Addresses in Spatial Data

To use geocoding in SAS/GIS, you must set up your spatial database to contain address information. SAS/GIS uses CLASS values for composites to identify address information in the spatial database. One of the composites must be defined as CLASS=CITY to point to the city name, and one of the composites must be defined as CLASS=ADDRESS to point to the location portion of the address. Composites that are defined with other CLASS values improve accuracy. You can use the SPATIAL CONTENTS statement in PROC GIS to view the composites that are defined for your spatial database.

The following composite CLASS values identify elements of the address information:

NAME

identifies the name component of the address feature, such as Main in the address 101 N Main Ave.

TYPE

identifies the type component of the address feature, such as Ave in the address 101 N Main Ave.

ADDRESS

identifies the specific address of the feature, such as 101 in the address 101 N Main Ave. This composite is required when doing geocoding.

A chain has four values to define the address range for each side:

FROMLEFT	beginning address on the left side.
TOLEFT	ending address on the left side.
FROMRIGHT	beginning address on the right side.
TORIGHT	ending address on the right side.

DIRECTION_PREFIX

identifies the directional prefix component of the address feature, such as N in the address 101 N Main Ave.

DIRECTION_SUFFIX

identifies the directional suffix component of the address feature, such as W in the address 1141 First St W.

CITY|PLACE

identifies the value as a city name. This composite is required when doing geocoding.

STATE

identifies the value as a state name.

ZIP

identifies the value as a ZIP code value.

PLUS4

identifies the value as a ZIP+4 extended postal code value.

You can use the SPATIAL CONTENTS statement of PROC GIS to determine whether your spatial database contains the minimum composites that are necessary to perform geocoding. Submit the following statements in the SAS Program Editor for the spatial entry that you want to geocode against:

proc gis catalog=libref.catalog;
spatial contents spatial-entry;
run;
quit;

The output that is produced by the SPATIAL CONTENTS statement will include a list of all of the composites that are defined for the specified spatial entry. If the spatial database includes address information, this list will include some or all of the composites that are defined with the required CLASS values for address information.

Copyright © 2007 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.