Find Address Settings

Owned by Kim Stimpson
Last updated: 16 May, 2019
3 min read

The Find Address element defines the parameters for the Find An Address option in iShare. Addresses may be found by using either a web service or a database. This entry determines whether or not the Find An Address option is displayed. Find Address settings are configured on the My Maps Options page. To enable the entries you will first need to check the Find Address box.

XSL File Path

This entry is required whether you are using a web service or a database and defines the Style Sheet (XSLT) that is used in the transformation of the results.

Using Data Share

This is the best way of finding addresses. It only displays a single Find box as it can perform word matching over the entire address. The URL is shorter as it only contains the UPRN and not the entire address and it allows you to link out to Back Offices systems via a UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number) or Postcode.

If you have more than one Search Type in the AstunLocationLookup table, normally found when using /wiki/spaces/ISHAREHELPSTAGING/pages/20054063, then you will see the Search Type selection as in the above screenshot.

Please refer to either of the following “How To…” articles for examples of how to create a Virtual Layer linking to a Back Office database.

Using Database

If you wish to use a database for finding addresses then you will need to specify the following

DSN

This holds the Data Source Name. This is the standard DSN used for ODBC etc.

SQL

If you have selected the Using Database radio button then you will need to enter this SQL string. The output requirements are NAMENUMBER, fullAddress, X and Y in the select element (all of the field names are case sensitive). These are used within the XSL style sheet to convert to address lines in the table. At present there is a requirement to have the following input field names in the table:


NAMENUMBER

This is normally the House Name and number (as they are normally mutually exclusive)

STREET

The street name

POSTCODE

The Postcode for the address

The SQL statement is then built. The requirement is to match the input fields from the FindAddress form on the web page to the database table

When using most database system “Views” can be created to allow for this structure to be easily built.

Use the  button to test your database connection.

Using Web Service

If you have selected the Using Web Service radio button then the URL entry needs to hold the URL that is used to call the FindAddress function.