ContactsLaw uses an internal database of
address field data to assist in the entry of
contact addresses. This information lists countries, states, postcodes and suburbs, as well as the relationships between them. It also facilitates the cross-referencing of suburbs and postcodes.
From time to time, Overtech Technologies may include updates to this data as part of regular software releases, however individual customers may have special requirements. For this reason, ContactsLaw offers a facility to import address data from a range of sources:
- Australia Post PAF Postcode File - Uses data published by Australia Post (in CSV format) to build a comprehensive list of all Australian suburbs and postcodes. The data file is available here.
- Countries List File - Imports a list of countries from a text file, expecting each country name to be on a separate line.
- States List File - Imports a list of states from a text file, expecting each state to appear on a separate line, in the form: Country,SN,StateName (if Country is omitted, Australia is used).
- Overtech address data service - Populates the full list of countries, states and suburbs using a web service operated by Overtech Technologies.
When importing address field data, you have the option of a full or incremental update. A full update removes all existing address field data, thus should only be used if you have a comprehensive set of data to replace the existing data. Incremental updates modify matching items and add new data, but do not remove existing data. Use incremental updates if you want to add additional countries, states or postcodes/suburbs. You can also choose whether you want to import some or all of the content from the data provider.