Optional Arguments

DATA=address-data-set

specifies the SAS data set that contains address observations that you want to geocode. If you do not specify this option, then the most recently created SAS data set is used.

ADDRESSCITYVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the input address data set that contains the city names.

Default:CITY

ADDRESSCOUNTRYVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the input address data set that contains the country name or identifier. The variable value can contain either a two- or three-character country name abbreviation. If your input variable has a length of two characters, then the ISOALPHA2 variable in the lookup city data set is used by default for geocoding. If your input variable has a length of three characters, then the ISOALPHA3 variable in the lookup city data set is used by default for geocoding.

Default:None

Requirement:This option is required for geocoding outside of the United States.

Notes:The use of this option implies that you are geocoding non-US locations.

When this option is specified, the default CITY lookup data set is MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES. If this option is not used, the GEOCODE procedure assumes that you are geocoding U.S. locations and uses MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL as the default lookup data set.

Tip:In some cases this option can reference an input data set variable that contains complete country names rather than abbreviated ISO values. In these cases use the option LOOKUPCOUNTRYVAR=character-variable to specify the associated variable in your lookup data set.

ADDRESSPLUS4VAR=variable

specifies the variable in the input address data set that contains ZIP+4 extensions. The variable can be either numeric or character, but it must be the same type as the ZIP+4 variable in the lookup data set (LOOKUPPLUS4VAR=).

Default:PLUS4

Note:The variables that you specify for ADDRESSPLUS4VAR= and ADDRESSZIPVAR= must be the same data type.

ADDRESSSTATEVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the input address data set that contains the two-character postal abbreviation for each state. This variable contains the two-character state abbreviation (for example, NY).

Default:STATE

ADDRESSVAR=variable

specifies the address variable for STREET, CUSTOM, or RANGE geocoding. For STREET geocoding, specifies the variable in the address data set that contains the street address values (for example, "1229 North Main St.")

For CUSTOM and RANGE geocoding, the ADDRESSVAR= option specifies the variable in the address data set that contains non-address input values. The variable can be character or numeric.

Default:For STREET geocoding, the default name is ADDRESS.

Interaction:For the CUSTOM method of geocoding, this option is used in conjunction with the LOOKUPVAR= option to geocode with unconventional values. Examples of unconventional variable values include internal sales territories, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

ADDRESSZIPVAR=variable

specifies the variable in the input address data set that contains the 5-digit ZIP code values or non-US postcode values. The variable can be either numeric or character, but it must be the same type as the ZIP code variable in the lookup data set (specified by the LOOKUPZIPVAR= option).

Default:ZIP

Restriction:The values for the ZIP code variable must be five digits. You can use the Z5. format to prepend leading zeros to any ZIP code values that have fewer than five digits.

Note: Postcodes from other countries can also be used if the appropriate lookup data is imported into a SAS data set. See Non-U.S. Postcodes for more information.

ATTRIBUTEVAR=(variable-1, variable-2, ...variable-n)

lists non-geocoding variables in the lookup data set that are to be added to the output data set. The values are based on the geocoded location. Examples include county, census block, and time zone. Variable names can be separated by commas or spaces.

Notes:The values for additional attribute variables are not added to observations in the output data set where the match type is “City mean” or “ZIP mean”.

If an attribute variable has the same name as a variable in the address data set, then that attribute variable is not added to the output data set.

For the STREET geocoding method, only attribute variables from the street segment lookup data set can be included.

Only attribute values from the primary lookup data set that are associated with the specified geocoding method can be added to the output data set. For example, with the STREET geocoding method, you cannot specify that attribute variables be added from the ZIP or CITY lookup data sets. To add attribute variables from the ZIP lookup data set, you must run the GEOCODE procedure a second time. This second run uses the ZIP method on the addresses for which no STREET match was found.

Example:ATTRIBUTEVAR=(STATENAME, COUNTYNM)

BEGINRANGEVAR=variable

specifies the numeric variable in your range data set that contains the beginning IP address for each range of addresses.

ENDRANGEVAR=variable

specifies the numeric variable in your range data set that contains the ending IP address for each range of addresses.

FIPS=FIPS-data-set

specifies a SAS data set that is used with the STREET geocoding method to convert two-character state postal abbreviations and city names into US FIPS codes.

Default:The SASHELP.PLFIPS data set.

Restriction:The values of the city and state variables in the FIPS data set must be uppercase.

LOOKUP=lookup-data-set

specifies a SAS data set that associates coordinates with addresses for non-city methods. When the geocoding method is ZIP, RANGE, or CUSTOM, the data set is searched for observations that match the address observations. The variables that are required for your lookup data set depend on your geocoding method. See About Alternate ZIP Code Lookup Data.

You can specify that non-geocoding variables such as COUNTY, TIME ZONE, and AREA CODE from the lookup data set be added to the output data set. Do this by using the ATTRIBUTEVAR= option in the PROC GEOCODE statement.

Default:For the ZIP geocoding method, the default lookup data set SASHELP.ZIPCODE is used.

Restriction:This option is not valid when using the CITY geocoding method.

Requirements:For either the RANGE or CUSTOM geocoding method, you must specify the lookup data set with the LOOKUP= option.

Prior to the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, you specified the CITY method lookup data set with the LOOKUP= option. Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, you are required to use the LOOKUPCITY= option instead.

See:LOOKUPCITY=city-matching-data-set

LOOKUPCITY=city-matching-data-set

specifies the city matching data set for associating coordinates with addresses when performing CITY geocoding. Default lookup data sets are used by the GEOCODE procedure without having to specify this option. Use this option to specify an alternate lookup data set. The variables that are required in an alternate lookup data set depend on whether all of your addresses are within the United States or if there are non-U.S. addresses. See About Alternate U.S. City Lookup Data or About Alternate World City Lookup Data for a list of required variables.

The city lookup data set can also contain other attribute variables (such as ISONAME and COUNTY_NAME.You can add attribute values to the lookup data set using the ATTRIBUTEVAR=(variable-1, variable-2, ...variable-n)option.

Default:For the CITY geocoding method, when the ADDRESSCOUNTRYVAR= option is not specified, the GEOCODE procedure assumes that you are geocoding only U.S. locations and uses MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL as the default U.S. city lookup data set. When the ADDRESSCOUNTRYVVAR= option is specified, the GEOCODE procedure assumes that you are geocoding worldwide locations and uses MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES as the default international city lookup data set.

Restrictions: This option is not valid with the ZIP, RANGE, or CUSTOM geocoding method.

Prior to the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, you specified the alternate lookup data set with the LOOKUP= option when using the CITY geocoding method. Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, you are required to use the LOOKUPCITY= option instead.

LOOKUPCITYVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the lookup data set that contains the city names. The lookup data set used by the GEOCODE procedure determines which default city name variable is used.

Default:CITY with either a SASHELP.ZIPCODE or a user-created lookup data set. (The variable values do not have to be normalized.)

CITY2 when the lookup data set is MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL, MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES, or MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES_ALL. (The variable values are normalized, meaning that they are uppercased and stripped of all spaces and characters that are not alphabetic or numeric.)

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Note:The CITY variable value in the MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL, MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES, and MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES_ALL lookup data sets contains the mixed case version of the city name.

LOOKUPCOUNTRYVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the lookup data set that contains the country name or identifier. Use this option for international CITY geocoding.

Default:The default variables are either two- or three-character country name abbreviations in the MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES_ALL lookup data set. If the ADDRESSCOUNTRYVAR= option references a two-character country abbreviation (such as 'GB") in the the input address data set, the default lookup country variable name is ISOALPHA2. If the ADDRESSCOUNTRYVAR= refers to a three-character country name ('GBR"), the default lookup country variable is ISOALPHA3.

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Note:This option can also reference a lookup data set variable containing complete country names instead of abbreviations.

See:ADDRESSCOUNTRYVAR=character-variable

LOOKUPKEYVAR=variable

specifies the key variable for the lookup data set that links into the RANGE data set. The values of the key variable correspond to values in the variable that you specify for the RANGEKEYVAR= option and provide a link into the RANGEDATA= data set.

Restriction:The data type of the key variable must match the variable that you specify for the RANGEKEYVAR= option.

LOOKUPLATVAR=numeric-variable

specifies the numeric variable in the lookup data set that contains the latitude of the geocoded location. The lookup data set used by the GEOCODE procedure determines which default latitude variable is used.

Default: The LAT variable is the default when the GEOCODE procedure uses the MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL, MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES, or the MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES_ALL lookup data set.

The Y variable is the default when SASHELP.ZIPCODE or a user-created lookup data set is used.

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Notes: Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, this option supersedes the option LOOKUPYVAR=. Use this option instead of the LOOKUPYVAR= option.

The latitude variable name that you specify with this option must be contained in all of your specified lookup data sets. For example, when you specify LOOKUPLATVAR=LATITUDE with the ZIP and CITY geocoding methods, the latitude variable in your ZIP and CITY lookup data sets must contain that exact variable name.

LOOKUPLONGVAR=numeric-variable

specifies the numeric variable in the lookup data set that contains the longitude of the geocoded location. The lookup data set used by the GEOCODE procedure determines which default longitude variable is used.

Default: The LONG variable is the default when the GEOCODE procedure uses the MAPSGFK.USCITY_ALL, MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES, or the MAPSGFK.WORLD_CITIES_ALL lookup data set.

The X variable is the default when SASHELP.ZIPCODE or a user-created lookup data set is used.

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Notes: Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, this option supersedes the option LOOKUPXVAR=. Use this option instead of the LOOKUPXVAR= option.

The longitude variable name that you specify with this option must be contained in all of your specified lookup data sets. For example, when you specify LOOKUPLONGVAR=LONGITUDE with the ZIP and CITY geocoding methods, the longitude variable in your ZIP and CITY lookup data sets must contain that exact variable name.

LOOKUPPLUS4VAR=variable

specifies the variable in the lookup address data set that contains ZIP+4 extensions. The variable can be either numeric or character, but it must be the same type as the ZIP+4 variable in the input address data set (ADDRESSPLUS4VAR=).

Default:PLUS4

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

LOOKUPSTATEVAR=character-variable

specifies the character variable in the lookup data set that contains the two-character postal abbreviation for the states or provinces.

Default:STATECODE

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

LOOKUPSTREET=street-matching-data-set

specifies the street matching data set for associating coordinates with addresses when performing STREET geocoding. The GEOCODE procedure expects the street matching data set to have a name that ends with M. The library must also contain two corresponding data sets. Although the two data sets share the same base name, one name appends an S (segment) and the other name appends a P (coordinate). For example, if you specify the street matching data set MYMAPS.STREETM, then the MYMAPS library must also contain the STREETS and STREETP data sets.

For more information about the data sets for STREET geocoding, see About Street Lookup Data.

Default:The SASHELP.USM data set, which is not installed with SAS. You can download the USM, USS, and USP data sets for the entire United States from SAS Maps Online Web site at http://www.sas.com/mapsonline.

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

LOOKUPVAR=variable

specifies the variable in the lookup data set that contains non-address values. The variable can be character or numeric. For the CUSTOM method of geocoding, this option is used in conjunction with the ADDRESSVAR= option to geocode with unconventional values. Examples of unconventional variable values include internal sales territories, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), and Internet IP addresses.

Restriction:This option is used exclusively with the CUSTOM geocoding method.

LOOKUPXVAR=numeric-variable

specifies the numeric variable in the lookup data set that contains the longitude of the geocoded location.

Default:LONG

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Note: Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, this option is superseded by the option LOOKUPLONGVAR=. If you specify the LOOKUPXVAR= option, a message in the SAS log will direct you to start using the LOOKUPLONGVAR = option.

LOOKUPYVAR=numeric-variable

specifies the numeric variable in the lookup data set that contains the latitude of the geocoded location.

Default:LAT

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Note:Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, this option is superseded by the option LOOKUPLATVAR=. If you specify the LOOKUPYVAR= option, a message in the SAS log will direct you to start using the LOOKUPLATVAR = option.

LOOKUPZIPVAR=variable

specifies the variable in the lookup data set that contains the five-digit ZIP code values or the non-US postcode values. The variable can be either character or numeric, but it must be the same type as the ZIP code variable in the input address data set (ADDRESSZIPVAR=).

Default:ZIP

Restriction:The values for a character ZIP code variable must be five digits. You can use the Z5. format to prepend leading zeros to any ZIP code values that have fewer than five digits.

Requirement:This option must be specified when you include this type of variable in a lookup data set not supplied by SAS and you intend to geocode with that variable.

Note: Postcodes from other countries can also be used if the appropriate lookup data is imported into a SAS data set. See Non-U.S. Postcodes for more information.

METHOD=geocoding-method

specifies the geocoding method. This parameter is optional. Specify one of the following:

CITY

specifies the CITY geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the city and state from your address data set with the lookup data set. Separate city and state variables are required in the address and lookup data sets. If multiple matches are found in either the SASHELP.ZIPCODE or user-supplied lookup data set, then the matching latitude and longitude coordinate values are averaged.

Notes:Starting with the second maintenance release for SAS 9.3, the city and state matching methods are case sensitive.

When the GEOCODE procedure uses SASHELP.ZIPCODE as the CITY lookup data set and finds multiple matches for an address, the procedure averages the latitude and longitude values. For any other lookup data set, the latitude and longitude values for that address observation are missing and the _MATCHED_ value lists how many cities were matched.

CUSTOM

specifies the CUSTOM geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match custom variables that you specify by using the LOOKUPVAR= and ADDRESSVAR= options. Examples of custom variables include internal sales territories and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA).

Requirement:. You must use the ADDRESSVAR= option to identify the address variable in your address data. You must also use the LOOKUPVAR= option to identify the non-address variable in the lookup data set.

PLUS4

specifies the PLUS4 geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the five-digit ZIP code and ZIP+4 extension from your address data set with the lookup data set.

If no match is found, then the GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the five-digit ZIP code only. If multiple ZIP matches are found, then the matching latitude and longitude coordinate values are averaged.

If no ZIP+4 or ZIP matches are found, then the GEOCODE procedure performs CITY geocoding. If multiple CITY matches are found in the SASHELP.ZIPCODE or user-supplied lookup data set, then the matching latitude and longitude coordinate values are averaged.

Interaction:You can disable the secondary ZIP code matching by using the NOZIP option. You can disable the secondary CITY matching by using the NOCITY option.

RANGE

specifies the RANGE geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match an IP address from your address data set to a range of IP addresses from the range data set. If a match is found, then a key variable is used to match the IP address to a set of coordinates in the lookup data set.

STREET

specifies the STREET geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the street name and ZIP code. If no match is found, then the GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the street name, city name, and two-character state abbreviation. If the second match fails, then the ZIP method and the CITY method are used instead.

If a street match is found, X and Y coordinate values are interpolated by using the house number, street type suffix, directional prefix, and directional suffix from your input address.

For more information, see Understanding Street Geocoding.

Interactions:You can disable the secondary ZIP matching by using the NOZIP option.

You can disable the secondary CITY matching by using the NOCITY option.

ZIP

specifies the ZIP code geocoding method. The GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the five-digit ZIP code or non-U.S. postal code from your address data set with the lookup data set. If no match is found, then the CITY method is used instead.

Interaction:You can disable the secondary matching by using the NOCITY option.

Default:ZIP

Requirement:For a list of options that are required for each geocoding method, see Required and Optional Arguments for Geocoding.

Interaction:If you specify more than one method, then the GEOCODE procedure uses the last method that you specify as the primary geocoding method.

NOCITY

disables the secondary matching attempt by city and state if STREET or ZIP code geocoding does not find a match. By default, if ZIP code geocoding does not find a match, then the GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the city and state values. The procedure does the same calculation if STREET geocoding does not find a match for the street address or ZIP code.

Interaction:Cannot be used with the CITY geocoding method.

NOSTIMER

disables the informational messages sent to the SAS log that tracks the progress of the geocoding operation. If the input data set includes 1,000 or more observations, then the GEOCODE procedure writes periodic messages to the SAS log. The messages show the percentage of addresses completed and the estimated time remaining. This option disables those messages.

Note:Unbuffered, real-time log output is useful in monitoring the progress of large geocoding runs. The GEOCODE procedure can write messages to the log in real time only if the LOGPARM system option was set to WRITE=IMMEDIATE when the SAS session was invoked. In addition, you must be using SAS in batch mode or line mode. Setting LOGPARM=“WRITE=IMMEDIATE” causes messages to be written immediately to the SAS log rather than buffered for later output. If you are using the SAS Windowing environment, you can use the ALTLOG system option to specify a log file. In this case, only the external ALTLOG file is written immediately. The Log window output will be buffered. For more information about the LOGPARM option, see LOGPARM= System Option in SAS System Options: Reference.

NOZIP

disables the secondary matching attempt by ZIP code when PLUS4 or STREET geocoding do not find a match. By default, if PLUS4 or STREET geocoding do not find a match, then the GEOCODE procedure attempts to match the five-digit ZIP code or non-US postal code.

Interaction:Cannot be used with the ZIP geocoding method.

Note:If your data set contains many missing ZIP+4 values, then the NOZIP option might improve performance.

OUT=output-data-set

specifies a data set for the geocoded addresses. All of the variables in the input address data set are copied to the output data set. Also added to the output data set are the following:

• Longitude and latitude variables for the geocoded location of the match
• optional variables specified by the ATTRIBUTEVAR option that contain additional information about the geocoded location
• a variable named _MATCHED_ indicating how the match was made

If the output data set that you specify already exists, then it is replaced without warning. If the output data set is the same as the input data set, then the input data set is updated by the geocoding operation.

If you omit the OUT= option, then the name of the output data set is DATAn, where n is the smallest integer that produces a unique name. For example, if the DATA1 data set exists, then the default name for the output data set is DATA2.

The label of the output data set contains the text, “geocoded date” where date is the date when the output was created. This text is appended to the label from the input data set, if one exists.

Tip:You can use data set options with the OUT= option. For example, the following code specifies which variables to keep from the input data set.

proc geocode data=address
   out=geocoded (keep=name city state zip);

For more information about data set options, see SAS Data Set Options: Reference.

RANGEDATA=data-set

specifies a data set that associates ranges of IP addresses with locations. The data set should contain variables that identify the starting IP number, ending IP number, and location ID for each range of IP addresses.

RANGEDECIMAL

specifies that the values of the ADDRESSVAR= variable are in decimal form. By default, the IP addresses in the ADDRESSVAR= variable are in dotted quad notation. For example, the IP address 192.168.0.1 is represented as 3232235521 in decimal form.

RANGEKEYVAR=variable

specifies the key variable for the range data set. The values of the key variable correspond to values in the variable that you specify for the LOOKUPKEYVAR= option. They also provide a link into the LOOKUP= data set. The data type of the key variable must match the variable that you specify for the LOOKUPKEYVAR= option.

TYPE=type-data-set

specifies a SAS data set that is used by the STREET geocoding method to standardize common street address elements. For example, the type data set might standardize “parkway”, “parkwy”, and “pkwy” to a standard form “pkwy” to facilitate matching. Other examples include avenue (AVE) and boulevard (BLVD).

Default:The SASHELP.GCTYPE data set.