NAME
Geo::UK::Postcode - Object and class methods for working with British postcodes.
SYNOPSIS
# See Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex for parsing/matching postcodes
use Geo::UK::Postcode;
my $pc = Geo::UK::Postcode->new("wc1h9eb");
$pc->raw; # wc1h9eb - as entered
$pc->as_string; # WC1H 9EB - output in correct format
"$pc"; # stringifies, same output as '->as_string'
$pc->fixed_format; # 8 characters, the incode always last three
$pc->area; # WC
$pc->district; # 1
$pc->subdistrict; # H
$pc->sector; # 9
$pc->unit; # EB
$pc->outcode; # WC1H
$pc->incode; # 9EB
$pc->strict; # true if matches strict regex
$pc->valid; # true if matches strict regex and has a valid outcode
$pc->partial; # true if postcode is for a district or sector only
$pc->non_geographical; # true if outcode is known to be
# non-geographical
# Sort Postcode objects:
use Geo::UK::Postcode qw/ pc_sort /;
my @sorted_pcs = sort pc_sort @unsorted_pcs;DESCRIPTION
An object to represent a British postcode.
For matching and parsing postcodes in a non-OO manner (for form validation, for example), see Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex
For geo-location (finding latitude and longitude) see "GEO-LOCATING POSTCODES".
Currently undef development - feedback welcome. Basic API unlikely to change greatly, just more features/more postcodes supported - see "TODO" list.
METHODS
raw
Returns exact string that the object was constructed from.
as_string
$pc->as_string;
# or:
"$pc";Stringification of postcode object, returns postcode with a single space between outcode and incode.
fixed_format
my $fixed_format = $postcode->fixed_format;Returns the full postcode in a fixed length (8 character) format, with extra padding spaces inserted as necessary.
area, district, subdistrict, sector, unit
Return the corresponding part of the postcode, undef if not present.
outcode
The first half of the postcode, before the space - comprises of the area and district.
incode
The second half of the postcode, after the space - comprises of the sector and unit. Returns an empty string if not present.
outward, inward
Aliases for outcode and incode.
valid
if ($pc->valid) {
...
}Returns true if postcode has valid outcode and matches strict regex.
partial
if ($pc->partial) {
...
}Returns true if postcode is not a full postcode, either a postcode district ( e . g . AB10 ) or postcode sector (e.g. AB10 1).
strict
if ($pc->strict) {
...
}Returns true if postcode matches strict regex, meaning all characters are valid ( although postcode might not exist ) .
non_geographical
if ($pc->non_geographical) {
...
}Returns true if the outcode is known to be non-geographical. Note that geographical outcodes may have non-geographical postcodes within them.
(Non-geographical postcodes are used for PO Boxes, or organisations receiving large amounts of post).
bfpo
if ($pc->bfpo) {
...
}Returns true if postcode is mapped to a BFPO number (British Forces Post Office).
posttowns
my (@posttowns) = $postcode->posttowns;Returns list of one or more posttowns that this postcode is assigned to.
EXPORTABLE
pc_sort
my @sorted_pcs = sort pc_sort @unsorted_pcs;Exportable sort function, sorts postcode objects in a useful manner. The sort is in the following order: area, district, subdistrict, sector, unit (ascending alphabetical or numerical order as appropriate).
GEO-LOCATING POSTCODES
Postcodes can be geolocated by obtaining the Ordnance Survey 'Code-Point' data (or the free 'Code-Point Open' data).
For full details of using this class with Code-Point data, see: Geo::UK::Postcode::Manual::Geolocation.
SEE ALSO
AUTHOR
Michael Jemmeson <mjemmeson@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2014- Michael Jemmeson
LICENSE
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.