Address with Suite or other secondary address yields no autocomplete results - here-api

I'm running into an issue where addresses typed/pasted into the form field are not coming back with any autocomplete results due to their secondary address being included. For example, the following query works fine:
http://autocomplete.geocoder.api.here.com/6.2/suggest.json?app_id=...&app_code=...&query=1910%20W%20Fourth%20Plain%20Blvd&country=USA&maxresults=5
However, this query (The actual full address) returns no results:
http://autocomplete.geocoder.api.here.com/6.2/suggest.json?app_id=...&app_code=...&query=1910%20W%20Fourth%20Plain%20Blvd%20Suite%20100%2C%20Vancouver%2C%20WA%2098660&country=USA&maxresults=5
Is there a way to allow for secondary address info such as Suite, Apt, etc.?

The search algorithm within the autocomplete API can return results on match levels: country, state, county, city, district, street, intersection, houseNumber, postalCode and landmark.You get results back if you replace Suite with # which the API understands
https://developer.here.com/documentation/geocoder-autocomplete/dev_guide/topics/resource-suggest.html

Related

Google places API returns rating for properties searched using property name, but not with an address

I am using a Google Places API to return ratings for an entered property. When I enter the property name as the search term, a rating is returned, but if I attempt to return a rating by using an address (which is supported by the text input) I do not receive a response. I have tried searching an address through the API, returning a Place ID and then using the Place ID to return a rating, but that does not work.
This API returns a rating: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/findplacefromtext/json?input=The+Shops+At+Chestnut+Hill&inputtype=textquery&fields=rating&key=[MY API_KEY]
This is the same property, but searched by address, which does not: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/findplacefromtext/json?input=199+Boylston+St+Chestnut+Hill+MA&inputtype=textquery&fields=rating&key=[MY API_KEY]
Is there something different with the formatting of address inputs I am not doing correctly?
The places API has separate ids for the address/building and the establishment in it. The address/building won't have the rating, the place/establishment will.
From the PlaceId Finder
The Shops at Chestnut Hill
Place ID: ChIJkcWRbZF444kRJUJjXdUFIOw
199 Boylston St
Place ID: ChIJ4TgqFZF444kR2XHKhTgsiNs
(although I do see an entry in the dropdown for the "place" when I enter the address)
The Places API nearbySeach only returns places, not address place ids. The geocoder returns the place_id of the address. But the nearbySearch takes a set of coordinates, not an address, so to get those results from an address requires two calls, one to geocode the address, one to get the nearbySearch results from that location.
Note that there are multiple results at the location of that address (4 exactly at the location returned from geocoding "199 Boylston St Chestnut Hill MA", and 15 other places that are nearby and in the footprint of "The Shops at Chestnut Hill"), more if you use pagination to get more than 20 results.

Geocode searchText with State and Country provided shows results outside of State

When using the Nokia Here Geocoding Service the State parameter is ignored when searching by searchText: 315 NE 14th Street, State: FL and Country: US.
The only result returned is a location in Louisiana. Adding the State to the end of the searchText doesn't work either.
Google and MapQuest properly return the result in Florida. The client does not want to include a city but rather an address, state and country.
I know that the Nokia Here algorithm does not filter down a closely as Google and MapQuest but expected that the inclusion of the State parameter would force the result search.
You can try setting a search area, so you can further narrow down the results. The following Android example will return one result in Homestead, Florida City:
String query = "315 NE 14th Street Florida US";
GeocodeRequest geocodeRequest = new GeocodeRequest(query);
GeoCoordinate areaCenterCoordinate = new GeoCoordinate(27.82353, -81.760254);
geocodeRequest.setSearchArea(areaCenterCoordinate , 15000);
According to documentation GeocodeRequest processes text string queries, so I believe you can omit state or country parameters and add state or country as part of the search term. Please note that multiple results can be returned if they all match to the given search term.
An example on how to use GeoCoder can be found here.
Depending on your use case, maybe consider to use SearchRequest instead. If this does not help it would be great if you can provide more details in your question, e.g. what API flavor you are referring to.

Filter Google Places API results based on City

For one of my applications, I will let the users choose a City and then an Area. What I want to achieve is that based on the user's city selection, the Area field(which is using the autocomplete from Google Places) to display areas from that City. Eg: If user chooses the city as New York, the Area field should autocomplete only the areas from New York. Is this something which can be achieved?
1] In autocomplete API, pass the "Lat,Long" in "location" parameter and "100000" in "radius" parameter. It will bias search result within 100Km in that city.
Eg: Pass "40.7128,74.0059" for NewYork and it will give you result within 100Km in NewYork city.
OR
2] There is a trick you can use.If a user chooses a city, just add the city name as a prefix in the search string. It will only give the search suggestions in which the user is searching. eg, pass "NewYork" as a prefix in your search string, now type any word, it will only give you results for NewYork city restaurant, cafes, places, etc
You can do it by restricting the results of your autocomplete by a specified area.
Here are the ways that you can use:
Location Biasing - you may bias the results to a specified circle by passing a location and a radius parameter. This instructs the Place Autocomplete service to prefer showing results within that circle. Results outside of the defined area may still be displayed. You can use the components parameter to filter results to show only those places within a specified country.
Location Restrict - it can restrict the results to the region defined by location and a radius parameter, by adding the strictbounds parameter. This instructs the Place Autocomplete service to return only results within that region.
Places Types - you can restrict results from a Place Autocomplete request to be of a certain type by passing a types parameter. The parameter specifies a type or a type collection, as listed in the supported types below. If nothing is specified, all types are returned.
Hope this information helps you.

How does Google Maps decide when to use a specific icon?

I am using the Google Maps Places library to do a search for nearby hospitals, but it returns results that aren't necessary hospitals (but have 'hospital' as one of their types). However, I've noticed that actual hospitals have a hospital icon on the map, so Google must somehow know which establishments are actually hospitals. Does anyone know if the public has access to this data?
This is the icon I'm referring to: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1jfqcayxavjhlyi/Screenshot%202015-03-17%2017.20.19.png?dl=0
Example of request I'm making:
var request = {
location: self.location,
radius: 20000,
types: ['hospital'],
keyword: 'hospital'
};
Example result that isn't a hospital:
{"geometry":{"location":{"k":44.815958,"D":-68.808244}},
"icon":"http://maps.gstatic.com/mapfiles/place_api/icons/generic_business-71.png","id":"de6e60bd70b90ba4cb86afe149a60169553607f1",
"name":"Penobscot Community Health Center",
"opening_hours":{"open_now":true,"weekday_text":[]},
"photos":[{"height":320,"html_attributions":[],"width":320}],"place_id":"ChIJj--4INRKrkwRN0z2XkoJtVU",
"rating":3.1,
"reference":"CoQBdAAAADmf3YA0659efzMbCSPOK6SZttkfus7aWBDhrZZyX63Szl256BRcpz81LH6rIuONldYv256tsN7Zv-N6ZkOkJadlD2VS01bs7C4ierKvGUMyJOJu657xL5MvidF3Tgs9iejeJcXsxjDJYOwtN3m3sbfClfWYVnnIL4hMLYV8P9TnEhBurfJv_30CAG2wp1V73POVGhR-7fz1mCdh4OYWSa3Pw0mPupckoQ",
"scope":"GOOGLE",
"types":["hospital","pharmacy","store","health","establishment"],
"vicinity":"1012 Union Street, Bangor",
"html_attributions":[]}
My guess is there are a couple ways to get around this. You might remove the keyword argument from the API, which acts like a search term rather than a specific match on a type of location like the type field does.
You may want to be careful about your radius value choice.
Next, if you do a search on Google Maps in general you'll get a broad assortment of results. Do you need every result to be an actual hospital or can you do your own filtering afterwards?
If you do your own filtering it looks like type information and even icons are embedded in the result JSON. You might see if there's a distinguishing characteristic between the types of results you want and filter by that. Otherwise, any additional graphical data would not be accessible via the API.

Geocoder Request No Response - Fail

Is it possible to have the Geocoding API works and sometimes doesn't work for some reason?
Here is the detail what I am trying to request:
http://geocoder.cit.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.xml?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg&gen=4&country=Australia&state=Tas&district=Wynyard&postalcode=7321&street=86 Jackson Street
and Here is the demo version from the official website:
http://geocoder.cit.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.xml
?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL
&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg
&gen=7
&housenumber=425
&street=W+Randolph
&city=Chicago
I am using the Free version of it and I have no idea why it works sometimes and doesn't in other times.
Thank you
When you are making a structured address query, by default, all parts of the address need to match. Given that there is no international standard for addresses, the HERE geocoder could be placing parts of the address in an alternative part of the structure.
In your case Wynard is recognized as a city, not a district. Now it is possible you could want this to fail as an invalid address, but it is also possible to tell the Geocoder to be a little more lenient by using the FlexibleAdminValues parameter in the AdditionalData
see the User Guide here
FlexibleAdminValues
N (positive integer <= 1). Customizes flexibility in the input values
for the admin hierarchy defined in LocationFilterType. The value is a
bitmask defining which hierarchies might be swapped without impacting
the match level:
0: No swapping at all (default). Exact admin hierarchy values are
expected as input
1: City and District swapping
Please note this
option is for geocoding addresses and needs at least street level
input to work as designed. It will not return expected results when
the input is a named place only (e.g. city or district name).
So the following url will work for you provided you have a street address:
http://geocoder.cit.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.xml?app_id=APP_ID&app_code=APP_CODE&gen=7&AdditionalData=FlexibleAdminValues,1&country=Australia&state=tas&district=Wynyard&...etc
Another alternative is to not use the structured input parameters but let the HERE Geocoder sort out the identification and categorization of the input tokens.
By using the searchtext parameter and providing all your data as the input value the Geocoder can match and score the tokens.
E.g.: http://geocoder.cit.api.here.com/6.2/geocode.xml?app_id=DemoAppId01082013GAL&app_code=AJKnXv84fjrb0KIHawS0Tg&gen=7&searchtext=Australia%20Tas%20Wynyard%207321%2086%20Jackson%20Street

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