>>>I would strongly recommend not doing it. There are specialized programs out there for parsing addresses, including some that will convert the addresses to USPS standard format.
>>>The permuations on how an address can be entered makes the programming for it extreme.
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>>And let's not forget weird street names like the "22 1/2 st" - I've seen such streets in Charlottesville and Virginia Beach.
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>>Doesn't USPS have a webservice where you can submit an address and it comes back normalized, i.e. the way they store it, even adding the four extra digits to the zip? I think I saw it mentioned here once.
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>Yes, they do. But do check the terms of usage.
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http://www.usps.com/webtools/?from=zclsearch&page=webtools> and
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http://www.usps.com/webtools/address.htmI hate those where they ask you for address, DOB, fingerprint, retina scan and DNA sample before actually mentioning whether there's a cost somewhere (no, I didn't read it through, just the number of textboxes scared me away). Couldn't they just say "we want to harvest your data first"?