Searching Techniques

Quick search

This is the most simpliest and typical address search. In this example a user will be searching for an address (with only the street name and state) in USA data. The final address to be returned is:

290 Bridge St
VAIL CO 81657-4590

1. Enter the address information into an address screen.
2. Press Enter or click on another screen tab to exit the current screen.
3. The Address Validation application will perform the search and attempt to verify this address. User interaction will be required to resolve the final address, if there is not enough information.
   1. A picklist of all the streets that match the search criteria will be returned to the user. The Matches box in the top right corner shows how many results were returned that match the search criteria.
   2. Highlight the Bridge St, Vail CO entry and click Select.
   3. Scroll down to premise number 290, highlight this entry and click Select.
   4. You will now be presented with a picklist that displays the final addresses at premise 290. Highlight the 290 entry as the final address and click Select.
   5. Upon selecting this address, you will be prompted to verify that this is the address you wish to return to SAP. The dialog box will show the address you have selected and the current address you wish to overwrite. To retain the old address, click Keep old address, otherwise click Accept Proposed to accept the new address details.
4. The final address will be returned to your screen in the fields that you specified in your configuration.
5. At any stage in the picklist, you can step back into the previous picklist screen by clicking the Undo button on the toolbar below the picklist.

Fuzzy matching

Fuzzy matching is the process of intelligently searching for an address, approximately matching the address information provided by the user to addresses in the authoritative reference dataset (i.e. from Royal Mail, USPS, Australia Post), and returning all likely possibilities for the user to select from. This is useful when the user provides too little or too much information, inputs the address in the wrong format or includes a typo.

Our real-time Data Validation app for SAP S/4HANA leverages advanced fuzzy matching logic to deliver the most approximate search results for the user to select from, based on a degree of confidence, rather than an exact match. The solution intelligently recognizes and works around the errors below, reformats the address if needed and includes missing elements to deliver a correct, complete, and formatted address.

• Abbreviations – users enter abbreviations for certain address components. For example, Av for Avenue, Blvd for Boulevard, Rd for Road as well as Ch for Chemin (French) or Str for Straße (German).

• Typos – users make errors in data entry, especially when on mobile devices or spelling addresses phonetically. For example, entering an 'n' instead of an 'm' or entering 'streeet' instead of 'street'.

• Incorrect ordering or format – users don't always enter the address in the way it appears on an envelope. For example, enter the town or city first, followed by the street and building number.

• Missing or additional spaces – users add or miss spaces between words or even within words without realizing.

• Missing or additional information – users provide too little or too many address elements when searching for an address. For example, leave out the property/building number.

If the address input cannot be matched to any likely address, a "No matches" message will be shown to the user.

Wildcard searching

When you search with our real-time Data Validation app for SAP S/4HANA you can use wildcards to replace one or more missing letters in your address information. There are two wildcards available. You can use a combination of wildcards in your search.

• Question mark wildcard (?)
  This wildcard replaces a single character in an address or postal code. For example:

  Lov?tt St, Manly Vale (AUS data)
  or
  Hawthorn Ave, ?N21 ?HA (GBR data)

• Asterisk wildcard (*)
  This wildcard replaces any number of characters at the end of an address element, except postal code. For example:

  Bridge , Vail (USA data) or rue de la Creuse, Vendin (FRA data)

  Multiple wildcards

  Use multiple wildcards sparingly. If too many wildcards are used in a search there is a risk of considerably extended searching time, and possibly no returned matches.

  The example below shows how to search for an address in GBR data where part of the street name and a character from the postal code are unclear. You know that the street
  name begins with “Aldis”, but not the street descriptor (“Drive”, “Road”, etc).

  1. Type 23 Aldis*,s?170rz into your address fields and press Enter.
  2. The wildcards in this search string tell the Address Validation api to look for any street name beginning with “Aldis”, in a postal code containing the above
     combination of characters. The first part of the postal code could therefore be SA17, SB17, SC17 and so on.
  3. In this case, Address Validation for SAP only finds one match. However if there was more than one result returned, you would need to select the correct address by highlighting the address and clicking Select.

Keyword searching

A user can also use the asterisk to look for certain keywords. To do this, precede the first address element with the asterisk wildcard. For example, the search “*park, perth” returns all addresses in the city of Perth (in AUS data) with a first address element of “park”.

In a keyword search, the asterisk can be anywhere in the address element. This type of search is especially useful if you are looking for a particular type of organisation or institution (banks, colleges, hospitals etc.). For example, the search “*university,melbourne” looks for any university in Melbourne.

Returning an unrecognized address

When you enter property information, you can return an unrecognized address by entering the premise number, followed by !. For example:

1. Enter Fearnan Place, Greenock, PA16 9LZ into your address screen, and press Enter.
2. A picklist is returned displaying the range of available premise numbers for that postal code.
3. Type 28! into the Enter building number / name or organisation box, to return an address not within the returned range.
4. The picklist now displays the premise number that you have specified. Click Select to return this as your final address.
5. The address proposal box prompts you to confirm you would like to change the address details.
6. The address is returned to your screen with the premise number you have entered.