Address Verification (QAS) - Reference
QAS Version
By default, the Address Verification (QAS) node supports version 6 of Experion QAS. If you need to perform La Poste-certified French address verification, you must use version 4.7 of QAS. Contact SAS technical support for information about obtaining this version.
Output Fields
The following table contains a list of possible output fields for the Address Verification (QAS) node.
Note: Not all output fields are available for all countries.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Output Line 1 | This is the first line in your address. |
| Output Line 2 | This is an additional line for the address. Not all addresses carry to more than one line. If there is no data for this address line, the line is blank. |
| Output Line 3 | This is an additional line for the address. Not all addresses carry to more than one line. If there is no data for this address line, the line is blank. |
| Output Line 4 | This is an additional line for the address. Not all addresses carry to more than one line. If there is no data for this address line, the line is blank. |
| Locality | Locality is the city name for the address. |
| State Code | The State Code is an abbreviation of the state. |
| Postcode | The Postcode is a postal code for the state and territory for the selected country. |
| Country | This is the country represented in the address. |
| Town | The Town field is the city or town in the address. |
| County | This is the county where the address is located. |
Configuring Address Verification (QAS)
When you install SAS Data Management Studio, a set of default configuration files is provided for the Address Verification (QAS) node. Verify that the default values are appropriate and update these files as needed.
There are three files that require changes before you can begin using the Address Verification (QAS) node. These files are qalicn.ini, qaworld.ini, and qawserve.ini.
Important: If you have existing SAS Data Management Studio jobs that include the Address Verification (QAS) node, your jobs will not work. You must reconfigure your existing jobs to work with QAS 6.x.
For more information about configuring QAS, refer to the QuickAddress Batch API Guide. You can also review the country-specific documents provided with your QAS data installation.
qalicn.ini File
This QAS license file is located in the bin directory in your SAS Data Management Studio installation (by default, C:\Program Files\SAS\SAS Data Management Studio\[version]\bin\qalicn.ini). Open the license file in a text editor and copy your license key for each country to the license file.
Note: Each country license key must be on a separate line.
qaworld.ini File
In the qaworld.ini file, verify that the CountryBase, InputLineCount, and AddressLineCount parameters are correct.
CountryBase Parameter
Under [ALL], set the value of the CountryBase parameter equal to one or more country prefixes for the countries you have installed. For example, for Australia, add the following line to the qaworld.ini file:
[ALL]
CountryBase=AUS
If you have more than one country prefix, separate each country with a space.
CountryBase=AUS GBR FRA
Refer to the International Address Data lists on the QAS Web site, for a complete list of countries.
InputLineCount Parameter
Set the value of the InputLineCount parameter with the country. Add the country prefix to the parameter name and set the count equal to the number of lines your input addresses contain. For example, to define six lines for your Australia data, enter:
[ALL]
CountryBase=AUS
AUSInputLineCount=6
AddressLineCount Parameter
Set the value of the AddressLineCount parameter. Add the country prefix to the parameter name and set the count equal to the total number of lines. Then, specify which address element will appear on which line in the input address by setting the value of the AddressLine parameter equal to a comma-separated list of element codes. For example:
[ALL]
CountryBase=AUS
AUSInputLineCount=6
AUSAddressLineCount=8
When you are finished setting up your Australia data in qaworld.ini, it should look similar to this:
[ALL]
CountryBase=AUS
AUSInputLineCount=6
AUSAddressLineCount=8
AUSAddressLine1=W60
AUSAddressLine2=W60
AUSAddressLine3=W60
AUSAddressLine4=W60,L21
AUSAddressLine5=W60,L11
AUSAddressLine6=W60,C11
AUSAddressLine7=W60,X11
AUSAddressLine8=W120,L21,L11,C11,X11
The following options are important for performance:
BatchTimeout Parameter
Specifies the time in milliseconds that the batch will wait until it finds a correspondence in the data set. This value can be reduced to increase performance.
CacheLevel Parameter
Specifies whether the QAS database is partially loaded into memory (Default) or completely loaded into memory (All). If you have enough memory available, the All setting can increase performance significantly.
qawserve.ini File
In the qawserve.ini file, you must specify the following parameters. If more than one country prefix is added to the parameter, each subsequent country prefix should be typed on a new line and preceded by a + (plus sign). For a complete list of supported countries, refer to the International Address Data lists on the QAS Web site.
DataMappings Parameter
Set the value of the DataMappings parameter equal to the country prefix, country name, and the country prefix again. Separate each value by a comma. For example:
DataMappings=AUS,Australia,AUS
InstalledData Parameter
Set the value of the InstalledData parameter equal to the country prefix and installation path. Separate each value by a comma. For example:
InstalledData=AUS,C:\Program Files\QAS\Aus\
InstalledCountries Parameter
Set the value of the InstalledCountries parameter equal to the path to the countries data set. For example:
InstalledCountries=FRX,France,C:\Program Files (x86)\QAS\Data\Frx.001\frx
In the previous example path, frx is the name of the countries data set. For more information about configuring the qawserve.ini file, see the QuickAddress Batch API Guide and the country-specific data guides.
qaapi.ini File (optional log file)
If desired, you can specify a path to a log file for QAS processing. See the item about
Troubleshooting
What does it mean if I receive this error when I try to open the QAS node Properties dialog?
Failure while retrieving the country list; country name is invalid
This usually means that you have at least one country listed in the CountryBase setting (in the qaworld.ini file) that is not referenced in the qawserve.ini file, or there could be a typographical error in the qawserve.ini file that is preventing the data from being loaded.
If you encounter any unexpected errors while using the address Verification (QAS) node, use the following information to troubleshoot the problem.
The best way to find out which file is affected is to turn on logging in the qaworld.ini file (located in C:\Program Files\SAS\Unity\[version]\bin\qaworld.ini). The settings to add/change are:
LogFile=/usr/[username]/api.log
LogTrace=-1
LogErrors=Yes
QAS Data Expires and Must be Refreshed
QAS data becomes old and must be refreshed from time to time. You will be prompted when it is time to refresh QAS data.
Where can I find more information about the Address Verification (QAS) node?
The SAS Data Management Studio Address Verification (QAS) node accesses QuickAddress Software (QAS). You will find detailed QAS documentation with your country data installation. You can also review the QuickAddress Batch API Guide.