> I am new to using the API, I don't have to make a map at this point, > but I need a system that cross checks user address/city/state/zip code > data against each other to make sure it is all valid.
The Google geocoder is intended to provide a best-guess location for an given address. Taking an example, if you feed it '221b Baker St, London' it might know exactly where that is - or it might know where 200 & 300 are, and extrapolate an estimate - or might only know where Baker Street is, and assume that is what 'Baker St' meant - or it may never heard of Baker St and tell you where London is. Those are all successful geocodes, but don't really validate your address. The geocoder does return an 'accuracy' figure which is intended to tell you how much faith to put in its guess ... however, a low accuracy (or even complete failure to geocode) may mean limited information on the geocoders side, not that there's anything wrong with the address. The other problem you face is the terms of use, which for Google's geocoder limit you to using the information for placing on a map. It's not the only geocoder - see http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/web/resources-non-google-geocoders but I'm not sure any of those would be any more useful for this purpose. Your users know best what their own address is, I doubt any automated system will serve much purpose here. cheers, Ross K --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Maps API" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
