Postcode Web Database Lookup...

[james_IT]

hi guys,

Just been asked this and not sure if it is possible...

they do not want to pay loads of money to the royal mail for their postcode/address data. but they want a faster way (like typing postcode and address options popup) of entering addresses. There are tons of websites that can be used to find addresses with a postcode, i was wondering if it was possible to somehow link the database to lookup address from a website...?

anyone got any ideas?


thanks, james

 

[John Big Booty]

Have you seen this site Free The Postcode? It is a collaborative attempt to build up a Postcode data base tied to GPS co-ordinates. I'm not sure how useful that will be for your purposes though.

 

[james_IT]

thanks for your reply...i was looking for something more detailed...i want to type the postcode and the address options pop-up. i was wondering if it was possible to link it in with an online lookup or something?

 

[Luddite Lad]

I'd guess that the short answer is going to be no. Unless you know, or can find, someone that has purchased the DB and is willing to share.

 

[John.Woody]

Try http://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk
There charges are far less than the royal mail's. They also provide sample code etc. You can intergrate it into you're app completely. I use it very successfully in a number of locations.

 

[james_IT]

thanks for the link....

would it be possible to briefly outline how you use it?

thanks again

 

[GaryPanic]

as an option
you could buy this once - and update it every couple of years - not a great solution - but it does depending on your end users requirments
if you after homes address then good chance that after a year or so about 5% will not be on the data
however if business, then a slightly lower ratio (I know new business are starting up etc and old ones going , but the data would be good for 85-90 % of the time , you might run in to liceninsing issues , but that would be where I would start,

 

[John.Woody]

They have some code samples which may help youhttp://www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/developers/samples/#access
I use their active x contorl on my form and populate my address fields. I install their desktop software but don't open it at all. Check out their code in the samples also make sure you're references are correct.

 

[james_IT]

so there is no free way? but this is the cheapest and easiest? do you do Pay-as-You-Go or a annual?

 

[John.Woody]

That depends on your usage. Look on the prices and licensing page. My customers are on pay as you go £25 for 300 addresses is cheap enough

 

[swinster]

Has anyone else ever manged find a free/simple way to link to website to return address details from a postcode?

I am creating a database for a school and similarly do not want to spend any money. In addition they will only really need a small post code local, but access to this type of database would be useful.

If you can help, that would be great.

Chris

 

[GaryPanic]

I think you are after the holy grail on this
The postcode d/base is owned by Postmaster general - to get a freebie is gonna be quite hard, now if its a school then it could fall under the Goverment and as such you may get access to this without falling foul of any liesening problems (typo) the goverment will have this data on hand , and you should have access to it - however if you are a private school then they will not help-I don't think there is a site that gives this out
this is due to mailshots being done data protection act etc