NAME Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex - regular expressions for handling British postcodes VERSION version 0.006 SYNOPSIS 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; 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 my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode("AB101AA"); # returns 'AB10' my $outcode = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode( $postcode, { valid => 1 } ) or die "Invalid postcode"; ## POSTTOWNS my @posttowns = Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex->outcode_to_posttowns($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 without 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. METHODS strict_regex, 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. strict_regex_partial, 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. 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::Postcodes::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::Postcodes::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 SUPPORT Bugs / Feature Requests Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at . 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. git clone git://github.com/mjemmeson/geo-uk-postcode-regex.git AUTHOR Michael Jemmeson COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is copyright (c) 2013 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.