NAME
Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex - regular expressions for handling British postcodes
VERSION
version 0.009
SYNOPSIS
See Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex::Simple for an alternative interface.
use Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex;
## REGULAR EXPRESSIONS
my $lax_re = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->regex;
my $strict_re = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->regex_strict;
my $valid_re = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->valid_regex;
# matching only
if ( $foo =~ $lax_re ) {...}
if ( $foo =~ $strict_re ) {...}
if ( $foo =~ $valid_re ) {...}
# matching and using components - see also parse()
if ( $foo =~ $lax_re ) {
my ( $area, $district, $sector, $unit ) = ( $1, $2, $3, $4 );
my $subdistrict = $district =~ s/([A-Z])$// ? $1 : undef;
...
}
if ( $foo =~ $strict_re ) {
my ( $area, $district, $sector, $unit ) = ( $1, $2, $3, $4 );
my $subdistrict = $district =~ s/([A-Z])$// ? $1 : undef;
...
}
if ( $foo =~ $valid_re ) {
my ( $outcode, $sector, $unit ) = ( $1, $2, $3 );
...
}
## VALIDATION METHODS
use Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex qw/ is_valid_pc is_strict_pc is_lax_pc /;
if (is_valid_pc("GE0 1UK")) {
...
}
if (is_strict_pc("GE0 1UK")) {
...
}
if (is_lax_pc("GE0 1UK")) {
...
}
## PARSING
my $parsed = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->parse("WC1H 9EB");
# returns:
# { area => 'WC',
# district => '1',
# subdistrict => 'H',
# sector => '9',
# unit => 'EB',
# outcode => 'WC1H',
# incode => '9EB',
# valid_outcode => 1 | 0,
# strict => 1 | 0,
# partial => 1 | 0,
# non_geographical => 1 | 0,
# bfpo => 1 | 0,
# }
# strict parsing (only valid characters):
...->parse( $pc, { strict => 1 } )
# valid outcodes only
...->parse( $pc, { valid => 1 } )
# match partial postcodes, e.g. 'WC1H', 'WC1H 9'
...->parse( $pc, { partial => 1 } )
## EXTRACT OUTCODE FROM POSTCODE
my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode("AB101AA"); # returns 'AB10'
my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode( $postcode, { valid => 1 } )
or die "Invalid postcode";
## EXTRACT POSTCODES FROM TEXT
# \%options as per parse, excluding partial
my @extracted = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->extract( $text, \%options );
## POSTTOWNS
my @posttowns = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode_to_posttowns($outcode);
## OUTCODES
my @outcodes = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->posttown_to_outcodes($posttown);DESCRIPTION
Parsing UK postcodes with regular expressions. This package has been separated from Geo::UK::Postcode so it can be installed and used with fewer dependencies.
Can handle partial postcodes (just the outcode or sector) and can test against valid characters and currently valid outcodes.
Also can determine the posttown(s) from a postcode.
Districts and post town information taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcode_districts
NOTES AND LIMITATIONS
When parsing a partial postcode, whitespace may be required to separate the outcode from the sector.
For example the sector 'B1 1' cannot be distinguished from the district 'B11' without whitespace. This is not a problem when parsing full postcodes.
METHODS
regex, strict_regex, valid_regex
Return regular expressions to parse postcodes and capture the constituent parts: area, district, sector and unit (or outcode, sector and unit in the case of valid_regex).
strict_regex checks that the postcode only contains valid characters according to the postcode specifications.
valid_regex checks that the outcode currently exists.
regex_partial, strict_regex_partial, valid_regex_partial
As above, but matches on partial postcodes of just the outcode or sector
is_valid_pc, is_strict_pc, is_lax_pc
if (is_valid_pc( "AB1 2CD" ) ) { ... }Alternative way to access the regexes.
extract
my @extracted = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->extract( $string, \%options );Returns a list of full postcodes extracted from a string.
parse
my $parsed = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->parse( $pc, \%opts );Returns hashref of the constituent parts.
Options:
- strict
-
Returns false if string contains invalid characters (e.g. a Q as first letter)
- valid
-
Returns false if string is not a currently existing outcode.
- partial
-
Allows partial postcodes to be matched. In practice this means either an outcode ( area and district ) or an outcode together with the sector .
outcode
my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode( $pc, \%opts );Extract the outcode (area and district) from a postcode string. Will work on full or partial postcodes.
Second argument is a hashref of options - see parse()
outcode_to_posttowns
my ( $posttown1, $posttown2, ... )
= Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode_to_posttowns($outcode);Returns posttown(s) for supplied outcode.
Note - most outcodes will only have one posttown, but some are shared between two posttowns.
posttown_to_outcodes
my @outcodes = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->posttown_to_outcodes($posttown);Returns the outcodes covered by a posttown. Note some outcodes are shared between posttowns.
outcodes_lookup
my %outcodes = %{ Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcodes_lookup };
print "valid outcode" if $outcodes{$outcode};
my @posttowns = @{ $outcodes{$outcode} };Hashref of outcodes to posttown(s);
posttowns_lookup
my %posttowns = %{ Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->posttowns_lookup };
print "valid posttown" if $posttowns{$posttown};
my @outcodes = @{ $[posttowns{$posttown} };Hashref of posttown to outcode(s);
SEE ALSO
SUPPORT
Bugs / Feature Requests
Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at https://github.com/mjemmeson/Geo-UK-Postcode-Regex/issues. You will be notified automatically of any progress on your issue.
Source Code
This is open source software. The code repository is available for public review and contribution under the terms of the license.
https://github.com/mjemmeson/Geo-UK-Postcode-Regex
git clone https://github.com/mjemmeson/Geo-UK-Postcode-Regex.gitAUTHOR
Michael Jemmeson <mjemmeson@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2014 by Michael Jemmeson.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.