MapInfo Pro begins by comparing the street address in the target table with the street addresses in the source table. When it finds an exact match, it may be finished or it may have to deal with region information, such as town, county, or postal code area.
When MapInfo Pro cannot match the street name for a particular row, it applies the abbreviation file to the target address. This file consists of pairs of items, such as "STREET ST" and "AVE AV". When MapInfo Pro finds "STREET" in a target address, it changes it into "ST"; similarly it changes "AVE" to "AV". MapInfo Pro does not actually change your data in the target table. It substitutes abbreviations only for the purpose of making matches. The substitution is only effective during the matching process. The address in your table remains the same. It does not write the correct address form back to your table.
Once MapInfo Pro has made an abbreviation substitution it attempts to match the resulting street name against the street names in the source table. When it fails to find an exact match at this point it:
- In Automatic mode, it moves to the next row
- In Interactive mode, it presents you with the closest matches and you pick the best match. MapInfo Pro then moves on to the next row.
At this point MapInfo Pro will have done the best it can at identifying street names. The next step is to deal with address numbers for those addresses where it has matched a name.