the Output Location 

Specifying the Input Columns 

Once you have registered the data components, choose the columns in the Content that contain the 

addresses to be geocoded. The drop-down lists of address parts are populated with the columns 

available from the Content. 

Specify the source column from the drop-down list for each part of the address. The parts of the 

address are shown in a universal format as follows: 

Address Part Description 

Firm The name of the building or company. For example MapInfo. 




Address Part Description 

Address The main address. For example 26 Wellington Street. 

You can also include a street intersection in this field. The street names 

should be separated with a double-ampersand (&&). For example, “Wellington 

St. && Yonge St.” 

Address2 The additional part of the address. For example Suite 500. 

Note: This is appended to the Address part, with a space as the 

delimiter. 

Municipality Name of the city. For example Toronto. 

Country Sub The name of the country subdivision. For example State, Province, 

County. 

PostalCode The postal code. This includes any add-on codes if applicable. 

For example ZIP Code and ZIP +4. 

Country The ISO standard country name or ISO3 country code. For example 

Canada or CAN. This is a mandatory field 

Note: The country code must be uppercase. 

It is recommended that you specify as many source columns as possible. The more address parts 

supplied, the more accurate the geocoding results are. The only mandatory field is Country, however to 

get the best match rates, all the address fields other than Firm and Address2 should be specified. 

Specifying the Country 

Pay special attention when selecting the Country field from the drop-down list, since many country 

codes may be listed in addition to those from the Content, making it easy to pick the wrong one. 

It is possible to select either a Country Code or a Country column for geocoding, and in each case the 

behavior is different: 

• If a Country Code is selected – All the addresses in the metadata are assumed to be in the 

specified country, and get geocoded. This is useful when all addresses in the address table are 

in the same country or there is no country column in the address table. If there is no country 

column, the geocoder assumes that all addresses are in the same country. However, if an 

address is valid in more than one country, it may be get matched, but not in the correct country. 

So it is recommended that if no Country column is specified, all addresses in the table be from 

the same country. 

• If a Country column is selected – Addresses in the table may be from more than one country. 

The value of the Country column should be either the ISO3 country code or the ISO standard 

country name. The addresses of those countries registered get geocoded. 

For details about the list of countries and their associated codes, refer to Appendix A: Country Code 

Table. 

Using a Georesult Column 

When an address is matched, a georesult is returned representing the match accuracy and type. For 

example S4-PN--CZA (refer to Understanding Result Codes on page 19 for a breakdown of these 

codes). 




If a Georesult column is specified, the match code can be written back to the address table for each 

successfully matched address. 

The Content Manager Console does not create the Georesult column for you. You must have a 

Georesult column in your data source before starting to geocode the Content. Refer to Preparing Your 

Data on page 5. The advantage of specifying a Georesult column is that the Content can be 

progressively geocoded based on the match code. If an address is not matched a second time, the 

Georesult column does not change. 

If you geocode a Content and then clean up the records that did not match, the second round of 

geocode operations can be limited to those records that did not get matched in the first iteration. 

Specifying the Output Columns 

The Batch Geocode utility can be used to standardize addresses by overwriting the existing data with 

“cleansed” data (information updated by the geocode process). By choosing columns in the Output 

section of the Input/Output tab, you can specify which fields are overwritten with cleansed data. Only 

matched records are overwritten. If no columns are chosen, only the Lat/Long data is output to the 

spatial column. All other columns remain unchanged. 

Specifying the Output Location 

In addition to placing the result into the same data source, the results of the geocoding can be output 

into a TXT file. To do this, select text File in the Output area, and create a path to where you want the 

file to be created. Choose to use a comma ‘,’, semicolon ‘;’ or ‘TAB’ as the delimiter of this output file. It 

is useful to output the results to a text file when you do not want to overwrite existing Georesult 

information or want to import that information into a third-party software application. 

Note: When outputting results into an external file, all columns for all records are written to the file. 

By comparison, when outputting to the same source only matched records and specified 

columns are overwritten. 

When the Content is geocoded, all the settings selected in the Geocode tab are enabled. See 

Specifying the Geocoding Criteria on page 12 for more information on how to set up the batch 

geocoder for your specific Content. 

Clear Output Columns If No Match 

Check the Clear Output Columns if No Match check box to clear any information in the output column 

for records that do not find a match. This is useful if you are unsure of the source data already entered 

in these fields. However, this can result in the loss of needed data. For example, your Content may 

contain longitude and latitude values obtained from another source, and you want to maintain that 

information if the records cannot be matched and geocoded. Therefore, do not choose this option 

unless you are certain that you can safely discard all output content for unmatched records. 

Specifying the Geocoding Criteria 

After specifying the address columns to geocode in the Content, you can set up some rules of how you 

want the Content to be geocoded. Click on the Geocode tab in the Batch Geocode interface to show 

your options. 




Geocode Precision 

The geocoding precision defines how close a match is to the true location of the record you want to 

geocode. Two types of precision are provided: Street Address and Postal Code Centroid. 

• Street Address – The batch geocoder attempts to geocode all records to street address, but 

some matches may end up at a less precise location, such as a postal code centroid. 

• Postal Code Centroid – The batch geocoder attempts to match records to the most precise 

postal code it finds. 

A match to a postal code centroid is not as precise as a match to a street address. However, the 

advantage of postal code matching is the speed of the operation; records are processed quicker when 

matching only on a postal code. 

The disadvantage of postal code matching is that only the postal code field is examined. If your records 

only contain 5-digit postal codes, only 5-digit postal code centroids can be matched. However, if street 

address precision is used, both the street name and postal code fields are examined and street 

address coordinates returned. An optional setting is to fall back to postal code coordinates. See 

Specifying Fallback Options on page 18 for information on setting this option. 

Range to Geocode 

For a Content based on TAB files you can choose to geocode all the rows in the table, or specify a 

range of rows to geocode. For a Content based on a database such as Oracle, there is no order for 

rows, so it is not possible to select a range of the rows to geocode. 




Transaction 

The number of transactions has different meanings based on the type of geocoding being performed. 

Approximate values are given, but are suggestions only. The optimal number is subject to your specific 

system setup. 

• If you are using a remote Location Utility Service – Transaction size defines the number of 

addresses that are sent to the server in one request by the Location Utility client. The number 

entered here depends on the setup. If the request/response time is relatively slow, it may be 

more advantageous to put a large number of addresses in a transaction. However, a larger 

number of addresses per transaction uses more system memory. 

Suggested value: 30-50 addresses per transaction. 

• If you are geocoding with the local engine – Transaction size is the number of matched 

addresses that are committed to the Content’s data source at a time. This depends on the data 

source and its associated limitations. There are no upper limits on size, but the larger the 

number, the more system memory is used. 

Suggested value: 50 addresses for TAB file, 100-200 for a database. 

Type of Rows to Geocode 

This section of the panel allows you to specify the type of records in the Content you wish to geocode. 

In order for this feature to be enabled, a Georesult column must be specified in order to specify a type 

to compare against. 

If the Content has been previously geocoded, it is possible to use this setting to improve the match for 

a record by only geocoding rows that have result codes that fall below a certain level. The available 

thresholds are S5, S4, S3, S0, Z3, and Z0. See Understanding Result Codes on page 19 for more 

information on interpreting these codes. 

Remote Geocoder 

Select the Use Location Utility Service check box to geocode using the remote Location Utility Service. 

Use this method to geocode Content for which geocoding data components cannot be registered. See 

Geocoding Remotely on page 9 for more information. 

Geocoding the Content 

Once the geocoding data components have been registered, the address columns specified, and the 

geocoding criteria specified, the Content can be geocoded. You can optionally set further geocoding 

preferences in the interface before you geocode. See Setting Geocoding Preferences on page 15. 

Click the Geocode button at the bottom of the interface to begin. The batch geocoder continues 

geocoding until all the records are processed or the operation is stopped. 




A progress dialog shows the status of the match count while the Content is being geocoded. 

• Status – Loading Engine, Geocoding, and Committing Update for the location and Georesult 

are all status messages displayed in the Progress dialog box. 

• Matched – Total matched addresses in the run. 

• Not Matched – Total unmatched addresses in the run. 

• Previous Matched – The number of addresses that were matched on a previous run which are 

kept during this pass. 

• Committed – Total number of updated addresses in the address table in this run. 

• Time Elapsed – Elapsed time of process . 

• Stop – Stop the run, any uncommitted address changes are lost. 

Setting Geocoding Preferences 

Settings in other tabs in the batch geocoding interface can be used to further specify how the records 

in a Content are matched. 

Setting the Log File Location 

The Log file is a text file that is generated during geocoding that contains setup and processing 

information about the geocoding session. It contains the results of the session, including number of 

matches, non-matches, previously matched records, and the number of matched records by result 

code. The geocoder appends new information to the bottom of the Log file for each geocoding pass. 

The Log file is called log.txt by default, but this can be changed by selecting the Specify log file name 

checkbox, on the Log File tab, and entering a new name and optional path in the text field. 




The Log file is written to the \CMC directory of the Content Manager Console. You may enter a path as 

well as a name for the Log file. For example C:\Temp\addr.log. If the path specified is invalid, the log is 

created in the default location and a message is displayed stating that the Log file could not be created 

as specified. 

You can also display the log in the interface by clicking the View Log button, on the Log File tab. Click 

the Back button to return to the Log File tab. 




Understanding Match Restrictions 

The conditions in the Match Restriction tab specify how precisely the batch geocoder attempts to 

match the records in your Content. 

List Candidates 

Select the Close Matches Only checkbox to specify that only those candidates identified as a close 

match are treated as a match. 

Require Exact Match On 

To make the geocoding more restricted, but more accurate, select the check boxes next to those 

address features you require. To make the geocoding less accurate but achieve a higher match rate, 

clear the check boxes to relax the match process. 

For example, if the House Number check box is cleared, and Postal Code check box is selected, a 

close house number is accepted as a viable match, and the geocoder searches for matches in the 

postal code contained in the address. 

When the street name check box is cleared, the geocoder considers similar street names. When the 

Postal Code check box is cleared, surrounding postal codes are searched for a match. When the 

Postal Code check box is selected, only those records containing a postal code are geocoded. 

If you choose to relax the match on Street Name, the geocoder’s performance is affected since 

additional street match candidates are considered. 




Impact of Relaxing Match Restrictions 

Consider the following when you change the settings in the Geocode tab. 

Relaxing House Number 

Performance is not significantly affected when the house number setting is relaxed. It does, however, 

affect the type of match if the candidate address corresponds to a TIGER 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. 

Relaxing Street Name 

All candidates with names that sound like the input address are considered. This slows down 

performance. An advantage is that as more candidates are examined, the match rate increases. If the 

table based on the Content is indexed, performance is increased. 

Relaxing Municipality Name 

When municipality names are relaxed, the street address is matched to a particular postal code, and 

also considers other municipalities that do not match the municipality name, but do match the postal 

code. 

Relaxing Postal Code 

When postal codes are relaxed, a wider area is searched for a match. While this results in slower 

performance, the match rate is higher because exact matches are not necessary when candidates are 

compared. 

Specifying Fallback Options 

The Fallback tab in the batch geocoder allows you to specify a level to match on if no match is found 

using the initial geocoding settings. For example if the geocoder cannot match a record to street level, 

it matches to the Geographic centroid if you have selected the Fallback to Geographic Centroid check 

box. 

There are two types of fallback options from which to choose: 

• Fallback to Postal Code – If no match is found, the geocoder falls back to the postal code. 

• Fallback to Geographic Centroid – If no match is found, the geocoder falls back to the 

geographic centroid. 

When the geocoder matches to Geographic centroid with no fallback option, it only looks at the postal 

code in the input address. However, if you geocoded the same record at street level with a fallback to 

Geographic centroid, both the postal code and street name are taken into account which means the 

geocoder is likely able to match it to a more precise location than the Geographic centroid alone. 




Setting Multiple Match 

If the geocoder finds more than one match candidate for a record, it follows the instructions set in the 

Multiple Match tab. Multiple match candidates are potentially strong matches, but none of them stand 

out enough from the others to be considered the definitive match. There are two possible settings to 

handle multiple matches: 

• Do Not Match – If multiple candidates occur, do not match any. 

• Accept First – Accept the first of the multiple candidates. 

Setting the Offset Distance 

The values in the Offset tab reflect the distance of the geocoded point match from the corner and 

center line of the road. 

When changing the units of the offset distance, be sure to enter the appropriate offset distance since 

changing the units does not automatically recalculate the offset values. 

Note: Once a geocoding session is completed, all the settings are retained (except the input and 

output column designations) until the user logs out of the Content Manager Console. 

Understanding Result Codes 

A result code is returned for every match attempt. The code indicates the success or failure of the 

geocoding operation and conveys information about the quality of the match. Each character of the 

code indicates the level of precision of each address component matched. 

The result codes are written to the Georesult column specified in the Input/Output tab. The code is an 

alphanumeric code of 1–10 characters. The codes fall into five major categories: 

• Single Close Match (S category) 

• Best Match From Multiple Candidates (M category) 

• Postal Centroid Matches (Z category) 

• Geographic Matches (G category) 

• Non-Match Codes 

The codes reflect the settings made in the Geocode tab. They also reflect the quality of the data in your 

Content to be geocoded. 

Note: Depending on the geocoding engine used, and the origin of the address information, you may 

or may not see some of the codes discussed in this section. Some are U.S. specific. 

Single Close Match (S category) 

Matches in the S category indicate that the record was matched to a single address candidate. The 

first character (S) reflects that a street address matched the record. 

The second position in the code reflects the positional accuracy of the resulting point for the geocoded 

record, as indicated in the following. 

• S1 – single close match, point located at ZIP Code centroid. 




• S2 – single close match, point located at ZIP+2 centroid. 

• S3 – single close match, point located at postal code centroid. 

• S4 – single close match, point located at the center of a shape point path (shape points define 

the shape of the street polyline). 

• S5 – single close match, point located at a street address position (highest accuracy 

available). 

• S6 – single close match, point located at point postal code centroid. 

• SX – single close match, point located at street intersection. 

• S0 – single close match, no coordinates available (very rare occurrence). 

Best Match From Multiple Candidates (M category) 

Matches in the M category indicate that there is more than one close match candidate for the record 

and the best has been chosen from those candidates. This category is used when you select Accept 

First in the Multiple Match tab and more than one strong match candidate is found. 

As in the S category, the second position in the code of M category matches the positional accuracy of 

the resulting point object. 

• M1 – multiple close matches, point located at ZIP Code centroid. 

• M2 – multiple close matches, point located at ZIP+2 centroid. 

• M3 – multiple close matches, point located at postal code centroid. 

• M4 – multiple close matches, point located at the center of a shape point path (shape points 

define the shape of the street polyline). 

• M5 – multiple close matches, point located at a street address position (highest accuracy 

available). 

• M6 – multiple close matches, point located at point postal code location. 

• MX – multiple close matches, point located at street intersection. 

• M0 – multiple close matches, no coordinates available. 

For either S or M category result codes, seven additional characters describe how closely the address 

in your table matches an address in the geocoding engine. The characters appear in the order given. 

Any non-matched components are represented by a dash. 

Result Code Component Description Example 

H House Number 110 

P Street Prefix North 

N Street Name Fletcher 

T Street Type Place 

S Street Suffix SE 

C City Name Boulder 

Z Postal Code 80303 




For example, the result code S5- -N-SCZ represents a single close match that matched the street 

name, street suffix, city name, and postal code exactly, but could not match the house number, address 

prefix direction, or the street type. This record would stop at the street address position of the match 

candidate. 

Postal Centroid Matches (Z category) 

Matches in the Z category indicate that no street match was made, either: 1) because there is no close 

match and fall back to geographic centroid was permitted; 2) the address is a rural address; or 3) the 

geocoder was set to match to postal code centroids. The resulting point is located at the postal code 

centroid with four possible accuracy levels. 

When 5-digit ZIP Codes are without an area, they are dots on a map rather than polygons, and have no 

geographic extent defined in terms of street segments. These point ZIPs include P.O. Box ZIPs and 

Unique ZIPs (single site, building, or organization). Instead of returning a Z1 result code from 

geocoding, Z6 is used for these special ZIPs, since they represent actual locations. 

• Z1 – ZIP Code centroid match. 

• Z2 – ZIP+2 centroid match. 

• Z3 – Postal code centroid match (highest accuracy available). 

• Z0 – Postal code match, no coordinates available (very rare). 

• Z6 – ZIP Code centroid match for point ZIP. 

Geographic Matches (G category) 

Matches from the G category indicate the geographic level at which the record was matched. The first 

character (G) indicates that this is geographic match information. The second position in the code 

reflects the level at which that record was matched. 

• G0 – Country. 

• G1 – Country subdivision. 

• G2 – Country secondary subdivision. 

• G3 – Municipality. 

• G4 – Municipality subdivision. 

Non-Match Codes 

The following result codes indicate no match was made: 

• N – No close match. These records can be re-geocoded interactively or during subsequent 

automatic passes under different matching conditions. 

• NX – No close match for street intersections. 

• ND – The geocoding engine did not function correctly for the given postal code or municipality/ 

country subdivision. These records can be re-geocoded when the geocoding engine is 

available. 




S3 and Z3 Result Codes: What’s the Difference? 

An S3 match is defined as a single close match with the point located at the postal code centroid. The 

Z3 match is also spotted at the postal code centroid. The difference lies in how the geocoder arrives at 

the results. 

For the S3 record, a street address that matches was found, but the match record did not contain any 

street geometry (line points). The geocoding engine is unable to interpolate where along the segment 

to place the record. The best it can do is to spot it at the postal code centroid. 

A Z3 match, however is a direct match to the postal code centroid. The geocoding engine could not 

find a street address match for one of several reasons: 1) Geocode Precision was set to Postal Code 

Centroid; 2) there was no close match and the fallback criteria was set to geographic centroid; or 3) the 

address is a rural route. 

On a map, the S3 and Z3 records display at the same location, assuming the input postal codes were 

the same for both records. However, the matching process for a S3 record has an extra step that could 

place the point at a different, and more accurate, postal code centroid. During a street address match, 

the geocoding engine corrects the input postal code if the match record includes different information. 

Z3 matches do not get corrected. Because of this correction step, the S3 match is considered the more 

precise match. 



Country Code Table 

This section provides a table that lists the Country Name, two-letter and 

three-letter codes, and the Country Numeric Code used in Batch 

Geocoding. See Specifying the Country in Chapter 1 on page 11 for 

more details on using these codes. 

A

Batch Geocoding Guide Appendix A: Country Code Table 

The following table lists the ISO 3166-1 codes for names of countries and dependant areas. This was 

first published in 1974 by the International Organization for Standardization. The table includes the 

Alpha-2 Code, the Alpha-3 Code, and the Country Numeric Codes and is listed in alphabetical order 

based on the country names. 

Country Name 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

AFGHANISTAN AF AFG 004 

ALBANIA AL ALB 008 

ALGERIA DZ DZA 012 

AMERICAN SAMOA AS ASM 016 

ANDORRA AD AND 020 

ANGOLA AO AGO 024 

ANGUILLA AI AIA 660 

ANTARCTICA AQ ATA 010 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA AG ATG 028 

ARGENTINA AR ARG 032 

ARMENIA AM ARM 051 

ARUBA AW ABW 533 

AUSTRALIA AU AUS 036 

AUSTRIA AT AUT 040 

AZERBAIJAN AZ AZE 031 

BAHAMAS BS BHS 044 

BAHRAIN BH BHR 048 

BANGLADESH BD BGD 050 

BARBADOS BB BRB 052 

BELARUS BY BLR 112 

BELGIUM BE BEL 056 

BELIZE BZ BLZ 084 

BENIN BJ BEN 204 

BERMUDA BM BMU 060 

BHUTAN BT BTN 064 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

BOLIVIA BO BOL 068 

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA BA BIH 070 

BOTSWANA BW BWA 072 

BOUVET ISLAND BV BVT 074 

BRAZIL BR BRA 076 

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY IO IOT 086 

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BN BRN 096 

BULGARIA BG BGR 100 

BURKINA FASO BF BFA 854 

BURUNDI BI BDI 108 

CAMBODIA KH KHM 116 

CAMEROON CM CMR 120 

CANADA CA CAN 124 

CAPE VERDE CV CPV 132 

CAYMAN ISLANDS KY CYM 136 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CF CAF 140 

CHAD TD TCD 148 

CHILE CL CHL 152 

CHINA CN CHN 156 

CHRISTMAS ISLAND CX CXR 162 

COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS CC CCK 166 

COLOMBIA CO COL 170 

COMOROS KM COM 174 

CONGO, Democratic Republic of (was Zaire) CD COD 180 

CONGO, People's Republic of CG COG 178 

COOK ISLANDS CK COK 184 

COSTA RICA CR CRI 188 

COTE D'IVOIRE CI CIV 384 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

CROATIA (local name: Hrvatska) HR HRV 191 

CUBA CU CUB 192 

CYPRUS CY CYP 196 

CZECH REPUBLIC CZ CZE 203 

DENMARK DK DNK 208 

DJIBOUTI DJ DJI 262 

DOMINICA DM DMA 212 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DO DOM 214 

EAST TIMOR TL TLS 626 

ECUADOR EC ECU 218 

EGYPT EG EGY 818 

EL SALVADOR SV SLV 222 

EQUATORIAL GUINEA GQ GNQ 226 

ERITREA ER ERI 232 

ESTONIA EE EST 233 

ETHIOPIA ET ETH 231 

FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS) FK FLK 238 

FAROE ISLANDS FO FRO 234 

FIJI FJ FJI 242 

FINLAND FI FIN 246 

FRANCE FR FRA 250 

FRANCE METROPOLITAN FX FXX 249 

FRENCH GUIANA GF GUF 254 

FRENCH POLYNESIA PF PYF 258 

FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES TF ATF 260 

GABON GA GAB 266 

GAMBIA GM GMB 270 

GEORGIA GE GEO 268 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

GERMANY DE DEU 276 

GHANA GH GHA 288 

GIBRALTAR GI GIB 292 

GREECE GR GRC 300 

GREENLAND GL GRL 304 

GRENADA GD GRD 308 

GUADELOUPE GP GLP 312 

GUAM GU GUM 316 

GUATEMALA GT GTM 320 

GUINEA GN GIN 324 

GUINEA-BISSAU GW GNB 624 

GUYANA GY GUY 328 

HAITI HT HTI 332 

HEARD AND MC DONALD ISLANDS HM HMD 334 

HONDURAS HN HND 340 

HONG KONG HK HKG 344 

HUNGARY HU HUN 348 

ICELAND IS ISL 352 

INDIA IN IND 356 

INDONESIA ID IDN 360 

IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) IR IRN 364 

IRAQ IQ IRQ 368 

IRELAND IE IRL 372 

ISRAEL IL ISR 376 

ITALY IT ITA 380 

JAMAICA JM JAM 388 

JAPAN JP JPN 392 

JORDAN JO JOR 400 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

KAZAKHSTAN KZ KAZ 398 

KENYA KE KEN 404 

KIRIBATI KI KIR 296 

KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KP PRK 408 

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF KR KOR 410 

KUWAIT KW KWT 414 

KYRGYZSTAN KG KGZ 417 

LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC LA LAO 418 

LATVIA LV LVA 428 

LEBANON LB LBN 422 

LESOTHO LS LSO 426 

LIBERIA LR LBR 430 

LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA LY LBY 434 

LIECHTENSTEIN LI LIE 438 

LITHUANIA LT LTU 440 

LUXEMBOURG LU LUX 442 

MACAU MO MAC 446 

MACEDONIA THE FORMER YUGOSLAV, REPUBLIC OF MK MKD 807 

MADAGASCAR MG MDG 450 

MALAWI MW MWI 454 

MALAYSIA MY MYS 458 

MALDIVES MV MDV 462 

MALI ML MLI 466 

MALTA MT MLT 470 

MARSHALL ISLANDS MH MHL 584 

MARTINIQUE MQ MTQ 474 

MAURITANIA MR MRT 478 

MAURITIUS MU MUS 480 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

MAYOTTE YT MYT 175 

MEXICO MX MEX 484 

MICRONESIA FEDERATED STATES OF FM FSM 583 

MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF MD MDA 498 

MONACO MC MCO 492 

MONGOLIA MN MNG 496 

MONTSERRAT MS MSR 500 

MOROCCO MA MAR 504 

MOZAMBIQUE MZ MOZ 508 

MYANMAR MM MMR 104 

NAMIBIA NA NAM 516 

NAURU NR NRU 520 

NEPAL NP NPL 524 

NETHERLANDS NL NLD 528 

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AN ANT 530 

NEW CALEDONIA NC NCL 540 

NEW ZEALAND NZ NZL 554 

NICARAGUA NI NIC 558 

NIGER NE NER 562 

NIGERIA NG NGA 566 

NIUE NU NIU 570 

NORFOLK ISLAND NF NFK 574 

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS MP MNP 580 

NORWAY NO NOR 578 

OMAN OM OMN 512 

PAKISTAN PK PAK 586 

PALAU PW PLW 585 

PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, Occupied PS PSE 275 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

PANAMA PA PAN 591 

PAPUA NEW GUINEA PG PNG 598 

PARAGUAY PY PRY 600 

PERU PE PER 604 

PHILIPPINES PH PHL 608 

PITCAIRN PN PCN 612 

POLAND PL POL 616 

PORTUGAL PT PRT 620 

PUERTO RICO PR PRI 630 

QATAR QA QAT 634 

REUNION RE REU 638 

ROMANIA RO ROM 642 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION RU RUS 643 

RWANDA RW RWA 646 

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS KN KNA 659 

SAINT LUCIA LC LCA 662 

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES VC VCT 670 

SAMOA WS WSM 882 

SAN MARINO SM SMR 674 

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE ST STP 678 

SAUDI ARABIA SA SAU 682 

SENEGAL SN SEN 686 

SEYCHELLES SC SYC 690 

SIERRA LEONE SL SLE 694 

SINGAPORE SG SGP 702 

SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic) SK SVK 703 

SLOVENIA SI SVN 705 

SOLOMON ISLANDS SB SLB 090 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

SOMALIA SO SOM 706 

SOUTH AFRICA ZA ZAF 710 

SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS GS SGS 239 

SPAIN ES ESP 724 

SRI LANKA LK LKA 144 

ST. HELENA SH SHN 654 

ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON PM SPM 666 

SUDAN SD SDN 736 

SURINAME SR SUR 740 

SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN ISLANDS SJ SJM 744 

SWAZILAND SZ SWZ 748 

SWEDEN SE SWE 752 

SWITZERLAND CH CHE 756 

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC SY SYR 760 

TAIWAN TW TWN 158 

TAJIKISTAN TJ TJK 762 

TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TZ TZA 834 

THAILAND TH THA 764 

TOGO TG TGO 768 

TOKELAU TK TKL 772 

TONGA TO TON 776 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TT TTO 780 

TUNISIA TN TUN 788 

TURKEY TR TUR 792 

TURKMENISTAN TM TKM 795 

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS TC TCA 796 

TUVALU TV TUV 798 

UGANDA UG UGA 800 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code 



Country Name 

UKRAINE UA UKR 804 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AE ARE 784 

UNITED KINGDOM GB GBR 826 

UNITED STATES US USA 840 

UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS UM UMI 581 

URUGUAY UY URY 858 

UZBEKISTAN UZ UZB 860 

VANUATU VU VUT 548 

VATICAN CITY STATE (HOLY SEE) VA VAT 336 

VENEZUELA VE VEN 862 

VIETNAM VN VNM 704 

VIRGIN ISLANDS (BRITISH) VG VGB 092 

VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) VI VIR 850 

WALLIS AND FUTUNA ISLANDS WF WLF 876 

WESTERN SAHARA EH ESH 732 

YEMEN YE YEM 887 

YUGOSLAVIA YU YUG 891 

ZAMBIA ZM ZMB 894 

ZIMBABWE ZW ZWE 716} 


Alpha-2 

Code 

Alpha-3 

Code 

Country 

Numeric 

Code

Envinsa Batch Geocding Guide - Documentation - MapInfo

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