idea Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 21:28:20 GMT

Idea
Make it possible when using Geocoding tools in ArcGIS Pro to choose which level(s) of a composite address locator you want to run for your batch geocode. I envision this being something like a listbox that shows the participating address locators where they're all checked/selected by default, but it gives the user the option to uncheck any they don't want to use. Ultimately, the idea would be to customize how a composite locator that contains multiple levels (address, street, ZIP centroid, etc.) performs on an on-demand basis.

Alternative idea
I'm not super familiar with new enhancements in geocoding in ArcGIS Pro, so if there's a replacement for the composite address locator that can do the same thing (i.e. include multiple levels of geocoding in a single locator) then the functionality could be added there.

Use case
My local county publishes a great composite address locator for public use. It includes multiple levels and sources of both address-level and street-level geocoders. However, there are times when we're geocoding at the local level that we need to require address-level matches only. Mainly this is to ensure the geocoded point ends up inside of a parcel boundary.

To make this happen, we have to create and publish our own copy of the county's address points for that specific use. Then we have to educate our users on which geocoding service to use. This idea would eliminate the need for a locally hosted version and would make the composite version way more powerful.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 05:09:15 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark ,

Do you know which locator building tool was used to build the participating locators in the composite?

If you wanted to limit which match level the addresses are geocoded to you can limit the search to a specific category like Point Address, then no matches are returned at the street level (Street Address, Street Name, Street Intersection). You can specify this in the Category parameter of the Geocode Addresses tool or Geocode Table pane. This is described at step 8 of the following workflow topic https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geocoding/convert-a-table-to-locations-on-the-map.htm.

Does this work for your workflow? Can you provide the composite service your county published?

-Shana

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:19:44 GMT

Thanks Shana, I thought maybe there was a way to do it in Pro! It does not look like that's an option in my county's locator, but this gives me something I can send them as ask if it'd be possible for them to add.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 23:30:16 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark The setting I mentioned above is something that you can do in Pro at the time of batch geocoding the table. Were you looking for something else? You cannot adjust the properties of the locator once it is published as a geocode service in Pro. If the composite locator was local you would have to remove the participating locator you don't want from the composite. If you are able to provide me with the URL to the service you are using I can illustrate for you or determine if their service is a composite of classic locators or the new locators.

-Shana

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 21:08:00 GMT

No I think you've got it, looking to choose the geocoding level at the time of batch geocoding.

Here's the URL of the geocoding service: https://gis.hennepin.us/arcgis/rest/services/Locators/HC_COMPOSITE_NEW/GeocodeServer

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 05:16:14 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark Thanks for the service, it looks like the participating locators were created with the Create Locator tool in ArcGIS Pro. Which version of ArcGIS Pro are you using?

Below is from ArcGIS Pro 3.1, which shows the Category parameter I was speaking of earlier when using a non-composite locator. This is what you should see in the tool when using a composite locator; however in some versions of ArcGIS Pro the parameter is not showing up or is just a blank box. This is something we are aware of and looking to resolve in a future release of the software. The category parameter will give you what you are looking for, you check the boxes for the categories you want returned ( the match level the search is limited to). You will get candidates that are only Point Address matches for example.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:23:53 GMT

We're currently using Pro 3.0.3, and this is what we see. The only optional parameters have to do with the output fields. Was this a 3.1 add? If so then it'll def be a reason for us to look at upgrading, this will be an excellent new feature!

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Wed, 03 May 2023 04:52:26 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark My screenshot shows the Category parameter, but my locator is not a composite. The parameter does not show for you in 3.0.3 because it is a composite; however, it does show in 3.1, but is not working as expected. This is the issue that we are aware of and looking to fix in an upcoming release. Once the Category parameter is available for composite locators, you will be able to specify that you only want PointAddress matches returned.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Wed, 03 May 2023 13:27:10 GMT

Thank you so much @ShanaBritt for the detailed notes on this. I will eagerly await a future release where this will be possible, it's going to make our locator management so much more efficient!

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Wed, 03 May 2023 14:29:41 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark The only other option would be to create a multirole locator instead of a composite locator. After looking at the contents of the composite, the creator may need to combine the two datasets that would use the PointAddress role and the two datasets that would use the Parcel role, then the Category parameter would be available to you. Below are the participating locators of the composite service that is available from your source. If they are unable to merge the data together, then they will continue to create composite locators.

"locators": [
{"name": "HC_POINTS_ADD"},
{"name": "METRO_POINTS"},
{"name": "HC_CENT_THEOR"},
{"name": "METRO_CENT_CTU"},
{"name": "METRO_CENT_POS"},
{"name": "ECNdata"},
{"name": "HC_PARCEL_PID"},
{"name": "HC_POINTS_PID"}
],

related resources:

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geocoding/tutorial-create-a-locator-with-more-than-one-dataset-of-same-role.htm

https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geocoding/combine-multiple-layers-into-a-single-locator.htm

-Shana

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:09:31 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark The fix for the Category parameter to work with composite locator service was addressed in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 13:39:03 GMT

Are there also any requirements for the service? I'm at 3.2.2, and while I can see the category field, it's just blank, i.e. no dropdown options.

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

ShanaBritt — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:39:03 GMT

@JohnNergeBrooklynPark Yes, there are server requirements. The composite needs to be published to Enterprise 11.2 or later in order for the category parameter to not show as a blank field. The other option is to have the County create a multirole locator, but that may not be possible given the participating locators in the composite. They may need to merge some layers together to be able to build a multirole locator. If you can find out what roles the following locators are using I could confirm if the data needs to be modified.

"locators": [
  {"name": "HC_POINTS_ADD"},
  {"name": "METRO_POINTS"},
  {"name": "HC_CENT_THEOR"},
  {"name": "METRO_CENT_CTU"},
  {"name": "METRO_CENT_POS"},
  {"name": "ECNdata"},
  {"name": "HC_PARCEL_PID"},
  {"name": "HC_POINTS_PID"}

Re: Enable selecting levels to use in Composite Address Locator

JohnNergeBrooklynPark — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 16:57:52 GMT

Okay, well that's good to know, thanks for the follow up!