Hi Naomi,

You don't really need tables for abbreviations unless the data is really "noisy". It can be done heuristically if done in the proper order. See the code in my post to Tracy a few minutes ago.

>
>This is not really a simple task. We had a whole complex application in my old job designed to do Address Standardization. I can post some methods from this old application of mine to give your ideas. Basically, you would need a table for street abbreviations, table for Post and Pre directional, table for Streets, etc.
>
>There was also a quite interesting article by Andrew Coates, that may be helpful... Check out his site and look for parsing.
>
>>This must've been done a thousand times already. I have parsed addresses before but I cannot seem to wrap my head around this today. (Friday)
>>
>>Some examples of user typed values:
>>

>>100 N Main St
>>3001 No W Rubick Ave     && number=3001, st_prefix = No, Street=W Rubick, st_type = Ave
>>12 Sycamore Dairy Rd NW  && number = 12, street=Sycamore Dairy, st_type=Rd, st_suffix = NW
>>1312 S Cain St E Suite A10 && number = 1313, st_prefix=S, street=Cain, st_type=St, st_suffix=E, apt_room=Suite A10
>>100 N Main St NW Ste 110
>>210 Jones Dr Apt 1E
>>8700 Smith Rd
>>

>>Parse the values typed above into these fields:
>>

>>number c(10)        && 100, 3001, 12, 1312, 100, 210, ...
>>st_prefix c(10)     && NW, S, E, NE...
>>street c(30)        && Main, Cain, ...
>>st_type c(10)       && Blvd, ST, AV, ...
>>st_suffix c(10)     && NW, S, E, NE, ...
>>apt_room c(10)      && Apt 102, Suite 109, etc...
>>

>>
>>Anyone up to the task on a Friday?
>>
>>TIA,
>>Tracy