Address: validate

[inghamn]

We need to implement a web service api for validating addresses. Clients should send a full address string, and we return a response with the valid address that matches the string they sent.

This was part of the old master address, and needs to be there for Rental and LegalTrack.

[laurahaley]

What is included in the return? I'm curious about the status when an address is in the database but isn't current.

[inghamn]

We've never really come to a consensus on what consitutes a "valid" address. Each different application has intereted "valid" differently. (My Bloomington, Rental, LegalTrack, uReport, etc).

Master Address had a "verify" function, but it was only rudimentary. It considered an address valid if (and only if) you searched for the address string and got back one, and only one, result. Here's the code from the old Master Address:

<?php
if (count($search)) {
    $addresses = new AddressList();
    $addresses->find($search);

    // A valid address should return one and only one result
    if (count($addresses) == 1) {
        $address = $addresses[0];
    }
}

I do not believe this is really what anyone considers "valid", though.

[inghamn]

MyBloomington considered an address valid only if it was both "current" and the active address for a location. I do not believe this check was ever done in any other application, though.

https://github.com/City-of-Bloomington/myCity/blob/master/src/Application/Controllers/IndexController.php