Need world zip codes

[Brian Cryer]

Actually, it's for the whole of the UK, but I have performed some
processing on the data to remove unwanted codes. For example, PAF
includes residential and business postcodes as two distinct types, so in
many cases there are duplicates if there are business and residential
properties at the same postcode - I have simplified it to only include
each one once.

There are also some postcodes that are not given national grid
coordinates. These are, I'm told, used for administrative purposes and
as PO Box addresses. I didn't need these either, so they were also
dropped.

All-in-all I dropped several 100k postcodes from the database as being
either duplicates or superfluous.

Yes, that makes sense.

 

[Dylan Parry]

You can buy a set of postcode *sectors* for a much-reduced amount

Also worth bearing in mind is that sector data is much less accurate
than the full PAF data. PAF is geocoded to the nearest 100 metres,
whereas sector data could be out by several hundred metres. Of course,
depending on the intended use, this could be more than adequate.

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

 

[Geoff Berrow]

Also worth bearing in mind is that sector data is much less accurate
than the full PAF data. PAF is geocoded to the nearest 100 metres,
whereas sector data could be out by several hundred metres. Of course,
depending on the intended use, this could be more than adequate.

So, as a matter of interest, what would you need to do the Auto Trader
type thing that tells you how far apart two postcodes are. Obviously it
doesn't need 100 metre precision, accuracy to within a few miles would
be sufficient.

 

[William Tasso]

Fleeing from the madness of the jungle
Dylan Parry <[email protected]> stumbled into
news:alt.html,alt.php,alt.www.webmaster
and said:

Swampy Bogtrotter wrote:

[Postcodes]

I can also well imagine that some countries don't bother at all.

Republic of Ireland springs to mind. AIUI, they have postcodes for
Dublin, but that's about it.

oh I'm sure they'll get around to it one day. what's the hurry

 

[Brian Wakem]

Just as an indication; I work with map and address data regularly, and I
currently have a UK postcode database containing 1635104 (yep, 1.6
*million*) records.

I have 1,820,904 unique UK postcodes, from the latest PAF.

 

[Brian Wakem]

So, as a matter of interest, what would you need to do the Auto Trader
type thing that tells you how far apart two postcodes are. Obviously it
doesn't need 100 metre precision, accuracy to within a few miles would
be sufficient.

Eastings, Northings + a bit of Math.

 

[Dylan Parry]

So, as a matter of interest, what would you need to do the Auto Trader
type thing that tells you how far apart two postcodes are. Obviously it
doesn't need 100 metre precision, accuracy to within a few miles would
be sufficient.

Basic data, like postcode sectors, would be fine for this sort of thing.
You could probably acquire this simple dataset without going anywhere
near the Post Office data. Several other organisations in the UK compile
data to this sort of accuracy. Then, as Brian said, using the
coordinates, you can pretty much do the maths easily enough. Of course,
if you wanted to factor in the roads etc (ie. distance by road as
opposed to as-the-crow-flies) you would need other datasets, but then
we're getting very expensive.

It gets more complicated if you're using a map projection that is based
on decimal degrees though, because the distance in metres/miles isn't
constant!

However, now we're starting to get into my actual line of business, so
I'll send you an invoice for any further advice <g>

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

 

[Geoff Berrow]

However, now we're starting to get into my actual line of business, so
I'll send you an invoice for any further advice <g>

Well I don't have a requirement at the moment but I'll keep you on file
just in case

 

[Harlan Messinger]

Incon wrote:
[top-posting corrected]

> www.usps.com
> Just put in the city and country and it gives you the zip.

There's no place on that page to enter a city and country.

If I click the link for ZIP codes, I get a form that doesn't have a
field for country.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

inquisitive one wrote

Does anyone know where I can get a complete list of country codes and
zip codes? I've searched high and low all day and I never found zip
codes for international locations.

Bloody good thread. Every reply on-topic and informative!

 

[Dylan Parry]

Every reply on-topic and informative!

Except yours, and erm this one <g>

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

 

[Scott Bryce]

Does anyone know where I can get a complete list of country codes and zip
codes? I've searched high and low all day and I never found zip codes for
international locations.

I am curious to know what you want them for. If you are interested in
relating zip (post, postal, etc) codes to geographic regions, that is
done in the USA by the department of the census, not the postal system.
It may not be done at all in other countries.

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Incon wrote: [top-posting corrected]

www.usps.com
Just put in the city and country and it gives you the zip.

There's no place on that page to enter a city and country.

City and State: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp

If I click the link for ZIP codes, I get a form that doesn't have a
field for country.

Natcherly. It is USAian of course. But I understand why you wrote that.
<g> Incon may have misunderstood the question.

I use US/Canadian postal codes in one application of mine, and I got the
databases, US: purloined from employer, and CDN: online for ~$150.00US
for a download. It may have been from this site:
http://www.zipcodeworld.com/postalcodepremium.htm with lat/lon

 

[CptDondo]

However, now we're starting to get into my actual line of business, so
I'll send you an invoice for any further advice <g>

OK, this is WAAYY OT for all the above newsgroups, but I have to know:

Do you have (or know of) a simple GPL rtree implementation for the
GIS-challenged? I have a list (by lat & long) of major points of
interest, and want to code photographs with a tag like "4 miles SE of
Mt. Boondock", or whatever POI is closest.

I am working on a travelcam, a camera tied to a GPS that will
automagically take a picture every so often while the vehicle is moving.
I currently tag the pics with a LAT & LONG, but that doesn't help
much. I want a descriptive tag, so the records-keeper doesn't have to
pore over the map while putting together the travelogue.

So I want to throw my POI list, which is basically a text string and lat
& long into the database, and then do an rtree query on my current lat &
long, and pull out the nearest POI, including text and lat & long. The
direction I can calculate from the lat & long and current position.

I've been through various rtree implementations, but they either have
licenses of dubious usefulness or none at all, and/or come with no docs,
or I cannot get them to build on my target MIPS box.....

Thanks,

--Yan

 

[Harlan Messinger]

Incon wrote: [top-posting corrected]

inquisitive one wrote:
Does anyone know where I can get a complete list of country codes
and zip codes? I've searched high and low all day and I never found
zip codes for international locations.
www.usps.com
Just put in the city and country and it gives you the zip.

There's no place on that page to enter a city and country.

City and State: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp

If I click the link for ZIP codes, I get a form that doesn't have a
field for country.

Natcherly. It is USAian of course. But I understand why you wrote that.
<g> Incon may have misunderstood the question.

I wasn't expecting to find that he was right, since I've used that form
many times myself. I only looked as a courtesy. But he himself wrote
"country", and it ought to have been self-evident that the USPS site
doesn't support that.

 

[Harlan Messinger]

I use US/Canadian postal codes in one application of mine, and I got the
databases, US: purloined from employer, and CDN: online for ~$150.00US
for a download. It may have been from this site:
http://www.zipcodeworld.com/postalcodepremium.htm with lat/lon

It amazes me that one should have to pay for this information. The
entire US five-digit ZIP code list, supplied as a CSV file, assuming a
maximum of 33 bytes per code for the code itself, the city, and the
state, would be less than 3.3MB. This would hardly tax the USPS web site.

 

[Alan]

New Zealand's list is at:

http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en...gAndPostcodes/Postcodes/PostcodeDirectory.htm
and it recently had a major revision.

Codes aren't strictly geographical as they are used for mail delivery,
so the destination they point to isn't a "place" but a mail bag in a
sorting centre or a wall of boxes in a suburban shopping mall. Such
things as rationalised mail contractors or newly built post offices
require changes so with a population of only 4 million NZ has over a
dozen every year.

I'd hate to think how many changes there are daily around the world!

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

It amazes me that one should have to pay for this information. The
entire US five-digit ZIP code list, supplied as a CSV file, assuming
a maximum of 33 bytes per code for the code itself, the city, and the
state, would be less than 3.3MB. This would hardly tax the USPS web
site.

I'm in agreement. But I guess bidness is bidness...

 

[Swampy Bogtrotter]

Fleeing from the madness of the jungle
Dylan Parry <[email protected]> stumbled into
news:alt.html,alt.php,alt.www.webmaster
and said:

Swampy Bogtrotter wrote:

[Postcodes]

I can also well imagine that some countries don't bother at all.

Republic of Ireland springs to mind. AIUI, they have postcodes for
Dublin, but that's about it.

oh I'm sure they'll get around to it one day. what's the hurry

Absolutely.
That's the Irish way.
We wouldn't have them in the north either, except the British Government
insisted on it.

 

[Dylan Parry]

Do you have (or know of) a simple GPL rtree implementation for the
GIS-challenged?

I personally don't have (or know of) any software that does what you
want. We don't actually use any GPL software as (other than
MapInfo/ArcGIS/etc) everything we use is created in-house.

Have you tried asking in groups like comp.infosystems.gis ?

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.