"Mike Ford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On 17 February 2004 10:43, Roddie Grant wrote:
>
> > on 17/2/04 10:25 am, Shaun at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > does anyone know the format of the postcodes in the UK so I can
> > > keep my database accurate?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> >
> >
> > Try http://javascript.internet.com/forms/uk-postcode-validation.html
>
> Wow, at a glance I'd say that looks like pretty crappy JavaScript, and
also not a totally accurate UK postcode checker.
>
> The only guaranteed way to fully validate a UK postcode is to purchase the
Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF) (and subscribe to its updates!),
but you can validate the format fairly closely with some simple rules.
>
> For example, here's a regexp that matches valid UK postcode patterns:
>
> /[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]? [0-9][ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{1,2}/
>
> or, in English:
>
> * an "outward" code consisting of:
> - 1 or 2 alphabetic characters
> - followed by 1 or 2 digits, or 1 digit and 1 letter
>
> * a space
>
> * in "inward" code consisting of:
> - 1 digit
> - followed by 2 letters, but not including C, I, K, M, O or V.
>
> (The special code GIR 0AA also exists for the headquarters of the
formerly-Government-owned Girobank, now part of the Alliance & Leicester,
and is the only one that doesn't match these rules).
>
> Although this will check for potentially valid formats, there are a number
of other checks you can make if you wish:
>
> - the initial 1 or 2 letters come from a restricted set of about 120,
indicating the main sorting office which handles mail for an area --
generally they correspond to a large town or city (B - Birmingham, L -
Liverpool, LS - Leeds, etc.) but London ones are taken from the much older
London postal district names (E - East, EC - East Central, etc.) and a few
represent more general area names (ZE - Shetland Islands, for example. (I
could probably produce a list of these fairly easily.)
>
> - The range of values in the rest of the "outward" code is likewise
restricted; the range is different for each area, with many restricted to 20
or less, and none uses the full set of 1-99; however, higher values are
often used for special purposes (98 and 99 for PO Boxes, for example), and
most of the larger areas have multiple disjoint ranges.
>
> - The only postcodes which have a final letter in the "outward" portion of
the code are some of the London districts (off the top of my head, EC, SW, W
and WC only, I think, and maybe not all of those!).
>
> - For each "outward" code, there may also be restrictions on the range of
"inward" codes, and these will again be different for each area (for
example, for my home outward code all inward codes begin with a 2; in the
neighbouring outward code, all inward codes begin with a 3). These are so
numerous and diverse that they're not really worth bothering about unless
you're going the full-blown PAF route.
>
> Anyway, this is probably already far more information than you were
expecting, so I'll shut up now!
>
> Cheers!
>
> Mike
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mike Ford, Electronic Information Services Adviser,
> Learning Support Services, Learning & Information Services,
> JG125, James Graham Building, Leeds Metropolitan University,
> Beckett Park, LEEDS, LS6 3QS, United Kingdom
> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Tel: +44 113 283 2600 extn 4730 Fax: +44 113 283 3211
Thanks for your reply Mike,
However the following code wont let me add any postcode!:
if(!preg_match("/[A-Z]{1,2}[0-9][0-9A-Z]? [0-9][ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{1,2}/",
$_POST[postcode])){
$error = "Invalid Postcode";
header("Location: add_location.php?error=$error");
exit;
}
Any ideas?
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