Post Code Lookup Copyright (C) Moose O'Malley, ---------------- October 2014. +===========================================================+ | T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S | +===========================================================+ | * Introduction | * Using this Program | * Getting Started | * Adding in Additional Countries | * Search Criteria | * Format for Postcode Data Files | * Why is this useful ? / Why do this ? | * The Future | * Reviews / Awards / CDs | * Freeware Information | * Warranty | * Amendment History | * Contacting the Program's Author +===========================================================+ Introduction : -------------- Post Code Lookup for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista , 7, 8, etc (32 bit and 64 bit). This program is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. See "Freeware Information" below. Post Code Lookup enables you to search on postcodes, locations, and states / regions in your country to find the place name or postcode for the locations you are interested in - all at the click of a mouse button. This program comes complete with Postcode data for : - Australia (16,640 postcodes / locations) - New Zealand (2,219 postcodes / locations) - United Kingdom (27,195 postcodes / locations) (not down to street / house level !) More postcodes for more countries to be added in the future !!! See "Getting Started Below" for further information. This program will work with numeric or alphanumeric Postcodes of any length, and will work with regions / states and locations of any length. (Up to a maximum of 255 characters). All search criteria are case insensitive. So, 'au' is the same as 'AU' and 'Au'. Developed using 32-bit Delphi. Post Code Lookup will **NOT** run under Windows 3.x (even with Win32 installed) !! Using this Program : -------------------- Simply download the ZIP file, unzip it to a directory using WinZIP or similar, execute the program (postcode.exe) on a PC and select your Country file, and away you go. Getting Started : ----------------- Before you can use this program, you need the post code data for your country. ** Australia Postcode Data : In Australia, you can get this data file - For FREE !! - from : http://www1.auspost.com.au/download/pc-full.zip (Link Updated and Verified: 27-Jan-2010). and, I have included this file with this program to save you the trouble of downloading it. ** UK Postcode Data : In the UK, there are millions of postcodes, and you need to buy this data on CD direct from Royal Mail. (This CD comes with extensive search capabilities, so you probably wont want to use my Post Code Lookup program if you buy this UK CD.) If you want a cut down list of UK postcodes (which doesn't go down to house or street level), then you can get this data file - For FREE !! - from : http://www.brainstorm.co.uk/utils/postcodes.html (Link no longer works: 27-Jan-2010). (Can anyone supply a new link that works ?) and, I have also included this file with this program to save you the trouble of downloading it. (Gee Moose - you are such a nice guy !!) ** New Zealand Postcode Data You can get this data for FREE !! from : http://www.nzpost.co.nz/nzpost/business/va7.html#post_code_finder (Link no longer works: 27-Jan-2010). (Can anyone supply a new link that works ?) ** Other Postcodes for Other Countries ???? If you are NOT from one of the above countries, then this Post Code Lookup program will not be much use, until we can track down your country's postcode data file. I did try and track down data for the USA, but I couldn't find post code data in a downloadable form. I did find some data for Singapore, Thailand, and loads of other countries, and I may add these countries and any others into this program. Adding in Additional Countries : -------------------------------- There is only one way you can add in Postcode data for other countries, or update data for the current country. You can alter the existing data files. So, you could for instance put Singapore data in Australia's data file (pc_aus.csv). The best way to do this though is to locate the necessary postcode data on the WEB / Internet, and then let me know where it is, and I will add in support for your country. Search Criteria : ----------------- You can search on a single field, such as just the Location, or you can search on multiple fields, such as on Location and State. You can use * (Asterisk) to expand your search options in any fields. For example, the in the Location field you could : - Enter AU* for all places starting with 'AU', such as Aubury. - Enter AU for all places with 'AU' somewhere in the name, such Beauty Point. - Enter *Au for places ending in 'AU' such as : Collaroy Plateau. All search criteria are case insensitive. So, 'au' is the same as 'AU' and 'Au'. Format for Postcode Data Files : --------------------------------- All postcode data files are plain comma separated text files with the data stored in this order postcode, location, state/region. For example : 2000,NSW,SYDNEY 3996,VIC,POUND CREEK 4000,QLD,BRISBANE You can have additional fields after these, but these are ignored by this program. The order is very important - it must be stored in postcode, location, and then state/region order. The order of these records in the file (here they are sorted by postcode) is the order that they will appear in on the Postcode Search Results screen. This program will work with numeric or alphanumeric Postcodes of any length, and will work with regions / states and locations of any length. (Up to a maximum of 255 characters). Why is this useful ? / Why do this ? -------------------------------------- This program can save you ages searching for phone books, post code lists, etc, and it is a fast and effective way to look up postcodes. The Future : ------------ In the future, many improvements could be made to this program, such as : - Enable the user to sort by postcode, location or state / region at the click of the mouse. - Add in support for additional postcode files, countries, regions, etc. - Enable the user to add in / alter their own country files. - Further speed up and optimise processing, sorting, searching, etc. - More searching options. e.g. % for single character, so you could say "Aubur%" and get all the locations that start with "Aubur" and have only 1 additional character. More wildcard search options, such as "Au*ry" to find all locations starting with "Au" and ending with "ry", etc. There are loads of things I could do here. - Put the program in the Windows Tray Bar, along with the clock, etc. - Anything else ? The program will probably never contain ALL UK postcodes or postcodes for every country on the planet, as this would require whole DVD's of data for storage. If you would like any of these improvements, or would like to suggest more, please email me and let me know. How much more work I do on this program depends entirely on what support I get, how many people use the program, etc. None of my programs are perfect - I am the first to admit that. I have ideas for improvements and enhancements for all of my shareware. How much I improve things and when depends on the support I receive for my hard work. Reviews / Awards / CDs : ------------------------- None so far. Freeware Information : ----------------------- This is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. However, if you find the program useful, then please consider making a PayPal donation to support my efforts. (To make a donation, please run the program and select the "About" option under the Help menu, and then click the PayPal link on the "About" screen). Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know. Amendment History : -------------------- Vers Date Description 1.0 28-Apr-2000 First Public Release. (6,401 lines of code / comments.) 1.1 13-Oct-2001 Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. Fix a problem where Aus and UK postcodes couldn't be loaded on some systems. Add in support for massive postcode lists. Improve the processing speed / efficiency when loading and processing lists. Brand New About Screen and associated functionality. Add in support for the Maximise icon in the top right corner of the program's main window. (9,544 lines of code / comments.) 1.1b 20-Nov-2002 Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (31,641 lines of code / comments.) 1.1f 3-Sep-2007 This program is now FREEWARE - see "Freeware Information" above. 1.2f 18-Jan-2010 Enable the user to press ENTER to do a search. Enable the user to press ESC to dismiss the search results dialog. Make place names title case on the search results dialog. Make Australia the default postcode. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. I wrote this program 10 years ago, and I still use it multiple times every day. An extremely useful program. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (59,259 lines of code / comments.) 1.2fb 27-Jan-2010 No program changes - just update the Australian post code data file and the readme text file. Update links to the Australian post code data file. Include the latest Australian post code data with the program. This new Australian post code data file contains 16,700 postcodes / locations, which is 392 more than the 16,308 postcodes / locations in the old data file from Apr-2000). The web links I have to UK and NZ post code data files no longer work. Can anyone supply me with new links to this data ? 1.2fc 22-Apr-2012 No program changes - just update the Australian post code data file and the readme text file. 1.3f 13-Oct-2014 Usability enhancements: add in the ability to copy the selected post code line of data from the Search Results to Windows Clipboard in a variety of formats by selecting the line in the Postcode Search Results screen and then doing any of these: (1). Clicking the "Copy" button, (2). Selecting "Clipboard Copy" from the Right-mouse click popup menu, or (3). Using the ubiquitous Ctrl-C Windows shortcut. If you do something silly, like try to copy the headings, then you will get a "what are you doing ???" error message with emoticons in it, such as frowning :/, or smiling :). I'm tired of my usual "very polite" error messages, so its time to step things up a bit ! LOL :) :) I use my Post Code Lookup program at least once per day, and usually many times per day, and I have wanted to make these usability enhancements for ages and finally found a spare 10 mins. :) Also tidy up the alignment of labels and data entry boxes on the main screen. (953 lines of code / comments / blank lines in primary source file.) (66,330 lines of code / comments / blank lines in all primary, library, and include files.) If this program was not downloaded from my Home Page, then it is possibly an old version. The latest version of this program is available from my WEB page - see below. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://moosevalley.fhost.com.au/ ____________________________________________________