Geocoding is the process of inputting an address and receiving back latitude/longitude coordinates calculated along an address range. The parts of the address provided to the geocoding application determine the level of detail of the geocode returned. The building number and street name are required. City name, state, and ZIP code are optional.

There are two entry points for the geocoding service: single-record submission and batch submission.

The single-record service allows for all of the address parts to be submitted in a single line or as separate fields. The batch service requires each field to exist (either with text or blank) in a delimited form, preceded by a unique ID.

The optional inclusion of the Geographic Lookup (GeoLookup) adds information to the result relating to various levels of geography that encompass the latitude/longitude coordinates. GeoLookup results can also be obtained directly by searching on the latitude/longitude coordinates.

The latitude/longitude coordinates returned are based on data loaded into the geocoding engine from a MAF/TIGER benchmark database.

This document is intended for application, website, and mobile developers.