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About the address locators for geocoding

The address locators available with the StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS North America HERE 2017 Release 3 enhanced street dataset enable you to geocode and reverse geocode addresses in North America. Individual address locators that are specific to American Samoa, Canada, Guam, Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the United States, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are available, as well as composite locators that support multiple levels of geocoding for American Samoa, Canada, Guam, Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the United States, North America (Canada and the United States combined), or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The following levels of geocoding are supported in the United States: point address, street address, ZIP+4, street name, ZIP Code, and city/state. The following levels of geocoding are supported in American Samoa: street address, street name, administrative places, and postal code. The following levels of geocoding are supported in Canada: point address, street address, 6-digit FSALDU postal code, street name, city/province, and 3-digit FSA postal code. The following levels of geocoding are supported in Guam: street address, ZIP+4, street name, administrative places, and postal code. The following levels of geocoding are supported in Mexico: point address, street address, street name, postal code, and administrative places. The following levels of geocoding are supported in the Northern Mariana Islands: street address, street name, administrative places, and postal code. The following levels of geocoding are supported in Puerto Rico: point address, street address, ZIP+4, street name, postal locality, administrative places, and postal code. The following levels of geocoding are supported in the U.S. Virgin Islands: street address, ZIP+4, street name, postal locality, administrative places, and postal code.

NOTE: If you want to geocode addresses in American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, you must use the ASM, GUM, MNP, PRI, or VIR locators.

In addition to a global composite locator, some countries have a local composite when the local input mapping fields were able to be determined.

For more detail on the geocoding levels for each country, see the StreetMap Premium product coverage page.

Input mapping fields for addresses are standardized across the global composite locators and include the fields: Address, Postal, Neighborhood, City, Subregion, and Region; although some countries do not utilize all four administrative place fields as input:

These input mapping fields are localized for some countries in a local composite. For a list of these fields by country, see the localized input mapping fields.

Suggestions functionality is now available in the North America locators when using ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 or later with the appropriate Geocoding Patch. After publishing a country composite locator to ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 or later, you can consume the suggestions REST API in your own applications. If you are using individual locators, suggestions are enabled only in the StreetAddress, Postal (PostalExt for Canada), and AdminPlaces locators.

NOTE: To use the ArcGIS Locators provided for geocoding, you must install either ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 or later. Esri strongly recommends that you install the the appropriate Geocoding Patch from Patches and Service Packs for StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS on the ArcGIS Enterprise website.

For details on publishing and using these address locators on ArcGIS Server, see the About publishing services in ArcGIS Server Help and Working with address locators and geocoding topics in ArcGIS Desktop Help.

NOTE: Creating geocoding services in ArcGIS Server with some of the larger SMP locators can consume a significant amount of RAM on the ArcGIS Server machine. For example, on top of the RAM required to run ArcGIS Server (approximately 2 GB), you will need roughly an additional 3.7 GB of RAM per instance (SOC) to publish a geocoding service using the USA composite locator. If using the CAN composite locator, you will need roughly an additional 1.2 GB of RAM per instance.

When you use ArcCatalog or ArcMap for geocoding, you can browse for any of these address locators. For details, see About managing address locators in ArcGIS Desktop Help.

The following address locators are available with StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS North America HERE 2017 Release 3:

Locator File Name Locator Name Description
ASM_StreetAddress.loc American Samoa Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in American Samoa. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
ASM_StreetName.loc American Samoa Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in American Samoa. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
ASM_AdminPlaces.loc American Samoa City Centroid Locator Used for finding cities in American Samoa (e.g., Pago Pago). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
ASM_Postal.loc American Samoa Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding postal codes in American Samoa. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code.
ASM.loc American Samoa Composite Locator This composite locator for American Samoa references four locators: American Samoa Street Address Locator, American Samoa Street Name Centroid Locator, American Samoa City Centroid Locator, and American Samoa Postal Centroid Locator.
CAN_PointAddress.loc Canada Point Address Locator Used for finding address locations in Canada. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the address level.
CAN_StreetAddress.loc Canada Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in Canada (e.g., 12 Concorde Place, Toronto, Ontario). Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
CAN_PostalExt.loc Canada 6-digit FSALDU Centroid Locator Used for finding 6-digit postal codes (FSALDU) in Canada. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code (FSALDU). Input postal codes can be six digits (e.g., M2H2N9).
CAN_StreetName.loc Canada Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in Canada (e.g., Concorde Place, Toronto, Ontario). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
CAN_AdminPlaces.loc Canada City/Province Centroid Locator Used for finding cities/provinces in Canada (e.g., Calgary, Alberta). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
CAN_Postal.loc Canada 3-digit FSA Centroid Locator Used for finding 3-digit postal codes (FSA) in Canada. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code (FSA). Input postal codes can be three digits (e.g., M2H).

CAN.loc

Canada Composite Locator This composite locator for Canada references five locators: Canada Point Address Locator, Canada Street Address Locator, Canada 6-digit FSALDU Centroid Locator, Canada Street Name Centroid Locator, Canada City/Province Centroid Locator, and Canada 3-digit FSA Centroid Locator.
CAN_LocalComposite.loc Canada Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for Canada references five locators: Canada Point Address Locator, Canada Street Address Locator, Canada 6-digit FSALDU Centroid Locator, Canada Street Name Centroid Locator, Canada City/Province Centroid Locator, and Canada 3-digit FSA Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
GUM_StreetAddress.loc Guam Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in Guam (e.g., 685 Purple Heart Memorial Highway, Mongmong Toto Maite, 96910). Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
GUM_PostalExt.loc Guam ZIP+4 Centroid Locator Used for finding a Guam ZIP+4 Code (e.g., 00985-4001). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the 9-digit ZIP Code.
GUM_StreetName.loc Guam Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in Guam (e.g., Purple Heart Memorial Highway, Mongmong Toto Maite, 96910). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
GUM_AdminPlaces.loc Guam Administrative Place Centroid Locator Used for finding administrative places in Guam (e.g., Hagatna, GU). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
GUM_Postal.loc Guam Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding 5-digit postal codes in Guam. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code.
GUM.loc Guam Composite Locator This composite locator for Guam references four locators: Guam Street Address Locator, Guam Street Name Centroid Locator, Guam Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and Guam Postal Centroid Locator.
GUM_LocalComposite.loc Guam Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for Guam references four locators: Guam Street Address Locator, Guam Street Name Centroid Locator, Guam Postal Centroid Locator, and Guam Administrative Places Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
GUM_ZIP4.loc Guam Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This composite locator for Guam references the following locators: Guam Street Address Locator, Guam ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, Guam Street Name Centroid Locator, Guam Postal Centroid Locator, and Guam Administrative Places Centroid Locator.
GUM_ZIP4_LocalComposite.loc Guam Local Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This local composite locator for Guam references the following five locators: Guam Street Address Locator, Guam ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, Guam Street Name Centroid Locator, Guam Postal Centroid Locator, and Guam Administrative Places Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
MEX_PointAddress.loc Mexico Point AddressLocator Used for finding address locations in Mexico. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the address level.
MEX_StreetAddress.loc Mexico Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in Mexico (e.g., Privada de la Villa 732, Leobardo Coca, Puebla, Puebla, 72450). Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
MEX_StreetName.loc Mexico Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in Mexico (e.g., Emiliano Zapata, Puebla, Mexicali, Baja California, 21620). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
MEX_Postal.loc Mexico 5-digit Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding 5-digit postal codes in Mexico (e.g., 75240). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the 5-digit postal code.
MEX_AdminPlaces.loc Mexico Administrative Places Locator Used for finding colonias or municipalities in Mexico (e.g., Cuichapa, Veracruz). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the colonia or municipality.
MEX.loc Mexico Composite Locator This composite locator for Mexico references the following locators: Mexico Address Point Locator, Mexico Street Address Locator, Mexico Street Name Centroid Locator, Mexico 5-digit Postal Centroid Locator, and Mexico Administrative Places Locator.
MEX_LocalComposite.loc Mexico Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for Mexico references the following locators: Mexico Address Point Locator, Mexico Street Address Locator, Mexico Street Name Centroid Locator, Mexico 5-digit Postal Centroid Locator, and Mexico Administrative Places Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
MNP_StreetAddress.loc Northern Mariana Islands Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in Northern Mariana Islands. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
MNP_StreetName.loc Northern Mariana Islands Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in Northern Mariana Islands. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
MNP_AdminPlaces.loc Northern Mariana Islands City Centroid Locator Used for finding cities in Northern Mariana Islands (e.g., Saipan). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
MNP_Postal.loc Northern Mariana Islands Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding postal codes in Northern Mariana Islands. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code.
MNP.loc Northern Mariana Islands Composite Locator This composite locator for Northern Mariana Islands references four locators: Northern Mariana Islands Street Address Locator, Northern Mariana Islands Street Name Centroid Locator, Northern Mariana Islands City Centroid Locator, and Northern Mariana Islands Postal Centroid Locator.
PRI_PointAddress.loc Puerto Rico Point Address Locator Used for finding address locations in Puerto Rico. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the address level.
PRI_StreetAddress.loc Puerto Rico Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in Puerto Rico (e.g., 6063 Avenida Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico). Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
PRI_PostalExt.loc Puerto Rico ZIP+4 Centroid Locator Used for finding a Puerto Rico ZIP+4 Code (e.g., 00985-4001). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the 9-digit ZIP Code.
PRI_StreetName.loc Puerto Rico Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in Puerto Rico (e.g., Calle San Jorge, San Juan, Puerto Rico). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
PRI_PostalLocality.loc Puerto Rico Postal Code by Locality Locator Used for finding postal codes within a locality (e.g., 00920, San Juan, Puerto Rico). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of all street segments with the same postal code and locality name.
PRI_AdminPlaces.loc Puerto Rico Administrative Place Centroid Locator Used for finding administrative places in Puerto Rico (e.g., Bayamón, Puerto Rico). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
PRI_Postal.loc Puerto Rico Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding 5-digit postal codes in Puerto Rico. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code.
PRI.loc Puerto Rico Composite Locator This composite locator for Puerto Rico references six locators: Puerto Rico Point Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, Puerto Rico Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and Puerto Rico Postal Centroid Locator.
PRI_LocalComposite.loc Puerto Rico Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for Puerto Rico references six locators: Puerto Rico Point Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, Puerto Rico Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and Puerto Rico Postal Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
PRI_ZIP4.loc Puerto Rico Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This composite locator for Puerto Rico references the following seven locators: Puerto Rico Point Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Address Locator, Puerto Rico ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, Puerto Rico Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, Puerto Rico Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and Puerto Rico 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator.
PRI_ZIP4_LocalComposite.loc Puerto Rico Local Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This local composite locator for Puerto Rico references the following seven locators: Puerto Rico Point Address Locator, Puerto Rico Street Address Locator, Puerto Rico ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, Puerto Rico Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, Puerto Rico Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and Puerto Rico 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
USA_PointAddress.loc USA Point Address Locator Used for finding address locations in the United States. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the address level.
USA_StreetAddress.loc USA Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in the United States. Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
USA_PostalExt.loc USA ZIP+4 Centroid Locator Used for finding a U.S. ZIP+4 Code (e.g., 92373-8100). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the 9-digit ZIP Code.
USA_StreetName.loc USA Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in the U.S. (e.g., New York Street, Redlands, California). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
USA_Postal.loc USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator Used for finding a U.S. ZIP Code (e.g., 92373). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the delivery-based centroid of the 5-digit ZIP Code.
USA_AdminPlaces.loc USA City/State Centroid Locator Used for finding a U.S. city/state (e.g., Redlands, CA). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
USA.loc USA Composite Locator This composite locator for the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, and USA City/State Centroid Locator.
USA_LocalComposite.loc USA Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, and USA City/State Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
USA_Zip4.loc USA Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This composite locator for the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, and USA City/State Centroid Locator.
USA_ZIP4_LocalComposite.loc USA Local Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This local composite locator for the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, and USA City/State Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
CAN_USA.loc Canada and United States Composite Locator This composite locator for Canada and the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, USA City/State Centroid Locator, Canada Point Address Locator, Canada Street Address Locator, Canada 6-digit FSALDU Centroid Locator, Canada Street Name Centroid Locator, Canada City/Province Centroid Locator, and Canada 3-digit FSA Centroid Locator.
CAN_USA_Zip4.loc Canada and United States Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This composite locator for Canada and the United States references the following locators: USA Point Address Locator, USA Street Address Locator, USA ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, USA Street Name Centroid Locator, USA 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator, USA City/State Centroid Locator, Canada Point Address Locator, Canada Street Address Locator, Canada 6-digit FSALDU Centroid Locator, Canada Street Name Centroid Locator, Canada City/Province Centroid Locator, and Canada 3-digit FSA Centroid Locator.
VIR_StreetAddress.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Street Address Locator Used for finding street addresses in the U.S. Virgin Islands (e.g., 15 Calabash Boom, St. John, VI). Latitude/longitude coordinates are accurate to the street level.
VIR_PostalExt.loc U.S. Virgin Islands ZIP+4 Centroid Locator Used for finding U.S. Virgin Islands ZIP+4 Code (e.g., 00840-3524). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the 9-digit ZIP Code.
VIR_StreetName.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Street Name Centroid Locator Used for finding street names in the U.S. Virgin Islands (e.g., Calabash Boom, St. John, VI). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the street segment.
VIR_PostalLocality.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Code by Locality Locator Used for finding postal codes within a locality (e.g., 00831, St. John, VI). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of all street segments with the same postal code and locality name.
VIR_AdminPlaces.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Administrative Place Centroid Locator Used for finding administrative places in the U.S. Virgin Islands (e.g., St. Thomas, VI). Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the centroid of the city.
VIR_Postal.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Centroid Locator Used for finding 5-digit postal codes in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Latitude/longitude coordinates represent the Postal Code.
VIR.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Composite Locator This composite locator for the U.S. Virgin Islands references five locators: U.S. Virgin Islands Street Address Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Street Name Centroid Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Code by Locality Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Centroid Locator.
VIR_LocalComposite.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Local Composite Locator This local composite locator for the U.S. Virgin Islands references five locators: U.S. Virgin Islands Street Address Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Street Name Centroid Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Code by Locality Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and U.S. Virgin Islands Postal Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.
VIR_ZIP4.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This composite locator for the U.S. Virgin Islands references the following six locators: U.S. Virgin Islands Street Address Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and U.S. Virgin Islands 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator.
VIR_ZIP4_LocalComposite.loc U.S. Virgin Islands Local Composite Locator with ZIP+4 This local composite locator for the U.S. Virgin Islands references the following six locators: U.S. Virgin Islands Street Address Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands ZIP+4 Centroid Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Street Name Centroid Locator, Postal Code by Locality Locator, U.S. Virgin Islands Administrative Places Centroid Locator, and U.S. Virgin Islands 5-digit ZIP Code Centroid Locator. See the localized input mapping fields.

File Output Field Definitions

The following File Output Field Definitions may be helpful:

Loc_name

For composite locators, this field lists the individual locator that geocoded each address.

Addr_type

The match type for an address. Possible values include:

Match_addr

The full matched address formatted in the local country address schema. This is the correct address format based on address standards for a country.

Status

Score

The score is a value assigned to all potential candidates of an address match. The match score is based on how well the locations found in the reference data matches with the address data being searched. A score can range from 0-100, 100 being a perfect match.

Side

For Point Address and Street Address locators, this field indicates which side of the street (L or R) the matched address falls on.

DisplayX/DisplayY

For the Point Address locator, these fields store the decimal degree coordinates for the parcel centroid associated with each address, as the geocoded point feature is located on the street segment near the main entrance to the property.

NOTE: All North America PointAddress locators now provide the ability to change the default location of a matched address from the entry point on the street to the parcel centroid. To make this change, open the XXX_PointAddress.loc file in a text editor (Notepad++ is recommended), change the following line from

GeometryFromDisplayFields = false

to

GeometryFromDisplayFields = true

and then save the file. However, to take advantage of this new option, you must have ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 or later installed with the appropriate Geocoding Patch from Patches and Service Packs for StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS on the ArcGIS Enterprise website.

ZIP4_TYPE

This field is populated if LOC_NAME is ZIP4. A value of 1 indicates that the latitude and longitude are accurate to the ZIP+4 centroid (more accurate). A value of 2 indicates that the latitude and longitude are accurate to the ZIP+2 centroid (less accurate).

Distance   

The physical distance in meters from a candidate to a specified location. The Distance output value is calculated for each candidate when the Location input parameter is passed in a request using the Find or findAddressCandidates methods. If the Location parameter is not passed in a request, then the value of Distance is zero.

For a more complete list of possible locator output fields, see the ArcGIS REST API: World Geocoding Service documentation.