ArcGIS 9

Geocoding in ArcGIS

Tutorial

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Geocoding in ArcGIS Tutorial

IN THIS TUTORIAL

Exercise 1: Locating
and rematching
addresses

Exercise 2: Using
alternate street names
and place name
aliases

Exercise 3: Creating a
dynamic geocoded
feature class

This tutorial introduces you to geocoding with ArcGIS Desktop. You will
learn the basic techniques for creating address locators and geocoding with
ArcGIS. Exercises 2 and 3 demonstrate some advanced featuresusing
alternate names and place name aliases and creating a dynamic feature class
that is related to the address table.
Some procedures in this tutorial require that you be familiar with using
ArcCatalog and ArcMap. For example, you should know how to copy

data to a new location and add data to a map. You should also have a basic understanding of what a geodatabase is and the
objects it can contain. If youre new to GIS or feel you need to refresh your knowledge, please take some time to read
Getting Started with ArcGIS. You might also find that working through the ArcCatalog Tutorial and ArcMap Tutorial will
help you understand many of these basic concepts.

Exercise 1: Locating and rematching addresses

In the first part of this tutorial youll learn how to create a
new address locator, how to locate an address on a map,
and how to create point features representing street
addresses stored in a table such as customer locations.
Before you begin, it is recommended that you make a copy
of the data used in this tutorial so the original tutorial data
will remain unmodified. Copy the Atlanta.gdb folder to a
new location on your computer such as the C:\ disk; youll
find it in the ArcTutor\Geocoding folder on the local disk
where the tutorial data was installed. Youll need 1.5 MB of
free disk space to store a copy of the Atlanta.gdb folder.

locations into geographic features. Address Locators are

stored and managed in a workspace you choose. The
workspace can be a file folder, file geodatabase, personal
geodatabase or SDE geodatabase. The first thing youll do
is create an address locator based on your copy of the
Atlanta file geodatabase.
1. Start ArcCatalog.
2. Navigate to the Atlanta file geodatabase.
3. Click the Atlanta geodatabase in the Catalog tree.

ArcCatalog - Arclnfo - D
:\Atlanta\Atlanta.gdb
1 File Edit View Go Tools Window Help
1

SB I e X

in gg ta ot ^ n

1 Location: |D:\AtlantaV\tlanta.gdb

1 -------------------:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stylesheet:
*
|j| Catalog
+ C:\
- J#
+ ___| ArcGIS
- I__] Atlanta
+ Atlanta.gdb

Contents | Preview | Metadata |

Name | Type
jE altname File Geodatabase Table
customers
File
Geodatabase
Table
place_aliases File Geodatabase Table
streets File Geodatabase Feature Clas:

^E
IE
51

The Atlanta.gdb folder contains a file geodatabase named

Atlanta. Make sure the geodatabase is not read-only.
Creating a new address locator

An address locator lets you convert textual descriptions of

The Create New Address Locator dialog box appears.

4. Right-click within the empty space of the Contents
list, point to New, then click Address Locator.

5. Click the US Streets with Zone address locator style, then

click OK.
The New US Streets with Zone Address Locator dialog box
appears.
6. In the Name text box, type Atlanta", replacing the default
name.
New US Streets with Zone Address Locator
Name:

|Atlanta

Description: |u$ Streets withZone

Primary table |
Reference data:

I
7. On the Primary table tab, click the Browse button next to
the Reference data text box. This will open the Choose
Reference Data dialog box.

8. In the Choose Reference Data dialog box, navigate to the

folder containing your copy of the Atlanta geodatabase.
Double-click the geodatabase, click the streets feature class,
then click Add. This will add the streets feature class as
reference data to the Primary table tab and populate the
fields.
9. Leave all other address locator settings as they are and click
OK.
The new address locator appears in the Atlanta file geodatabase.
Name ^.Atlanta
H3 altname H]
customers

IE

place_aliases EE
streets

Contents | Preview | Metadata |

Type
Locator
File Geodatabase Table- File
Geodatabase Table- File Geodatabase
Table File Geodatabase Feature Class

The new address locator contains a snapshot of the reference

database with standardized address attributes, indexes, queries
and other geocoding parameters. With this address locator, the
addresses you want to geocode can be quickly matched to the
street features.
You will now modify the properties of the address locator you
just created.
10. Right-click the Atlanta address locator and click Properties.
The Address Locator Properties dialog box appears.
On the right under Matching Options, you can see that the
default Minimum candidate score is 10. This setting determines
the matching score needed to return a potential candidate.

Input Address Fields

The field containing:
Street
Zone

is recognized if it is
named:
Address
Addr
Street

Ad
d...

Delete
|

Matching Options
Place Name Alias Table...

Minimum match score: [60

Spelling sensitivity:

|80

(^1 ^1)= Minimum candidate score: pfci

11. Click and drag the slide bar to change the Minimum
candidate score to a value of 30.
12. Click OK, closing the Address Locator Properties dialog
box.
Your changes are saved in the address locator. Now you can use this
address locator to find out where addresses are located on a map.

Finding an address interactively

You can use address locators to locate addresses while you are
working in ArcMap. This process is commonly called geocoding.
1. Start ArcMap and click OK to create a new, empty map.
2. Add the streets feature class in the Atlanta geodatabase to
the ArcMap document.
3. Click the Find button on the Tools toolbar.
<?}}:: i t O #
l x ik
f
Find

4. In the Find dialog box, click the Addresses tab.

Before you can locate an address on your map, you must
identify the address locator you want to use.
5. Click the Browse button to choose an address locator.
6. Navigate to the Atlanta geodatabase, click the Atlanta
address locator, and click Add.
This populates the Choose an address locator text box and
adds two additional text boxes that will be used to enter the
address elements.

7. Type "150 Linden Ave NE" in the Street or Intersection text

box. Type "30308 in the Zone text box.
8. Click Find.

A few candidate addresses appear in the list at the bottom of the

Find dialog box.
9. Right-click the first candidate and click Add Point.
Right-click a row to show context
menu.
Score | Side | LeftFrom 1 LeftTo | RightFrom ] RightTo 1 PreDir 1 PreType | StreetName^

10
0
S3

6 objects Pound

12
0
180

178
238
118
298

17
9
239
119
299

Flash
Zoom
To

Pan T

S Create Bookmark

? Add Labeled Point

T r

hp Add Callout
Add to My Places
Manage My Places...
Find Nearby Places...
<^> Add as Stop to StreetMap Route <^>
Add as Barrier to StreetMap Ftoute

A graphic point representing the address's location appears on the

map.

10. Click Cancel to close the Find dialog box.

If you have a table that contains address information, you can

geocode all of the addresses at once. In this exercise you will begin
with a table containing the addresses of customers and geocode the
entire table, showing where the customers are located.
1. Open a new map document in ArcMap. You do not need to
save the map you created in the previous task.
2. Add the streets feature class and the customers table from
your copy of the Atlanta geodatabase to your map.
3. Right-click the customers table on the Source tab of the
table of contents and click Geocode Addresses.
4. Click Add on the Choose an address locator to use dialog
box.
The Add Address Locator dialog box will open.
5. Navigate to the Atlanta geodatabase, click the Atlanta
address locator, then click Add.

6. Click Atlanta in the Choose an address locator to use dialog

box, then click OK.
This will open the Geocode Addresses: Atlanta dialog box.
7. Under the Output section, click the Browse button to
define the Output shapefile or feature class. This will

open the Saving Data dialog box.

8. Click the Save as type dropdown arrow, then click File and
Personal Geodatabase feature classes.

9. Navigate to your copy of the Atlanta geodatabase, then

double-click the geodatabase. In the Name text box, type
atlanta_results".
10. Click Save.
A new point feature class named atlanta_results will be created
in the Atlanta geodatabase. The point features generated by the
geocoding process will be saved in that feature class.
11. Click OK to start geocoding.
When the geocoding process is finished, the Review/ Rematch
Addresses dialog box appears. It shows the statistics of the
addresses that were matched or not matched. You'll rematch the
unmatched addresses later in the tutorial.
12. Leave the rematch criteria as is and click Done to close the
Review/Rematch Addresses dialog box.

A Geocoding Result layer is added to the map. It shows the points

that were added to the atlanta_results feature class.
You can also geocode a table of addresses in ArcCatalog.
To do so, right-click the customers table in the Atlanta geodatabase
and click Geocode Addresses. This will display a series of dialog
boxes identical to those identified in this exercise. You can then add
the created feature class to an ArcMap document.

1. In ArcMap, click the Tools menu, point to Geocoding,

point to Review/Rematch Addresses, then click
Geocoding Result: atlanta resuits.
The Review/Rematch Addresses dialog box opens.
2. In the Rematch Criteria section, click the option
Addresses with candidates tied.

3. Click Match Interactively.

The Interactive Review dialog box appears. The address
records that you have chosen to rematch are listed at the top of
the dialog box. In this exercise there is one record in the
feature class that has two candidates that are tied for the
highest match score. The tied candidates are listed at the
bottom of the dialog box.
CYPRESS ST NE 3 3RD ST NE

<

mu ll

Jl

Record:
T* | n | Show: | All _________| Records (of 1]
Street or Intersection:
Zone:
|CYPRESS ST ME 8. 3RD ST NE
[30308
Standardized address:
| Modify... | I I CYPRESS I ST I NE I I 13RD I ST I NE 130308
2 Candidates
PreTypel |
Score ] Side I
StreetNamel
PreDirl
CYPRE
ST
100
SS
CYPRE
ST
100
SS

<
Gencoding 0
ptions... |

___! IIIL__
1
Zoom to:
Candidates 1

Su
fD
N
E

NE

Options - |

LeftZ
30308
30308

I RightZonel | PreDir2 1
30308

Prel

30308

>

i
Original
E stent

Searc
h|

Match | Unmatch | Close

1. Arrange the ArcMap window and the Interactive Review

dialog box so you can see the map.
Near the center of the map, you will notice two points
highlighted, one in yellow and the other in blue. These are the
locations of the two candidates listed in the bottom window of
the Interactive Review dialog box. The selected candidate is
highlighted in yellow on the map.
5. Click the second candidate in the candidate list. The location of
the yellow highlighted candidate changes on the map.
5. In the bottom right comer of the Interactive Review dialog box,
click Match. The selected address in the list at the top of the
dialog box is now associated with the second candidate in the
list at the bottom.
7. Click the Close button to close the Interactive Review
dialog box.

8. Click Done to close the Review/Rematch Addresses dialog

box.
9. Close ArcMap. You do not need to save the changes to your
map document.
You can also rematch addresses with ArcCatalog. To do so, refresh the
contents of the Atlanta geodatabase if you don't see the atlanta_results
feature class listed in the Contents tab. Right-click the atlanta_results
feature class, then click Review/Rematch Addresses. This will display
a series of dialog boxes similar to those described in this exercise.

Exercise 2: Using alternate

street names and place
name aliases
When you create an

address locator, you

have the option to use

alternate street names
and place name aliases.
Place name aliases let
you associate names of
well-known places with
street addressesfor
example, the names of

museums, hospitals, or
landmarks. When
geocoding an address,
the place name alias
table is consulted first. If
a place name is found,
the street address from
the place name alias

table is geocoded.
Similarly, alternate street
names can be defined
for features in the
reference data. When
geocoding an address,
the alternate street name
table is also searched to

find potential candidates

where streets have more
than one name.

Creating an
address locator
that uses alternate
names and place
name aliases

In this task youll create

a new address locator

that uses alternate street

names and place name
aliases, then use it in
ArcMap to find
addresses.
1. In ArcCatalog,
navigate to the
Atlanta

geodatabase.
2. Right-click the
Atlanta
geodatabase,
point to New,
and click
Address
Locator. This

opens the Create

New Address
Locator dialog
box.
3. Click the US
Streets with
AltName

address locator
style, then click
OK.

The New US Streets

with
AltName
Address
Locator
dialog box appears.
4. In the
Name text
box, type

Atlanta_
AltName,
replacing
the default
name.

5. On the Primary table tab, click the Browse

button next to the Reference data text box.

6. From the Choose Reference Data dialog box, navigate to the

Atlanta geodatabase.
7. Double-click the Atlanta geodatabase, click the streets feature
class, then click Add.
8. Click the Alternate Name table tab.
9. Click the Browse button next to the Reference data text box.
10. In the Choose Reference Data dialog box, navigate to your
copy of the Atlanta geodatabase.
11. Double-click the Atlanta geodatabase, click the altname table,
then click Add.
12. On the Alternate Name table tab, if not yet selected, click the
Join ID drop-down list and click JOINID.
The JoinID column in the altname table and the JoinID column in
the streets feature class are used to relate the records in the
altname table to the records in the streets feature class.
Prrrraty table Alternate Name table | Reference data:
ID: Wlanta Wlanta. gdb\altname
r Store relative path names
r FieldsPrefix Direction:
| PR E_DIR
Prefix Type:

|PRE_TYPE

Alternate Street
Name:

|ST_NAME

Street Type:

|ST_TYPE

Suffix Direction:

| S U F_D 1R

Join ID:

| JOINID

13. On the right of the dialog box, under Matching Options, click
Place Name Alias Table.

13

The Alias Table dialog box appears.

14. Click the Browse button, then navigate to the Atlanta
geodatabase.
15. Double-click the Atlanta geodatabase, click the place_aliases
table and click Add.
16. Click the Alias field drop-down arrow and click NAME.
17. Click OK.

18. Click OK in the New US Streets with AltName Address

Locator dialog box. The new Atlanta_AltName address
locator appears in the Atlanta geodatabase.
Atlanta_AltNa
me ^ Atlanta
altname

HJ

ID

Locator
Locator

customers HD

File

place_aliases H

Geodatabase

Geodatabase

Table-

Table

File
File

streets

Geodatabase

Table-

File

Geodatabase Feature Class

19. Close ArcCatalog.

You can now use this address locator to find out where an address
is located on a map.
Finding locations using alternate street names and
place name aliases

1. Open a new map document in ArcMap.

2. Add the streets feature class from the Atlanta geodatabase to
your map.
3. Click the Find button on the Tools toolbar.
4. In the Find dialog box, click the Addresses tab.
5. Click the Browse button to choose an address locator.
6. Navigate to the Atlanta geodatabase, click the
Atlanta_AltName address locator, and click Add.
A street may have more than one name. For example, Atlanta
Blvd" is defined as an alternate name for Old 10th St NE" in the
Atlanta database. With the Atlanta_AltName address locator, 30
Old 10th St NE" and 30 Atlanta Blvd" will both find the same
location.
7. Type 30 Old 10th St NE" in the Street or Intersection text
box.
8. Click Find.

9. Right-click the candidate and click Add Point.

A graphic point representing the address's location appears on the
map.
10. Type 30 Atlanta Blvd" in the Street or Intersection text box.
11. Click Find.
12. Right-click the candidate and click Flash. You can see that
both addresses are matched to the same location on the map.
In addition to geocoding addresses, you can also geocode place
names that have been defined in the place_aliases table.
13. Type Children's Hospital" in the Street or Intersection text
box.
14. Click Find.
15. Right-click the first candidate in the candidates list, which has
a score of 100, and click Add Point.

The location of the hospital appears on the map as if you had

typed its complete address.

84*24'30.168"W 3346'31.329"N

16. Click Cancel to close the Find dialog box.

Creating address locators that use alternate names and place

name aliases is beneficial for people who know a landmark's

name but not its address. It will also help in situations where a
street has more than one name.

Exercise 3: Creating a dynamic geocoded feature class

With an ArcInfo or ArcEditor seat, your geocoding
results can be dynamically linked to the original addresses
if the address table and the result feature class are stored in
the same geodatabase. With dynamic results, modifications
to the primary address table will cause the geocoded feature
class to be updated automatically. ArcView users will not
be able to complete this exercise.
1. Open a new map document in ArcMap. You do not
need to save your previous map document.
2. Add the customers table and the streets feature
class in the Atlanta geodatabase to your map.
3. Right-click the customers table in the Source tab of
the maps table of contents and click Geocode
Addresses.
4. Click Add in the Choose an address locator to use
dialog box.
5. In the Add Address Locator dialog box, navigate to
the the Atlanta geodatabase and choose the Atlanta
address locator, then click Add.
6. Click Atlanta in the Choose an address locator to
use dialog box, then click OK.

7. In the Geocode Addresses: Atlanta dialog box,

click the Output shapefile or feature class Browse
button to define the output feature class.
8. In the Saving Data dialog box, click the Save as
type drop-down arrow and click File and Personal
Geodatabase feature classes.
9. Navigate to the Atlanta geodatabase, then doubleclick the geodatabase.
10. In the Name text box, type dynamic_results.

11. Click Save.

Arclnfo and ArcEditor

12. Click Create dynamic feature class related to table.

A new point feature class named dynamic_results will be created

in the Atlanta geodatabase. The point features generated by the
geocoding process will be saved in that feature class. A
relationship class between the table and feature class will be
created.
13. Click OK to start geocoding.
When the geocoding process is finished, the Review/ Rematch
Addresses dialog box appears.
14. Click Done to close the Review/Rematch Address dialog box.
A Geocoding Result layer is added to the map. It shows the points
that were added to the dynamic_re suits feature class.
15. Right-click the Geocoding Result layer in the map's table of
contents and click Open Attribute Table.
GEOCODING

IN

ARCGISTUTORIAL

Arclnfo and ArcEditor

S Attributes of Geocoding Result: dynamic_results
Shan
Stat
Score I
e*
us
Side

Point
M
100 R
__________
Point
M
100 L
2
3
Point
M
100 R
4
Point
M
100 R

Street or
Intersection
1171 PIEDMONT AVE NE
1670 W PEACHTREE ST ME
455 BEVERLY RD ME
241 16TH ST MW

The first record in the table has the address 1171 PIEDMONT
AVE NE in the Street or Intersection column. The Status (M:
matched, U: unmatched, or T: tied), Score (match score), and Side
(R: right side of the road or L: left side of the road) columns
contain the values M, 100, and R respectively. To see where this
customer is located on the map, click the button at the far left of
this row to select this record in the table. The feature will be
highlighted on the map.
16. Minimize the Geocoding Result layer's attribute table.
17. Right-click the customers table in the map's table of contents
and click Open.
The address that appears for the first customer in the table, Ace
Market, is 1171 Piedmont Ave. NE. That customer has moved to a
new address, 30 12th St. The ZIP Code remains the same. The
customers table must be updated with this information.
18. If the Editor toolbar is not showing, click the Editor Toolbar
button to show the Editor toolbar.

Editor toolbar

19. On the Editor toolbar, click the Editor menu and click Start
Editing.

GEOCODING

IN

ARCGISTUTORIAL

Arclnfo and ArcEditor

20. Type 30 12TH ST" in the Address column next to Ace
Market.
ttributes of customers
OBJECTI
D*
1
2
3
4

NAME
Ace Market
Andrew's Gasoline

30 12th St
1670 W PEACHTREE ST NE

ADDRESS

AP Supermarket

455 BEVERLY RD NE

Atlanta Market

241 16TH ST

m/

21. Click another record in the table.

22. Minimize the customers table and maximize the Geocoding
Result layer's attribute table.
The new address was geocoded automatically, and the corresponding
values have been updated in the layer's attribute table. The Status,
Score, and Side columns now contain the values T, 81, and L,
respectively. The value T" in the Status field stands for tied; two or
Now
need tohad
addthe
a new
customer
table.
more you
candidates
highest
score.toTothe
seecustomers
on the map
where Ace
23.
Minimize
the
Geocoding
Result
layer's
attribute
table
Market is now located, click to select this record in the layer's and
the customers table.
attributemaximize
table.
S Attributes of Geocoding Result: dynamic_results
1
2
3
4

Shan
I
Score I
e"
Stat
Side I
Point
T
81 L
Point
M
100 L
Point
M
100 P.
Point
M
100 R
48
Sidebottom Inc
49
SJ's Marker
50
Southern Flavor
Vine Cafe|

Street or Intersection
30 12th St
1670 W PEACHTREE ST NE
455 BEVERLY RD ME
241 16TH ST NW
1276 W PEACHTREE ST NW
400 PONCE DE LEON AVE NE
699 JUNIPER ST NE

A new blank record is added to the bottom of the table.

26. In the
same record, type 379 VINE ST NW" in the
Record: jiLdl 51 Show: f All Selected I Records (Ooutc
ADDRESS column.
-

27. Type 30314" in the ZIP column.

28. Type Cafe" in the TYPE column.
29. Type 10000" in the SALES column.
30. Click another record in the table.
31. Close the customers table. Maximize the Geocoding Result
layer's attribute table, then scroll to the bottom.

GEOCODING

IN

ARCGISTUTORIAL

Arclnfo and ArcEditor

A new feature was automatically added to the result feature class
representing the new address.
32. On the Editor toolbar, click the Editor menu and click Stop
Editing. Click Yes to save your changes.
33. Close ArcMap. Click No to stop ArcMap without saving this
map.

GEOCODING

IN

ARCGISTUTORIAL

1
7