NAME Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex 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: 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. VALIDATION METHODS The following methods are for validating postcodes to various degrees. Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex::Simple may provide a more convenient way of using and customising these. 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. PARSING METHODS The following methods are for parsing postcodes or strings containing postcodes. PARSING_OPTIONS The parsing methods can take the following options, passed via a hashref: strict Postcodes must not contain invalid characters according to the postcode specification. For example a 'Q' may not appear as the first character. valid Postcodes must contain an outcode (area + district) that currently exists, in addition to conforming to the "strict" definition. 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. 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, \%options ); Returns hashref of the constituent parts. outcode my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode( $pc, \%options ); Extract the outcode (area and district) from a postcode string. Will work on full or partial postcodes. LOOKUP METHODS 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 * Geo::UK::Postcode * Geo::Address::Mail::UK * Geo::Postcode * Data::Validation::Constraints::Postcode * CGI::Untaint::uk_postcode * Form::Validator::UKPostcode AUTHOR Michael Jemmeson 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.