ValidatePostcode - AddressCapture � Data8 Web Services API Documentation

ValidatePostcode

Checks if a postcode is syntactically valid.

Description

Checks if a postcode is syntactically valid, and returns the same postcode in a standard format suitable for printing as part of an address.

This method does not check whether an address actually exists at the postcode, only that the postcode is of the correct format.

If the postcode has a correct format, the IsValid part of the result is set to true and the Formatted part of the result is set to the same postcode in a standard format, e.g. "ch24ne" is converted to "CH2 4NE".

If the postcode does not have a correct format, the IsValid part of the result is set to false and the Formatted part of the result will not be specified.

Endpoint URLs

This service is hosted in multiple countries. Select your preferred country to see the appropriate endpoint URLs.

Protocol	URL
JSON	JSON https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/AddressCapture/ValidatePostcode.json
OPEN API	OPEN API https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/swagger/AddressCapture/swagger.json
SOAP	SOAP https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/addresscapture.asmx
MCP	MCP https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/mcp/addresscapture (tool name `validate_postcode`)

Parameters

The following parameters can be supplied to this method:

Name	Description
username	username See the available authentication methods. If you are using username & password authentication, specify the username to authenticate as. If you are using API Key authentication and you are not using the JSON, Javascript or ADO APIs, use your API Key here with the prefix `apikey-`, e.g. `apikey-ABCD-1234-EFGH-5678`
password	password If you are using username & password authentication, specify the password to use for authentication. Otherwise leave this blank.
licence	licence As the Royal Mail PAF database can be licensed in multiple ways, this parameter indicates under which license you are accessing the data. This must match the variant you have a license or credits for - if you are unsure which option to choose, please contact your account manager
postcode	postcode The postcode to validate
options	options An array of options that control further details of how this method operates. See the `Advanced Options` section below, for more information.

Advanced Options

The following options can be specified as part of the option parameter. Each option is specified as a key/value pair. The list of available names is shown below, along with a description of the allowable values for that name.

Name	Description
Common Options
ApplicationName	ApplicationName Gives the name of the calling application - used to break down usage by application in the usage reports on the dashboard.

Results

This method returns an object containing the following fields:

Name	Description
Status	Status Indicates whether the method call was successful, or if some error occurred. If the `Success` field is `true`, the other results described below can be used to get the results of the method. If `Success` is `false`, some error occurred in calling the method, such as the authentication failed or the account is out of credits. The details of the error can be obtained from the `ErrorMessage` field, and any other results should be ignored.
IsValid	IsValid Indicates if the postcode is syntactically valid or not.
Formatted	Formatted If `IsValid` is `true`, contains the supplied `postcode` converted to a standard format.

Credit Usage

Requests to this method do not consume credits, but you must have some AddressCapture credits available.

Sample Code

Request Format

{
  "licence": "WebClickFull",
  "postcode": "ch24ne",
  "options": {}
}

Response Format

{
  "Status": {
    "Success": true,
    "CreditsRemaining": 1000
  },
  "IsValid": true,
  "Formatted": "CH2 4NE"
}

Depending on your chosen authentication method you will need to modify this request slightly:

API Key

Post the request to
https://webservices.data-8.co.uk/AddressCapture/ValidatePostcode.json?key=your-api-key
and do NOT include the username or password properties in the request JSON document.

Parameter	Value
Parameters
licence	licence WebServerFullWebClickFullWebClickThoroughfareInternalUserFullInternalUserThoroughfareSmallUserFullSmallUserThoroughfareLookupInternalServerFullInternalServerThoroughfareFreeTrialFreeTrialThoroughfareInternalUserFullAreaInternalUserThoroughfareAreaWebServerThoroughfare
postcode	postcode
Common Options
ApplicationName	ApplicationName
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