Address Searching FAQs

• Which search engine should I use, Typedown or Single Line?
• What are the advantages of the Typedown search engine?
• What are the three methods of Typedown Searching?
• What are the advantages of the Single Line search engine?
• How can I run more effective Single Line searches?
• Is the v4 Single Line engine the same as the search engine in the UK product line?
• How do I perform better searches?

Which search engine should I use, Typedown or Single Line?

Pro has two searching modes. These are:

• Typedown searching
• Single Line searching
  

Typedown searching starts with the most general address element and, once that has been found, moves on to more specific parts of the address.

Typedown is the more useful search option when you are sure of the address information. For example, if you are taking address details over the phone, you can enter the caller’s locality name. In the majority of cases, only one or a few localities will be returned, from which you can select the correct street or PO Box number.

Single Line searching requires you to enter two or three address elements, each separated by a comma, in the order that they would appear on an envelope (for example, the street name followed by the town).

Single Line searches can use a variety of techniques to return the correct address from incomplete or misspelled information. (See the examples in “Single Line Searching” on page 15 and the Help programs for details of these.) For example, if you were using Pro to verify addresses sent to your company on coupons, where the handwriting is illegible, it would be better to use Single Line searching.

Either of these methods allow you to capture a full address with just a few keystrokes.

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What are the advantages of the Typedown search engine?

The QAS Typedown engine is the primary engine in QAS Pro v4.

Typedown has many advantages:

• It provides a consistent method of entering search information across all countries
• No knowledge of each country’s address information is required
• It is not necessary to know the order of the address elements
• It is not necessary to know how many matches certain searches (e.g. postcode) are likely to return
• The likelihood of errors occurring is reduced
• Data is verified as it is entered

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What are the three methods of Typedown Searching?

There are three methods of Typedown that can be performed after a place name is entered into the search box, they are:

• PO Box
• Organisation
• Street

The main difference between searching with these methods is that the PO Box and Organisation searches will return a picklist of PO Boxes and Organisations respectively, to choose from within the selected place or postcode. Street searches will require more than just the one stage before it is possible to select the final address.

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What are the advantages of the Single Line search engine?

Free Format Searching
Single Line provides a free format method of searching. The user enters one or more address elements in the search box, each one separated by a comma

Fuzzy Matching
The QAS Pro Single Line engine is able to handle most typographical/spelling errors, and deal with addresses that sound similar to one another.

The common ways in which errors could be introduced in to a search within Pro are:

• Bad Typing
• Regional Accents
• Illegible Writing
• Impatient Customers

Wildcard Searching
Single Line allows missing elements to be entered into the search engine via use of wildcards. This means that the desired address information can be called a lot faster and not be complete.

There are two types:

• Question mark (?)
  This wildcard replaces a single character in an address or postcode
• Asterisk (*)
  This wildcard replaces any number of characters anywhere in an address.

Tag Searching
Searching can be sped up by using tags within Single Line. This is done by telling QAS Pro what type of address elements you are entering into the search field. This works by limiting the extent of the search, thus in turn making Pro a lot more efficient at finding the required address information.

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How can I run more effective Single Line searches?

It’s possible to speed up searching with Single Line by telling QAS Pro what type of address elements you are entering into the search field. By giving QAS Pro information on specific elements within your search you can limit the extent of your search, this in turn makes QAS Pro a lot more efficient at finding the required address information.

For example, if you tag part of the address as a post town, QAS Pro will only look through its list of post towns when it starts to match that part of the address.

We tell QAS Pro about specific address elements by using special operators. A table of the available operators you could use for some countries are shown below:

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How do I perform better searches?

Every indiviudal postal country's database is unique and therefore searching effectively is dependant on the one you are using. In order to search more effectively refer to the Search Tips section of the Country Information Guide of the postal country database you are looking to use more effectively.

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