Searching for PO Boxes Using the Geocoder API - here-api

Question

I need to validate whether or not an address is a PO Box using the Geocoder API, and was thinking that the PostalCodeType result would provide me with the info, but it seems that supplying PO Box addresses returns different results.
For example, the following query is for a real-world PO Box:
?app_id={appId}&app_code={appCode}&country=USA&state=WA&searchtext=PO%20Box%20871570%20Vancouver%20WA%2098687&locationattributes=ar,mr,mv,dt,sd,ad,ai,li,in,tz,nb,rn&additionaldata=PreserveUnitDesignators,true
My expected output would be something along the lines of this:
...
"Address": {
"Label": "PO Box 871570, Vancouver, WA, United States",
"Country": "USA",
"State": "WA",
"County": "Clark",
"City": "Vancouver",
"PostalCode": "98687",
"AdditionalData": [
{
"value": "United States",
"key": "CountryName"
},
{
"value": "Washington",
"key": "StateName"
},
{
"value": "Clark",
"key": "CountyName"
},
{
"value": "P",
"key": "PostalCodeType"
}
]
}
...
However, I am getting this result, for a different postal code, without the PO Box info, and the PostalCodeType of N instead of P
...
"Address": {
"Label": "Vancouver, WA, United States",
"Country": "USA",
"State": "WA",
"County": "Clark",
"City": "Vancouver",
"PostalCode": "98660",
"AdditionalData": [
{
"value": "United States",
"key": "CountryName"
},
{
"value": "Washington",
"key": "StateName"
},
{
"value": "Clark",
"key": "CountyName"
},
{
"value": "N",
"key": "PostalCodeType"
}
]
}
...
Is there a better way to search PO Boxes?

Answer 1

Geocoder "PostalCodeType" parameter
for the USA, the Geocoder result shows supplementary information that describes the type of the 5-Digit ZIP, as according to the USPS. The values are as follows:
"N" = Non-Unique
"M" = Military
"P" = PO Box
"U" = Unique Zip
If you looking only for "P" value, then you can filter the JSON response at your end. Filtering additionalData, based upon postalCodeType is not feasible.
https://geocoder.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.json?app_id=xxxx&app_code=xxx&country=USA&state=WA&searchtext=PO%20Box%20871570%20Vancouver%20WA%2098687&locationattributes=ar,mr,mv,dt,sd,ad,ai,li,in,tz,nb,rn&additionaldata=PreserveUnitDesignators,true&addressattributes=pst