In addition to geocoding automatically and manually, you have choices in how precise you want the geocoded record to be. Let us look at the variety of ways you can geocode your table.
Geocoding by Address
Street addresses typically consist of two or three components:
- Street number
- Street name
- Apartment, Suite, Floor, Room number or some other piece of information. Many addresses do not have this component
MapInfo Pro has one procedure for dealing with the street number and another procedure for dealing with the street name. MapIfo Pro deals with the third component, if present, as though it were a part of the street name.
When you geocode your table with street addresses, MapInfo Pro matches the addresses in your table to the street names and address ranges in a street table, such as StreetPro (our premier streets data product) and assigns X and Y coordinates to your records. When you display your records, MapInfo Pro will spot the record at the location of the record's address. MapInfo Pro places the record on the proper side of the street, offsets it from the side of the street to the specified distance, and insets it from the end of the street the specified percentage of the line. The Options dialog box controls these parameters.
Geocoding by Boundary
In computer mapping, the term boundary is used to designate enclosed regions or areas such as countries, cities, and postal codes. When you geocode your table with boundaries, MapInfo Pro matches the boundary name in your table with the boundary name in the search table. MapInfo Pro assigns the boundary centroid X and Y coordinates to your data records. The centroid of a boundary is its approximate center point.
For example, you have a table of wholesale outlet stores. You want to assign X and Y coordinates to each record according to county. MapInfo Pro reads the county name from your table, matches it with the county name in the search table, and assigns the county centroid coordinates to each of your records. The outlet locations will display at the county centroid in a Map window.
Geocoding by US_ZIPS.TAB (Postal Code Centroid File)
US_ZIPS.TAB is a point file that is included with the base MapInfo Pro package. The file consists of postal code centroid points for every postal code in the United States. This file can be used to geocode any database that includes postal code information. This file includes postal codes that are assigned to individual buildings or companies.
You can use any of the above methods to geocode your records, or you can use a combination of address and boundary geocoding to increase the potential for a successful match.
Geocoding by Server
If you have access to a geocoding server such as MapMarker, Envinsa or Global Geocoding Server, you can geocode using a more extensive data set. See Geocoding Using a Geocoding Server for details.
Precisely also offers a cloud based Geocoding service for MapInfo Pro customers. Sign up now to activate the Precisely Global Geocoding service, and get an account with free limited number of geocodes per month. Go to the Pro tab, click Geocoding, and click Sign Up Now. See Using the Precisely Global Geocoding Server for details.