Interesting question, I've been pondering the possibility of an open postcode directory recently.
I'm not keen on screenscraping as a data source myself. The data isn't really Free (Libre) and more pragmatically there's too much chance of lawsuits and minor formatting changes breaking things. With a bit of publicity and careful explanation of the project's aim it should be possible to get people to "donate" address / post-code pairings to an open database. The founder of OpenStreetMap has started a sister project called Free The Postcode http://www.freethepostcode.org/ which is working on developing a list for the UK. Who knows, a polite request might obtain their software to ease starting a project for NZ. OpenStreetMap itself is interested in postcodes, but the NZ page http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/New_Zealand_sub-projects lists postcodes as still to do - there may be some partial data there. On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:16 PM, Sarah King <[email protected]>wrote: > Nothing like bumping an ancient thread but has anyone written anything to > query the NZPost site? Curl or anything simila? > > I gather they're considering building an API but nobody has returned my > calls so I have no idea if it's imminent (so hang fire) or shelved (so > build something). > > thanks > > Sarah > > > > > *Sarah King* > Tel: 09 815 8642 | Mobile: 0273 711 298 > http://www.itamer.com > http://www.roommatecabins.co.nz > [image: Twitter] <http://www.twitter.com/itamer> [image: > LinkedIn]<http://nz.linkedin.com/in/sarahking> > Contact me: [image: Google Talk] rainchx [image: Skype] sarah.king > > > > > On Fri, Jan 18, 2008 at 6:11 PM, Chris Burgess <[email protected]>wrote: > >> NZ Post's Postcode finder could do with a hand - eg a search for "Seaview >> Road, Piha" produces a postcode of 0200 (that would be *Paihia*, Bay of >> Islands). The same search details work on all the overseas mapping sites >> I've tried. >> >> Searches on NZ Post with 'Town/City' set to "Waitakere", "Henderson", >> "Auckland" all produce no results. The correct answer is (obviously) New >> Lynn<http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=piha+to+new+lynn&sll=-41.244772,172.617188&sspn=17.599324,39.375&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=0> >> . >> >> If you're going to set about screenscraping NZ Post's world view, be >> prepared for it to produce some unexpected results when people enter an >> address they think they live at. Cross-referencing lookups with mapping API >> might help to highlight some of their more outlandish claims. >> >> Google Maps does return postal codes with the address results, so it >> might be worth comparing. >> >> On 18/01/2008, at 5:39 PM, Olwen Williams wrote: >> >> cURL + screen scraping >> >> >> Be the only reasonable way I’d say. >> >> >> > -- > -- > NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug > To post, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to > [email protected] > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "NZ PHP Users Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Bruce Clement Home: http://www.clement.co.nz/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bruce_Clement "Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field." Mikhail Kalashnikov -- -- NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NZ PHP Users Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
