Geocode Intersections like "W First St/N Main Ave"

[ShawnaErnst]

Does anyone know how to customize a locator so it will geocode an intersection in the format:

W First St/N Main Ave   or   W First St&N Main Ave


It works if I enter the intersection this way:

W First St / N Main Ave     or     W First St & N Main Ave


But if I'm missing the spaces, then I get 0 results.  I have users who consistently enter intersections without the spaces.  I'd rather solve this myself than force them to change their data entry.

Thanks,
Shawna

[JoeBorgione]

Bridged intersections...

Sort of an oxymoron don't you think?

An over-pass or under-pass isn't an in intersection; at least, I wouldn't want to model my data as such.  For example: Main St doesn't Intersect I-80, the on/off ramps do.  Main St intersects the on/off ramps and passes over I-80, right?

What if you create a point feature class of your over/underpasses and create a naming convention for your users to follow? Be careful about how many different aliases you create.  That will become a data maintenance night mare for you.  (I like to call it this, but he likes to call it that, and so & so likes it called something else, and oh yeah, Billy Bobs great grandfather used to call it this...) I go two deep; tops.

You fail mention software version, but I've always indexed the join item in both the feature class AND alternative name table.

[JoeBorgione]

Here's a little tidbit that came my way.  If you try this, be  sure to follow the line that mentions backing up your original file...

Copy your file C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.2\Locators\USAddress.lot.xml to a backup copy.


Start editing it with an XML editor.

Look for lines in the grammar section having this element (below), you are looking for entries in the  multiline_grammar section under the supportsIntersections alternate and further down under the FullIntersection element.

<elt ref="intConnector" weight="40"/>

Replace these two entries with this:

<elt ref="intConnector" weight="40" pre_separator="optional" post_separator="optional"/>

Create new locators using the modified style.

Hold your breath hoping it works.  If not revert the changes out;don't expect miracles.

[ShawnaErnst]

Good news!  We were able to talk to the head developer for geocoding at the user conference and he said that the intersection issue from my original post is an oversight and he's going to fix the software so that both:

W First St/N Main Ave

and

W First St / N Main Ave

will geocode!

I'll post back when I hear more.  Thanks everyone for your suggestions and ideas.  Much appreciated.

[CarmenDurham]

Shawna,

What version were you having problems with (that was going to be fixed)?

We are experiencing the same issue with a 10.1 locator built on our street feature class (10.1 SDE/SQL ).  It will NOT geocode street intersections if there are no spaces between the separators and the street names in our traffic collision table.

Yes, I even tried to apply the change to the .xml with no luck (the fix mentioned above).

However, running an old 9.3 sde locator to which I still had access will match the intersections without having to have spaces.

Has any one else found a solution to fix an existing 10.1 installation?  Yea, I realize we *could* go through and scrub how the data was entered - but that shouldn't have to happen when the geocoding used to work with older versions!!  (And we sure aren't going to go ask all the traffic officers to start entering differently than they have for years).

Thanks,
Carmen