Advanced Geocoding API

The Texas A&M Geoservices Geocoder can be used from desktop and/or web applications via the Geocoding Web Service interfaces listed below. The only required information is the API key, which is available in your account profile page. You may want to read the technical details and the known bugs.

API Version - 4.04

Available Advanced Web Services

The following web services provide a really really lot of metadata about the internal working of the WebGIS Geocoder. These APIs offer enhanced input parameter options and output values compared to the basic Geocoding APIs.

The APIs listed on this papge allow you to review metadata about the internal working of the Texas A&M Geoservices Geocoder as well as choose advanced options for requesting specific computational options, reference data sources, output hierarchies, etc. (i.e., all the science under the hood).

Most people probably don't need or care about the internal workings of geocoding systems, but they are provided here in hopes that more people start to! If you are scared, you can return to the simpler versions of the API's by clicking here.

API #3 - HTTP Geocode Detailed Web Service (Non-parsed)

• API for non-parsed address data that can be used from scripts and http

• API URL

  https://geoservices.tamu.edu/Services/Geocode/WebService/GeocoderWebServiceHttpNonParsedDetailed_V04_04.aspx?

  API Input Fields

  (* Fields in bold are new for this API version)
  (* Fields in bold and italic are upated for this API version)
  (* Fields with strikethrough have been removed for this API version)

  Parameter	Required	Description	Example	Possible Value
  apiKey	true	Click here for your API key	api-key-value	some text
  version	true	api version	4.04	4.04
  streetAddress	false	non-parsed street address value	3620 North Vermont Ave W.	some text
  city	false	city value	Beverly Hills	some text
  state	false	state value	CA	some text
  zip	false	zip code value	90089	some text
  allowTies*	false	flag to indicate to return ties as valid results or handle using the tieBreakingStrategy parameter	true	true, false
  tieBreakingStrategy*	false	if allowTies parameter is false, this strategy is used to break ties and not return ties as valid results	flipACoin	flipACoin (choose and return one of the ties at random); revertToHierarchy (fail on a tie and match to the next level of the geographic hierarchy - parcel, then street, then ZIP, then city, etc.)
  census	false	calculate census variables (takes longer)	true	true, false
  censusYear*	false	bar (|) separated list of the year of census data to intersect with, or "allAvailable"	2000|2010, allAvailable	1990, 2000, 2010, allAvailable
  geom	false	return the full geometry of the reference feature (creates a very large response)	true	true, false
  verbose	false	output full details	true	true, false
  format*	false	output format	csv	csv, (results in comma separated values) tsv, (results in tab separated values) xml (results in XML format) kml and googleMapsUrl (dropped in version 4.01)
  includeHeader*	false	include column headers for text (csv/tsv) output	true	true (include field headers) false (don't include field headers)
  notStore	false	indicates if the transaction details should not be historically stored in your account	true	true, false

  API Output Fields and Index (for non-XML output)

  (* Fields in bold are new for this API version)
  (* Fields with strikethrough have been removed for this API version)

  Position	Field	Required	Description	Possible Values
  0	Transaction Id	true	Query Id	Unique Id
  1	API Version	true	Vesion of the API used	4.04
  2	Query Status Code	true	Result code	See list
  3	Latitude	true	Decimal
  4	Longitude	true	Decimal
  5	NAACCR GIS Coordinate Quality Code	true	Geocode quality code in NAACCR standard	See list
  6	NAACCR GIS Coordinate Quality Name	true	Name of the geocode quality code in NAACCR standard	See list
  7	Match Score	true	Match percentage between input data and reference feature
  8	Match Type	true	Geocode match type	See list
  9	Matching Geography Type	true	Geographic level of the output	See list
  10	Region Size	true	Area of spatial uncertainty of the geocode	decimal number
  11	Region size units	true	Units of area of spatial uncertainty of the geocode	square meters (m), square kilometers (km)
  12	Interpolation Type	true	Interpolation method used	See list
  13	Interpolation Sub-Type	true	Interpolation sub-method used	See list
  14	Matched Location Type	true	Type of input data identified	See list
  15	Feature Matching Result Type	true	Result of the feature matching algorithm	See list
  16	Feature Matching Result Count	true	Number of features returned from feature matching algorithm
  17	Feature Matching Result Type Notes	true	Notes about the feature matching processing results
  18	Tie Handling Strategy Type	true	Tie breaking strategy used in feature matching	See list
  19	Feature Matching Result Type Tie Breaking Notes	true	Notes about the tie breaking results
  20	Feature Matching Selection Method	true	Feature matching selection method used	See list
  21	Feature Matching Selection Method Notes	true	Notes about the feature matching selection method used
  22	Time Taken	true	Processing time	Milliseconds
  23	MNumber	false	Street number of the address that matched
  24	MNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the address that matched
  25	MPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the address that matched
  26	MPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the address that matched
  27	MPreType	false	Street pretype of the address that matched
  28	MPreArticle	false	Street prearticle of the address that matched
  29	MName	false	Street name of the address that matched
  30	MPostArticle	false	Street postarticle of the address that matched
  31	MPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the address that matched
  32	MSuffix	false	Street suffix of the address that matched
  33	MPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the address that matched
  34	MSuiteType	false	Suite type of the address that matched
  35	MSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the address that matched
  36	MPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the address that matched
  37	MPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the address that matched
  38	MCity	false	City of the address that matched
  39	MConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the address that matched
  40	MMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the address that matched
  41	MCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the address that matched
  42	MCounty	false	County of the address that matched
  43	MState	false	State of the address that matched
  44	MZip	false	Zip of the address that matched
  45	MZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the address that matched
  46	MZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the address that matched
  47	MZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the address that matched
  48	MZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the address that matched
  49	MZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the address that matched
  50	PNumber	false	Street number of the parsed address
  51	PNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the parsed address
  52	PPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the parsed address
  53	PPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the parsed address
  54	PPreType	false	Street pretype of the parsed address
  55	PPreArticle	false	Street prearticle of the parsed address
  56	PName	false	Street name of the parsed address
  57	PPostArticle	false	Street postarticle of the parsed address
  58	PPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the parsed address
  59	PSuffix	false	Street suffix of the parsed address
  60	PPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the parsed address
  61	PSuiteType	false	Suite type of the parsed address
  62	PSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the parsed address
  63	PPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the parsed address
  64	PPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the parsed address
  65	PCity	false	City of the parsed address
  66	PConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the parsed address
  67	PMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the parsed address
  68	PCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the parsed address
  69	PCounty	false	County of the parsed address
  70	PState	false	State of the parsed address
  71	PZip	false	Zip of the parsed address
  72	PZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the parsed address
  73	PZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the parsed address
  74	PZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the parsed address
  75	PZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the parsed address
  76	PZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the parsed address
  77	FNumber	false	Street number of the matched reference feature
  78	FNumberFractional	false	Street number fractional of the matched reference feature
  79	FPreDirectional	false	Street predirectional of the matched reference feature
  80	FPreQualifier	false	Street prequalifier of the matched reference feature
  81	FPreType	false	Street pretype of the matched reference feature
  82	FPreArticle	false	Street prearticle of the matched reference feature
  83	FName	false	Street name of the matched reference feature
  84	FPostArticle	false	Street postarticle of the matched reference feature
  85	FPostQualifier	false	Street postqualifier of the matched reference feature
  86	FSuffix	false	Street suffix of the matched reference feature
  87	FPostDirectional	false	Street postdirectional of the matched reference feature
  88	FSuiteType	false	Suite type of the matched reference feature
  89	FSuiteNumber	false	Suite number of the matched reference feature
  90	FPostOfficeBoxType	false	Post office box type of the matched reference feature
  91	FPostOfficeBoxNumber	false	Post office box number of the matched reference feature
  92	FCity	false	City of the matched reference feature
  93	FConsolidatedCity	false	Consolidated city of the matched reference feature
  94	FMinorCivilDivision	false	Minor civil division of the matched reference feature
  95	FCountySubRegion	false	County sub region of the matched reference feature
  96	FCounty	false	County of the matched reference feature
  97	FState	false	State of the matched reference feature
  98	FZip	false	Zip of the matched reference feature
  99	FZipPlus1	false	Zip+1 of the matched reference feature
  100	FZipPlus2	false	Zip+2 of the matched reference feature
  101	FZipPlus3	false	Zip+3 of the matched reference feature
  102	FZipPlus4	false	Zip+4 of the matched reference feature
  103	FZipPlus5	false	Zip+5 of the matched reference feature
  104	FArea	false	Area of the matched feature
  105	FAreaType	false	Area metric of the matched feature
  106	FGeometrySRID	false	Geometry SRID of the matched feature
  107	FGeometry	false	Geometry of the matched feature as OGC GML
  108	FSource	false	Source of the matched feature
  109	FVintage	false	Vintage of the matched feature
  110	FPrimaryIdField	false	Name of the primary Id field of the matched feature
  111	FPrimaryIdValue	false	Value of the primary Id field of the matched feature
  112	FSecondaryIdField	false	Name of the secondary Id field of the matched feature
  113	FSecondaryIdValue	false	Value of the secondary Id field of the matched feature
  114	Census Year*	true	Year of the census data returned	Removed in version 4.01
  114	NAACCR Census Tract Certainty Code	false	Centainty code for the Census tract assignment in NAACCR standard	See list
  115	NAACCR Census Tract Certainty Name	false	Name of the centainty code for the Census tract assignment in NAACCR standard	See list
  116	1990 Census Block*	false	1990 Census block value for the output point
  117	1990 Census Block Group*	false	1990 Census block group value for the output point
  118	1990 Census Tract*	false	1990 Census tract value for the output point
  119	1990 Census County Fips*	false	1990 Census county fips value for the output point
  120	1990 Census CBSA Fips*	false	1990 Census core base statistical area fips value for the output point
  121	1990 Census CBSA Micro*	false	1990 Census core base statistical area micropolitan flag for the output point
  122	1990 Census MCD Fips*	false	1990 Census minor civil division fips value for the output point
  123	1990 Census MetDiv Fips*	false	1990 Census metropolitan division fips value for the output point
  124	1990 Census MSA Fips*	false	1990 Census metropolitan statistical area fips value for the output point
  125	1990 Census Place Fips*	false	1990 Census place fips value for the output point
  126	1990 Census State Fips*	false	1990 Census state fips value for the output point
  127	2000 Census Block*	false	2000 Census block value for the output point
  128	2000 Census Block Group*	false	2000 Census block group value for the output point
  129	2000 Census Tract*	false	2000 Census tract value for the output point
  130	2000 Census County Fips*	false	2000 Census county fips value for the output point
  131	2000 Census CBSA Fips*	false	2000 Census core base statistical area fips value for the output point
  132	2000 Census CBSA Micro*	false	2000 Census core base statistical area micropolitan flag for the output point
  133	2000 Census MCD Fips*	false	2000 Census minor civil division fips value for the output point
  134	2000 Census MetDiv Fips*	false	2000 Census metropolitan division fips value for the output point
  135	2000 Census MSA Fips*	false	2000 Census metropolitan statistical area fips value for the output point
  136	2000 Census Place Fips*	false	2000 Census place fips value for the output point
  137	2000 Census State Fips*	false	2000 Census state fips value for the output point
  138	2010 Census Block*	false	2010 Census block value for the output point
  139	2010 Census Block Group*	false	2010 Census block group value for the output point
  140	2010 Census Tract*	false	2010 Census tract value for the output point
  141	2010 Census County Fips*	false	2010 Census county fips value for the output point
  142	2010 Census CBSA Fips*	false	2010 Census core base statistical area fips value for the output point
  143	2010 Census CBSA Micro*	false	2010 Census core base statistical area micropolitan flag for the output point
  144	2010 Census MCD Fips*	false	2010 Census minor civil division fips value for the output point
  145	2010 Census MetDiv Fips*	false	2010 Census metropolitan division fips value for the output point
  146	2010 Census MSA Fips*	false	2010 Census metropolitan statistical area fips value for the output point
  147	2010 Census Place Fips*	false	2010 Census place fips value for the output point
  148	2010 Census State Fips*	false	2010 Census state fips value for the output point

  
  Notes
  - M____: The attribute value of your input address that used in finding a reference feature
  - P____: The equivalent parsed attribute value of your input address
  - F____: The attribute value of the matched reference feature used for interpolation
  

• API Examples

  Example 1 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, with 2010 census)
  
  Example 2 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, with 2010 census and field headers)
  
  Example 3 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, without census)
  
  Example 4 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, with 2000 census)
  
  Example 5 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (KML, with 2010 census)
  
  Example 6 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (Google Maps URL, with 2010 census)
  
  Example 7 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, Verbose, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 8 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (TSV, Verbose, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 9 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, without census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 10 - 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 11 - PO Box 221, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 12 - PO Box 221 9355 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (CSV, Verbose, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  
  Example 13 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (XML, for an address that has a tie, without ties allowed and flipACoin as tie handling strategy - will match at street level and pick one of two options)
  
  Example 14 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (XML, for an address that has a tie, without ties allowed and revertToHierarchy as tie handling strategy - will fail at street level because it was ambigous and match at zip code because it is the next level of geography in the hierarchy)
  
  Example 15 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (XML, for an address that has a tie, with ties allowed - will return ambigous street level matches)
  
  Example 16 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (same as example #15 but TSV with header fields)
  
  Example 17 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (same as example #16 but TSV with ties not allowed and flipACoin as tie breaking strategy)
  
  Example 18 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (same as example #17 with all census years turned on)
  
  Example 19 - 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, ca, 90007 (same as example #18 with all output fields turned on [verbose=true])
  
  

API #4 - HTTP Geocode Detailed Web Service (Non-parsed) with Advanced Options

• API for non-parsed address data that can be used from scripts and http that allows advanced options to be specified

• API URL

  https://geoservices.tamu.edu/Services/Geocode/WebService/GeocoderWebServiceHttpNonParsedAdvanced_V04_04.aspx?

  API Input Fields

  This API's input field set includes all of the input and output parameters from API #2 above with the additions in the following table. Each of these are described in the techincal details. The default values used here are automatically used in API #2 above.

  Parameter	Required	Description	Values	Default value
  r	false	whether or not to use attribute relaxation	true, false	true
  ratts	false	the attributes allowed to be relaxed; only applies if shouldUseRelaxation is true	comma separated list from the following options: pre, suffix, post, city, zip	pre,suffix,post,city,zip
  sub	false	whether or not to use substring matching	true, false	true
  sou	false	whether or not to use soundex	true, false	true
  souatts	false	the attributes allowed to be soundex'ed; only applies if shouldUseSoundex is true	comma separated list from the following options: name, city	name,city
  h	false	which feature matching hierarchy to use	uncertaintyBased, u, FeatureMatchingSelectionMethod, f,	FeatureMatchingSelectionMethod
  refs	false	which reference data sources to use	all - or one or more of the following - PreComputedPoints, countyParcelData, OpenAddresses, MicrosoftFootprints, navteqAddressPoints2022, navteqAddressPoints2021, navteqAddressPoints2017, navteqAddressPoints2016, navteqAddressPoints2014, navteqAddressPoints2013, navteqAddressPoints2012, parcelCentroids, boundarySolutionsParcelCentroids, parcelGeometries, navteqStreets2022, navteqStreets2021, navteqStreets2012, navteqStreets2008, Census2022TigerLines, Census2016TigerLines, Census2015TigerLines, Census2010TigerLines, USPSTigerZipPlus4, census2020Places, census2010Places, census2000Places, census2020ConsolidatedCities, census2010ConsolidatedCities, census2020ZCTAs, census2010ZCTAs, census2000ZCTAs, ZipCodeDownloadZips2013, census2020CountySubRegions, census2010CountySubRegions, census2000CountySubRegions, census2020Counties, census2010Counties, census2000Counties, census2020States, census2010States	all

  API Output Fields and Index (for non-XML output)

  The output fields for this API are the same as API #3 above

• API Examples

  Example 1 - 9355 NE Burton Rd, Wrong City, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will fail to match a parcel because city is wrong
  
  Example 2 - 9355 NE Burton Rd, Wrong City, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Attribute Relxation on pre,suffix,city, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though city is wrong because the city attribute will be relaxed
  
  Example 3 - 9355 Berrton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will fail to match a parcel because the street name is wrong
  
  Example 4 - 9355 Berrton Way, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Soundex on street name, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though the street name is wrong because soundex is being used on the street name
  
  Example 5 - 9355 Berton Way, Bevirrly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, All options false, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will fail to match a parcel because the city name is wrong
  
  Example 6 - 9355 Berton Way, Bevirrly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Soundex on city, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will succeed in matching a parcel even though the city is wrong because soundex is being used on the city
  
  Example 7 - PO Box 123, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Feature matching hierarchy, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will match to ZIP 90210 (ZIP comes before city in the feature matching hierarchy)
  
  Example 8 - PO Box 123, Beverly Hills, ca, 90210 (XML, Verbose, Uncertainty hierarchy, with 2010 census and reference geometry)
  - will match to city Beverly Hills (smaller area = less geographic uncertainty = more accurate geocode)