nearby.org.uk Geocoder
This page documents a geocoder/coordinate converter service, that brings together various conversions that this site can perform. It is not a true geocoder(wikipedia) in the true sense of the word, in that its unable to convert full textual address, I think its more of a coordinate converter that happens to perform some basic geocoding function. Currently can handle GB Grid References, Worldwide Lat/Long, US Zipcodes, and UK Postcodes. The postcodes are also useable in reverse geocoding fashion in that you can lookup the nearest postcode to a location. Try out these conversions online in the onlinecoordinate converter
Evolution 0.8v 28/02/2008* (c)
Barry Hunter
*
Added GeoHash conversion
Getting an API key
At this stage a key is required to
be able trace use of the service.
NEW: Signup for a API key HERE
I quite happy
for this to be used in non profit applications.
If you wish to use this
in a commercial application, then bear in mind I can offer no guarantees about
availability.
If however there is interest I will consider creating a
commercial version, (maybe even with full postcodes).
Even if you are only interesting in Postcodes, then please Signup to downlaoad a CSV with to lat/long only and/or contact me to get various formats of the sector postcodes dumps, as that would probably be
less resource hungary than quering a webservice.
Similarlly if only interested in the Lat/Long to/from Grid
Refernce (or other coordinate conversions) as can probably supply source
code for php/perl. (but first see the Downloads page)
Interface
Pseudo REST
Connect to the following URL:
http://www.nearby.org.uk/api/convert.php
With the following GET parameters: Items in with this background might not be fully working yet!
| Name | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| key | You unique API key [insert-key-here] | a4fe23c9d8ce |
| p | coordinate you want to convert! - should be url encoded (ie spaces as + or %20) etc | sh434678 |
| in | (optional) the type of coordinate, see list below. If you supply this then a conversion to this type is tried first, otherwise will try the auto list. Useful if your coordinate could be ambigious! | gr-osgb36 |
| want | (optional) seperated list of coordinates you want, as many as possible will be supplied. If missing will supply the most common. special value of all can be used to get all possible. | gr-osgb36,en-osgb36 |
| need | (optional) coordinate type required. If this one can be provided ONLY this will be returned, otherwise will return as many of the 'want' as possible. | ll-wgs84 |
| output | (optional) the output format, see list below, defaults to plain text format. | text |
SOAP
Using nusoap lib have started creating a SOAP server version of the service.
http://www.nearby.org.uk/api/convert-soap.php
This can be considered highly experiemental, click the above link for the WSDL definition. Input parameters are the same as the REST interface. The output is also the same with the relevent text/xml being output in the 'return' perameter, however only the use of text (the default) is recommended. You can test out the servicce here using soapclient.com.
Coordinate Formats
Items in Gray are being developed as you read this!
| type-datum | example input | example output | converts to |
|---|---|---|---|
| British National Grid (datum: OSGB36) | |||
| gr-osgb36 | SH 123678 (spaces are ignored - any length accepted) |
<gr datum="osgb36" gr="SH5456" digits="4" /> (returns longest needed to specify the location) |
en-osgb36/ postcode-uk |
| gr10-osgb36 | ---- unused (defaults to gr-osgb36) ---- | <gr10 datum="osgb36" gr10="TQ 38663 38424" /> | (output only) |
| en-osgb36 | 435657,654657 | <en datum="osgb36" e="254000" n="356000" /> | gr-osgb36/ ll-wgs84 |
| Longitude and Latitude (datum: WGS84) | |||
| ll-wgs84 | 51.1307,-0.01584 (decimal degrees ONLY) |
<ll datum="wgs84" lat="53.0812" long="-4.1811" /> | en-osgb36/ en-irish/ postcode-us/ utm-wgs84 |
| Gazetteer Info (datum: none) | |||
| gaz-na | ---unimplemented--- | <gaz country="United Kingdom" /> <gaz country="United States" city="Portsmouth" state="NH" /> <gaz country="United Kingdom" postcode_area="Redhill" /> |
(output only) Determined in various ways the county is ofen very approximate! |
| Irish Grid (datum: Irish65) | |||
| gr-irish | G5468 (spaces are ignored - any length accepted) |
<gr datum="irish" gr="G5456" digits="4" /> (returns longest needed to specify the location) |
en-irish |
| gr10-irish | ---- unused (defaults to gr-irish) ---- | <gr10 datum="irish" gr10="S 38663 38424" /> | (output only) |
| en-irish | 435657,654657 OSI | <en datum="irish" e="254000" n="356000" /> | gr-irish/ ll-wgs84 |
| UTM (datum: wgs84) | |||
| utm-wgs84 | 12E 456463.99 3335334.04 | <utm datum="wgs84" e="456463.99047613" n="3335334.0478552" lngZone="12" latZone="E" string="12E 456463 3335334" /> | ll-wgs84 |
| UK Postcode | |||
| postcode-uk | RH19 1DZ ONLY Sector data is read (ie last two chars are ignored) |
<postcode datum="uk" postcode="LL27 0" level="Sector" distance="8.4969" bearing="71.251589732408" heading="east-northeast" /> | en-osgb36 |
| US Zipcode | |||
| postcode-us | 54456 | <postcode datum="us" postcode="4013" distance="0.00794" /> | ll-wgs84 |
| IARU Locator, Maidenhead Locator System or QTH locator system (datum: WGS84) | |||
| iaru-wgs84 | IO82AX REQUIRES: &in=iaru-wgs84 |
<iaru datum="wgs84" locator="IO82AX" /> | ll-wgs84 |
| GeoHash | |||
| geohash-wgs84 | u1031d9p REQUIRES: &in=geohash-wgs84 |
<geohash datum="wgs84" geohash="u1031d9p"/> | ll-wgs84 |
| type-datum | example input | example output | converts to |
| Special Convertions (exceptions to rules above!) | |||
| postcode-uk | RH19 1DZ USE: &want=iaru-wgs84 |
<iaru datum="wgs84" locator="IO82AX" /> | iaru-wgs84 |
| nearby.org.uk also has the capalibility to provide information in the following formats, which shows the geek in me! I'll consider adding adding any of these to the geocoder on request. | |
Coordinates
Links
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Datasets
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Output Formats
| name | Example | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| http://www.nearby.org.uk/api/convert.php?key=insert-key-here&p=rh161dt&output=text | |||||||||||||||||||||
| text | en,osgb36,538930,138706 gr10,osgb36,TQ 38930 38706 gr,osgb36,TQ3893038706,10 ll,wgs84,51.130787637252,-0.015848681521876 TIP, first break on newlines "\n", then break on commas To make it easier to understand laid out as a table: (compare with the XML version to see the 'titles' of each field - each coordinate type has fixed fields)
|
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| php example | rough
demo: <?php $input = "rh161dt"; $key = "insert-key-here"; $data = file_get_contents("http://www.nearby.org.uk/api/convert.php?key=$key&p=$input&output=text&want=ll-wgs84"); $lines = explode("\n",$data); //becuase there can be multiple lines... $data = explode(',',$lines[0]); print "lat = ".floatval($data[2])."<br/>"; print "long = ".floatval($data[3])."<br/>"; ?> |
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| http://www.nearby.org.uk/api/convert.php?key=insert-key-here&p=rh161dt&output=sxml | |||||||||||||||||||||
| sxml | <?xml version="1.0"
encoding="UTF-8"?> <convert> <input> <postcode datum="uk" postcode="RH19 1DZ" level="Unit"/> </input> <output> <en datum="osgb36" e="538930" n="138706"/> <gr10 datum="osgb36" gr10="TQ 38930 38706"/> <gr datum="osgb36" gr="TQ3893038706" digits="10"/> <ll datum="wgs84" lat="51.130787637252" long="-0.015848681521876"/> </output> </convert> |
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| Auto Generated XML Schema: convert.xsd and convert.dtd utility at: http://www.hitsw.com/xml_utilites/ |
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- EarthTools.org - Get Local-Time, Sunrise/SubSet Time, or Height of a Lat/Long
- Gaze Placename Gazetter - also includes Population Density
- GeoNames.org - Get flexible Postal-code and Placename Geocoding (inc Reverse) and an Altitude service - good country coverage
- 01792.org - Basic Postcode lookup using the Outward Code only
- geocoder.ca - Canadian (Reverse &) Geocoder
- developer.yahoo.net - US Geocoder (50k hits a day!)
- geocoder.us - US Geocoder (another)
- worldKit Geocoder - US street address, zip code, or international city
- wsfinder.jot.com - Links to other Map sources and Geocoders
- mapki.com - Google Maps API Wiki, includes a good list of geocoders
- Google (but not UK postcodes), Yahoo, Microsoft, MapQuest, Multimap and a few other big vendors now offer free Free Geocoders, I'll leave it an exercise in using a search engine to find them (but may mention them on my blog)
Tags: geocode, geocoding, postcode, api, uk, webservice, geocoder, gps, lat, mapping, maps, web, zipcode