Addressing Databases - 23.1

U.S. Postal Database

The U.S. Postal Database is in a Precisely proprietary format. It contains every house number range in the United States and is updated on a monthly basis. The database files contain the following information:

• ZIP + 4® Code
• Standardized address elements
• City and state information

The U.S. Postal Database also contains the data needed to perform Enhanced Street Matching (ESM) and All Street Matching (ASM). ESM and ASM apply extra matching logic to any input address that is not matched through the regular address validation process.

Required for U.S. address processing

Canadian Postal Database

The Canadian Postal database is in Precisely proprietary format. The database files contain the following information:

• Postal code
• Standardized address elements
• Municipality and province information

Required for Canadian address processing

International Postal Database

The International Postal Database is a collection of postal address data from around the world. Data from each country is categorized according to the level of data available. The categories are:

• Category A—Enables the validation and correction of an address's postal code, city name, state/county name, street address elements, and country name.
• Category B—Enables the validation and correction of an address's postal code, city name, state/county name, and country name. It does not support the validation or correction of street address elements.
• Category C—Enables the validation and correction of the country name, and the validation of the format of the postal code.

Required for International address processing

DPV® Database

The Delivery Point Validation database allows you to check the validity of an individual mailing address in the U.S. The DPV database enhances the U.S. Postal database's ability to validate mailing addresses.

Each time an edition of the U.S. Postal database is released, a corresponding edition of the DPV database is released. Although USPS licensing allows the use of the U.S. Postal database beyond the expiration date (with certain restrictions), DPV lookups may not be performed after the expiration date of the DPV database.

USPS licensing prohibits using DPV data for the generation of addresses or address lists. To prevent the generation of address lists, the DPV database contains "false positive records." False positive records are artificially manufactured addresses. For each negative response that occurs in a DPV query, a query is made to the False/Positive table in the DPV database. A match to this table will stop DPV processing.

USPS licensing also prohibits exporting the DPV data outside the United States.

Optional, but required for CASS Certified™ processing; U.S. addresses only

eLOT® Database

The Enhanced Line of Travel ( eLOT) database is a U.S. address database that ensures that Enhanced Carrier Route mailings are sorted as close as possible to the actual delivery sequence. the eLOT database is required for certain types of postal discounts.

You will receive monthly updates to your eLOT database on the same media as the U.S. Postal database.

You must install the U.S. Postal database and eLOT database from the same month (for example, September eLOT data must be processed with a September U.S. Postal database). If the U.S. Postal database and the eLOT database are not from the same month, there may be ZIP + 4® Codes for which eLOT numbers cannot be assigned. The ZIP Code™, ZIP + 4 Code, carrier route code, and the delivery point of an address must be provided to assign a eLOT code.

Optional; U.S. addresses only

EWS Database

The Early Warning System (EWS) database prevents address validation errors that can result due to a delay in postal data reaching the U.S. Postal database.

The EWS database consists of partial address information limited to the ZIP Code™, street name, pre- and post-directionals, and a suffix. For an address record to be EWS-eligible, it must be an address not present on the most recent monthly production U.S. Postal database.

The USPS® refreshes the EWS file on a weekly basis (Thursdays). You can download the EWS file from the USPS® website at https://postalpro.usps.com/.

Optional; U.S. addresses only

LACS^Link® Database

The LACS^Link database allows you to correct addresses that have changed as a result of a rural route address converting to street-style address, a PO Box renumbering, or a street-style address changing.

USPS licensing prohibits using LACS^Link for the generation of addresses or address lists. To prevent the generation of address lists, the LACS^Link database contains "false positive records." False positive records are artificially manufactured addresses. For each negative response that occurs in a LACS^Link query, a query is made to the False/Positive table in the LACS^Link database. A match to this table will stop LACS^Link processing.

USPS licensing also prohibits exporting the LACS^Link database outside the United States

Optional, but required for CASS Certified™ processing; U.S. addresses only

RDI™ Database

The Residential Delivery Indicator (RDI™) file processing determines whether an address is a residential, business, or mixed (residential and/or business) address.

RDI is similar to DPV. In RDI, data is supplied as hash tables. However, RDI is a much simpler process than DPV. In DPV, the standard hash algorithm is determined only for the 9-digit and 11-digit ZIP Code™ rather than the entire address.

Optional; U.S. addresses only