- URL:
- https://<geocodeservice-url>/findAddressCandidates
- Methods:
GET
POST
- Version Introduced:
- 9.3
Description
The find
operation is performed on a geocode service resource. The result of this operation is a resource representing the list of address candidates. This resource provides information about candidates, including the address, location, and match score. Locators published using ArcGIS Server 10 or later support the single
address field for the find
operation. Single-field input is easier because the address parsing is done for you; however, multifield input may provide faster responses and more precise results.
There are several options for refining or restricting search results:
- Specify output fields to return in the geocoding response with the
out
parameter.Fields - Specify the spatial reference of candidates with the
out
parameter.SR - Limit the number of candidates with the
max
parameter.Locations - Confine the search results to a specified area with the
search
parameter.Extent - Use the
location
parameter to prefer local candidates, which will then be returned higher in the candidates list. - Filter search results using the
category
parameter. - Specify the language of geosearch candidates with the
lang
parameter.Code - Specify rooftop or street location for PointAddress candidates with the
location
parameter.Type - Choose the type of city name or street name to be included in output fields with the
preferred
parameter.Label Values
New at 11.2
- Locators created with the Create Locator tool based on the Point Address, Parcel, or POI role or created with the Create Feature Locator tool using z-aware point features in ArcGIS Pro 3.2 or later will return candidates with z-coordinates.
- Polygon output fields added to a locator by the Add Polygon Fields To Locator tool in ArcGIS Pro 3.2 or later, will be returned within the
attributes
object of the responsefind
as part of theAddress Candidate out
.Fields
New at 10.9
- Maintaining side offset, end offset, and custom intersection connectors settings requires a locator created in ArcGIS Pro 2.7 or later with the Street Address role.
New at 10.8
The preferred
parameter allows simple configuration of output fields returned in a response from the geocoding service by specifying which address component values should be included in output fields.
Request parameters
The find
operation has only one required parameter: f
. However, you also need to include address or place information in the request, which can be done by passing the name as a single line or as multiple fields of text. To access single-line functionality, the Single
parameter is required. To access multifield functionality instead, any combination of the address
, neighborhood
, city
, region
, subregion
, country
, and postal
parameters is required.
Parameter | Details |
---|---|
(Optional) | The full street address of a place (excluding administrative divisions and postal codes) may consist of multiple components, such as building name, street, and subunit (apartment). Web forms and written correspondence typically use multiple fields or lines to designate these components. The The The The address3 parameter is a string that represents the third line of a street address. This can include street name/house number, building name, place-name, or subunit. For additional example usage, see Address parameter syntax and examples. |
(Optional) | The smallest administrative division associated with an address, typically a neighborhood or a section of a larger populated place. A neighborhood is a subdivision of a city. Example of a neighborhood in Mexico (colonia):
|
(Optional) | The next largest administrative division associated with an address, typically a city or municipality. A city is a subdivision of a subregion or a region. Example of a city in the United States:
|
(Optional) | The next largest administrative division associated with an address. Depending on the country, a subregion can represent a county, state, or province. Example of a subregion (department) in France:
|
(Optional) | The largest administrative division associated with an address, typically a state or province. Example of a region in the United States (state):
|
(Optional) | The standard postal code for an address, typically a three- to six-digit alphanumeric code. Example:
|
(Optional) | A postal code extension, such as the United States Postal Service ZIP+4 code, which provides finer resolution or higher accuracy when also passing the Example:
|
(Optional) | A value representing the country in a multifield geocoding request. Providing this value increases geocoding speed. Acceptable values include the full country name in English or the official language of the country, the two-character country code, or the three-character country code. A list of supported countries and codes is available in the Geocode coverage topic. Example:
|
(Optional) | Specifies the location to be geocoded. This can be a street address, place-name, postal code, or point of interest (POI). The input address components must be formatted as a single string. Example:
|
(Optional) | A place or address type that can be used to filter Example:
|
(Optional) | The list of fields to be returned within the Examples:
|
(Optional) | The maximum number of locations to be returned by a search, up to the maximum number allowed by the service. If not specified, all matching candidates up to the service maximum are returned. Example:
|
(Optional) | The spatial reference of the x/y coordinates returned by a geocode request. This is useful for applications using a map with a spatial reference different than that of the geocode service. The spatial reference can be specified as either a well-known ID (WKID) or a JSON spatial reference object. If Example: (102100 is the WKID for the Web Mercator projection);
|
(Optional) | A set of bounding box coordinates that limit the search area to a specific region. This is especially useful for applications in which a user will search for places and addresses within the current map extent. You can specify the spatial reference of the The input can be either a comma-separated list of coordinates defining the bounding box or a JSON envelope object. The spatial reference of the bounding box coordinates can be included if an envelope object is used. Examples:
|
(Optional) | Defines an origin point that is used to prefer or boost geocoding candidates based on their proximity to the location. Candidates near the location are prioritized relative to those farther away. This is useful in mobile applications where a user wants to search for places in the vicinity of their current GPS location, or in mapping applications where users want to search for places near the center of the map. The location can be represented with a simple comma-separated syntax (x,y), or as a JSON point object. If the comma-separated syntax is used, the spatial reference of the coordinates must be the same as the spatial reference of the locator on which the geocode service is based; otherwise, the spatial reference of the point coordinates can be defined in the JSON object. Examples:
|
(Optional) | The The Looking at the suggestion process from another perspective, as the user types, the In summary, using the
Example:
|
(Optional) | A Boolean that specifies whether With Values: |
(Optional) | Specifies whether the output geometry of PointAddress and Subaddress matches should be the rooftop point or street entrance location. Valid values are Geocode results include one geometry object (the It is important to note that is requested. Values: |
(Optional) | Sets the language in which geocode results are returned. Addresses and places in many countries are available in more than one language; in these cases, the See the table of supported countries for valid language code values in each country. Full language names cannot be used in the If the It is important to note that Example:
|
(Optional) | Limits the candidates returned by the Acceptable values include the three-character country code. A list of supported countries and codes is available in Geocode coverage. Multiple country codes can be specified to limit results to more than one country. Example:
|
(Optional) | Allows simple configuration of output fields returned in a response from the geocoding service by specifying which address component values should be included in output fields. Supports a single value or a comma-delimited collection of values as input. If the parameter is blank or excluded from a request, default address label formats will be used. A particular address may have multiple city names associated with it. In the United States for example, all addresses have a ZIP code (postal code) assigned to them. Each ZIP code has one or more associated locality names, which are known as postal cities. There is always one primary postal city value for each ZIP code. ZIP codes typically have no set boundaries, and the primary postal city name for the ZIP code that is assigned to an address may be different than the name of the local city that the address is within. Additional details:
Example:
|
(Required) | The response format. The default response format is Values: |
Search for street addresses
You can search for a street address, street name, or street intersection using the findAddressCandidates operation. For best results, you should include as much location information as possible in the search in addition to the street address.
You can pass the address components in a single parameter or separated into multiple parameters. Examples of each are shown. Note that in each case, the JSON response is the name for both the single- and multiple-parameter requests.
Example: Find a street address (380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "380 New York St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"location": {
"x": -117.19487199429184,
"y": 34.057237000231282
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Loc_name": "World",
"Status": "M",
"Score": 100,
"Match_addr": "380 New York St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"LongLabel": "380 New York St, Redlands, CA, 92373, USA",
"ShortLabel": "380 New York St",
"Addr_type": "PointAddress",
"Type": "",
"PlaceName": "",
"Place_addr": "380 New York St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"Phone": "",
"URL": "",
"Rank": 20,
"AddBldg": "",
"AddNum": "380",
"AddNumFrom": "",
"AddNumTo": "",
"AddRange": "",
"Side": "",
"StPreDir": "",
"StPreType": "",
"StName": "New York",
"StType": "St",
"StDir": "",
"BldgType": "",
"BldgName": "",
"LevelType": "",
"LevelName": "",
"UnitType": "",
"UnitName": "",
"SubAddr": "",
"StAddr": "380 New York St",
"Block": "",
"Sector": "",
"Nbrhd": "",
"District": "",
"City": "Redlands",
"MetroArea": "",
"Subregion": "San Bernardino County",
"Region": "California",
"RegionAbbr": "CA",
"Territory": "",
"Zone": "",
"Postal": "92373",
"PostalExt": "",
"Country": "USA",
"LangCode": "ENG",
"Distance": 0,
"X": -117.19568252432872,
"Y": 34.057237000231282,
"DisplayX": -117.19487199429184,
"DisplayY": 34.057237000231282,
"Xmin": -117.19587199429185,
"Xmax": -117.19387199429184,
"Ymin": 34.056237000231285,
"Ymax": 34.05823700023128,
"ExInfo": ""
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.19587199429185,
"ymin": 34.056237000231285,
"xmax": -117.19387199429184,
"ymax": 34.05823700023128
}
}
]
}
Search for intersections
An intersection is where two streets cross each other. An intersection search consists of the intersecting street names plus the containing administrative division or postal code. For example, redlands blvd and new york st 92373
is a valid intersection search, as is redlands blvd & new york st redlands ca
. For street intersection matches, Addr
.
There are several types of intersections that can be found. A typical simple intersection is formed by two street segments crossing each other. An example of this is W Park Ave and Tennessee St, Redlands, CA
.
Example: Find a simple street intersection (W Park Ave and Tennessee St, Redlands, CA)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "W Park Ave & Tennessee St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"location": {
"x": -117.20007992219183,
"y": 34.059230049168335
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Addr_type": "StreetInt"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.20107992219184,
"ymin": 34.058230049168337,
"xmax": -117.19907992219183,
"ymax": 34.060230049168332
}
}
]
}
You can also find intersections between streets that aren't physically connected. This includes cases where streets are separated by elevation, such as a highway overpass crossing over another street. An example of this is Pacific Hwy and W Washington St, San Diego, C
, which is the intersection of a highway overpass and the street below.
An intersection can also be formed by two disconnected streets when one street ends close to another, such as a cul-de-sac or a dead end. In cases such as this, if the streets are within a certain distance of each other, the geocode service returns a StreetInt match when they are searched for. This near-intersection tolerance is currently 60 meters. An example of this type of near-intersection is Rua Ferdinando Ferreira @ Avenida Comendador Franco, Curitiba, BRA
.
Another type of supported disconnected intersection occurs at roundabouts. A roundabout is formed when two or more streets connect to a circular roadway, which is often unnamed. The participating streets typically don't connect directly to each other, but when they are searched for and are within the near-intersection tolerance, the service returns a StreetInt match. An example of a roundabout intersection is Rue Jean Laurent & Avenue Jean Mermoz, Le Vésinet, FRA
.
Sometimes there may be multiple possible matches for an intersection search. This typically occurs when divided roads cross each other. A divided road consists of two street segments separated by a median. In a scenario such as this, there could be up to four equivalent intersection matches consisting of the same street names at different locations. Geocoding uses an ambiguous intersection tolerance with such searches to remove redundant intersection candidates from the response. The ambiguous intersection tolerance is currently 30 meters. Specifically, if there are multiple intersection candidates with the same street names and different locations, and if they are within 30 meters of each other, the service returns only one of the candidates. An example of an ambiguous intersection search is Cambie St and W King Edward Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia
. In this case, there are three potential intersection candidates with the same street names. Because the locations are within the ambiguous intersection tolerance, only one intersection candidate is returned.
Search for POIs
A POI is a point location that can represent a cultural or geographic landmark, business, or administrative division. For example, you can find amusement parks, museums, schools, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, or other types of businesses or landmarks; geographic features, such as mountains, lakes, rivers, or deserts; or administrative places, such as neighborhoods, cities, states, counties, or countries. The find
operation supports geocoding POIs by name or by type.
As with street addresses, you can search for POIs with find
using the single-field or multifield approach.
Single-field POI search
To search for POIs with single-field search, use the Single
parameter. In general, valid Single
POI search strings can be formatted in variations of three basic structures:
- <name or type> <optional connector> <zone>
- <zone> <name or type>
- <name or type> <address> <zone>
Where
- <name or type> = A place-name, such as Disneyland, Starbucks, or Niagara Falls; or a type, such as amusement parks, waterfalls, or coffee shops.
- <zone> = A postal code or administrative boundary—such as neighborhood, city, subregion, region, country, or any combination thereof—that provides a spatial boundary to the search. It can be included in the search to limit matching candidates but is not required.
- <optional connector> =
in
orat
; this is not required for the search. - <address> = A street name, such as
Main St
, or a complete street address, such as590 N Main St
.
Examples of valid SingleLine search strings include the following:
Business name searches
- Starbucks San Diego
- Starbucks in San Diego
- San Diego Starbucks
- Starbucks 92101
- Starbucks 5th Ave San Diego
- Reuben H Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, San Diego, CA, 92101, USA
Type searches
- coffee shops San Diego
- coffee shops in San Diego CA
- San Diego coffee shops
- coffee shops 92101
- coffee shops 5th Ave San Diego
Multifield POI search
When searching for POIs using multifield input, the name or type of the POI must be passed as the value for the address
parameter. The zone information can be passed in the postal
, neighborhood
, city
, subregion
, region
, and country
parameters. If searching for POI and address, the address should be passed as the value for the address2
parameter.
General information
It is important to note that instead of providing a zone, you can limit searches to a specific area by using the search
. You can also influence the sorting of match candidates according to their proximity to a location with the location
parameter.
As with address searches, the quality of POI search results is dependent on the amount and quality of information in the search string. If you only search for hotels
without qualifying information, such as zone, search extent, or location, your results will not be meaningful. Adding supplemental information to the search string—the more specific the better—will result in more accurate and relevant matches.
Example: Find a business name (Starbucks Sydney, AUS)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Starbucks",
"location": {
"x": 151.20555000000002,
"y": -33.86513999999994
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"type": "Coffee Shop",
"city": "Sydney",
"region": "New South Wales"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": 151.20055000000002,
"ymin": -33.870139999999942,
"xmax": 151.21055000000001,
"ymax": -33.860139999999937
}
}
]
}
Search for administrative place-names
The find
operation supports single-field and multifield searches for administrative place-names. This includes searches for neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, provinces, or countries.
Example: Find a city name (London)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "London, England",
"location": {
"x": -0.1272099999999341,
"y": 51.506420000000048
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -0.4402099999999341,
"ymin": 51.193420000000046,
"xmax": 0.1857900000000659,
"ymax": 51.819420000000051
}
},
{
"address": "London, Ontario",
"location": {
"x": -81.246239999999943,
"y": 42.986900000000048
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -81.379239999999939,
"ymin": 42.853900000000046,
"xmax": -81.113239999999948,
"ymax": 43.119900000000051
}
},]
}
Search for postal codes
The find
operation supports searches for postal codes and postal code extensions. When searching for postal codes, it is important to note that the same code can be valid in more than one country; for best results, it may be necessary to include additional information with the postal code, such as city or country.
Example: Find a postal code (20002 USA)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "20002, Washington, District of Columbia",
"location": {
"x": -76.989979999999946,
"y": 38.897450000000049
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"addr_type": "Postal"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -77.036979999999943,
"ymin": 38.850450000000052,
"xmax": -76.942979999999949,
"ymax": 38.944450000000046
}
}
]
}
Search for coordinates
Locators built with the Create Locator tool support searches for coordinates. The output is a geometry point with a match address that is the same as the input coordinates. This is different than reverse geocoding, in which input x/y coordinates are resolved to a matching street address. The following types of coordinate search are supported:
- x/y coordinates; x refers to longitude (east-west coordinates), and y refers to latitude (north-south coordinates).
- Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) coordinates.
- United States National Grid (USNG) coordinates.
Example: Find MGRS / USNG coordinates (18SUH6789043210)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "18SUH6789043210",
"location": {
"x": -76.511416672563271,
"y": 38.327287449633403
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Addr_type": "MGRS"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -76.512416672563276,
"ymin": 38.326287449633405,
"xmax": -76.510416672563267,
"ymax": 38.3282874496334
}
}
]
}
Input x/y coordinates can be formatted in several ways:
- Coordinates can be input in either <longitude>,<latitude> or <latitude>,<longitude> order, and can be separated with either a comma or a space.
- Coordinates can be input in decimal degrees (DD) or degrees minutes seconds (DMS) format.
- Quadrants can be signified by using a minus sign (-) before the numeric value to signify the western or southern quadrants, or by using E, W, N, or S directional indicators before or after the numeric values.
- DMS coordinates can be separated with ° (degrees), ' (minutes), and " (seconds) symbols.
- DMS coordinates can also be separated with the letters d (degrees), m (minutes), and s (seconds).
Specify output fields
The find
operation allows you to specify individual output fields or return all output fields. The out
parameter is used for this. To return all supported output fields, set out
; if you only want to return the default output fields, out
does not need to be passed in the request. To return specific fields, pass the desired field names as comma-separated values, such as out
, which returns the name, feature type, city, and country for a POI search.
Example: Specify individual outfields for a POI search (PlaceName,Type,City,Country)
Single-field request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Starbucks",
"location": {
"x": -97.805182999999943,
"y": 30.476892000000078
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Type": "Coffee Shop",
"PlaceName": "Starbucks",
"City": "Austin",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -97.806182999999947,
"ymin": 30.475892000000076,
"xmax": -97.804182999999938,
"ymax": 30.477892000000079
}
},
Search for street blocks
The find
operation supports searches for a group of house numbers representing one or more city blocks. The Addr
value returned for this type of search is Street
. The location of such a feature is the approximated midpoint of the street segments that include the house numbers represented by the block number or block range. A Street
match is more precise than a Street
match, and less precise than a Street
match.
A single block, or a range of blocks, may be searched for. Here are some examples of StreetMidBlock searches:
- 100 block of New York St, Redlands, CA
- 1600 blk E Cliff Dr, El Paso
- 200-500 block Taylor St, San Francisco
- 1700-1900 blk of Locust St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For a StreetMidBlock match to be returned, the input text must follow this general syntax:
<number or range
Street
matching is useful for situations in which an exact address is unknown, such as emergency reporting. For example, a bystander witnessing an emergency may know the name of the street they're on and the general house numbers in their vicinity, but not the exact house number—emergency responders can use the block information to quickly find the approximate location of the incident.
It's also useful for workflows in which anonymity is required for privacy concerns, such as crime data analysis by law enforcement agencies. In such cases, when law enforcement personnel respond to an incident, the street block where the incident occurred can be recorded instead of a person's complete address.
Example: Find a single block number (100 block of New York St, Redlands, CA)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "100 Block of New York St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"location": {
"x": -117.195554966703,
"y": 34.054124985942
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Addr_type": "StreetMidBlock"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.196567077114,
"ymin": 34.052789870158,
"xmax": -117.19455638044,
"ymax": 34.055594477321
}
},
Search for a street between two cross streets
The find
operation supports searching for a street between two intersecting cross streets. The Addr
value returned for this type of search is Street
. The location of such a feature is along the matched street at the midpoint between the cross streets. The precision of a Street
match is greater than a Street
match, less than a Street
match, and equal to a Street
match.
Here are some examples of StreetBetween searches:
- Conway Dr between Sheridan Ave and E El Norte Pkwy, Escondido, CA
- I-10 bt exit 75 and exit 76, Redlands, CA
- Pinckney btw Joy & Anderson, Boston
For a Street
match to be returned, the input text must follow this general syntax:
<street name
Similar to Street
, Street
matching is useful for situations in which an exact address or location is unknown, such as emergency reporting. For example, a person involved in an incident may know the name of the street they're on and the nearby intersecting streets but not an exact address — emergency responders can use this information to quickly find the approximate location of the incident.
Example: Find a street between two cross streets (Conway Dr between Sheridan Ave and E El Norte Pkwy, Escondido, CA)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Conway Dr between Sheridan Ave and E El Norte Pkwy, Escondido, California, 92027",
"location": {
"x": -117.074839704239,
"y": 33.147686155582
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Addr_type": "StreetBetween"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.075839704239,
"ymin": 33.146686155582,
"xmax": -117.073839704239,
"ymax": 33.148686155582
}
},
Specify output fields
The find
operation allows you to specify individual output fields or return all output fields. The out
parameter is used for this. If you want to return all supported output fields, set out
; if you only want to return the default output fields, out
does not need to be passed in the request. If you want to return specific fields, pass the desired field names as comma-separated values, such as out
, which returns the name, feature type, city, and country for a POI search.
EXample: Specify individual outfields for a POI search (PlaceName,Type,City,Country)
Single-field request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Caribou Coffee",
"location": {
"x": -92.985396,
"y": 43.684369
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"Type": "Coffee Shop",
"PlaceName": "Caribou Coffee",
"City": "Austin",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -92.986396,
"ymin": 43.683369,
"xmax": -92.984396,
"ymax": 43.685369
}
}
]
}
Specify the output spatial reference
By default, your geocode service returns candidate geometry in the spatial reference of the data on which it was built. You can specify a different spatial reference for output coordinates by using the out
parameter. This is necessary if you have a mapping application in which you display geocoding candidates and the map spatial reference is not the same as the reference data of your locator. For example, the ArcGIS.com basemaps use a Web Mercator spatial reference, with coordinates in meters. To display geocoding candidates correctly in such a map, you would need to set out
, which is the well-known ID (WKID) of the Web Mercator spatial reference.
For a list of valid WKID values, see Using spatial references.
Example: Specify output coordinates in Web Mercator spatial reference (380 new york st redlands ca)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 102100,
"latestWkid": 3857
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "380 New York St, Redlands, California, 92373",
"location": {
"x": -13046073.473987445,
"y": 4036490.1486023655
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {},
"extent": {
"xmin": -13046184.793478239,
"ymin": 4036355.7832219717,
"xmax": -13045962.154496653,
"ymax": 4036624.5155679826
}
}
]
}
Specify the maximum number of candidates
The max
parameter allows you to specify the maximum number of candidates to be returned by a search, up to the maximum number of candidates allowed by the geocoding service. As an example, if you set max
, find
will return the top 10 candidates for the search. If no value is specified for max
, find
returns all matching candidates.
Example: Specify the maximum number of candidates for a POI search (Starbucks in San Diego)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Starbucks",
"location": {
"x": -117.25457299999999,
"y": 32.794458000000077
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"PlaceName": "Starbucks",
"City": "San Diego",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.255573,
"ymin": 32.793458000000079,
"xmax": -117.25357299999999,
"ymax": 32.795458000000075
}
},
{
"address": "Starbucks",
"location": {
"x": -117.25463599999995,
"y": 32.794477000000029
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"PlaceName": "Starbucks",
"City": "San Diego",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.25563599999995,
"ymin": 32.793477000000031,
"xmax": -117.25363599999994,
"ymax": 32.795477000000027
}
}
]
}
Search within an extent
The find
operation allows spatial filtering of search results by using the search
parameter. To confine a search to a localized area, something that is especially useful in a mobile application, you can define a bounding rectangle to search within. No candidates outside of the rectangle are returned. Bounding rectangle coordinates can be entered as a simple comma-separated string in the format <lower left corner>,<upper right corner>. If the simple format is used, the coordinates must be in the default spatial reference of the geocode service, which is the same as the data upon which it was built. The search
parameter can be used with all supported search types (street address, POI, admin place, postal code).
Example: Find POIs using searchExtent with default spatial reference (McDonald's)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "McDonald's",
"location": {
"x": -117.15405899999996,
"y": 32.718697000000077
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"type": "Fast Food",
"city": "San Diego"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -117.15505899999997,
"ymin": 32.717697000000079,
"xmax": -117.15305899999996,
"ymax": 32.719697000000075
}
}
]
}
You can specify a spatial reference for the search
, which is necessary if your map uses a different spatial reference than the geocode service. For example, the default ArcGIS.com basemaps use a Web Mercator spatial reference (WKID = 102100), with coordinates in meters. The search
must be passed as a JSON envelope object if the coordinates are in a spatial reference other than that of the geocode service.
Requests that include search
can also include zone information (that is, city, state, and country). If the extent defined for search
is large enough to encompass multiple cities, it may be necessary to include the city name in the search to achieve optimal results. For example, if the search
covers the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan region, and you search for Starbucks
, there could be matches returned in Dallas or Fort Worth or any of their suburbs. If you specifically want to find Starbucks in Garland, for example, this needs to be specified in the search.
You can also search for street addresses within an extent. When the search
parameter is defined for an address search, city and postal code can be omitted from the search and valid matches can still be found. However, if the search
is large, it is possible for a street address to occur multiple times within the extent, and it may be necessary to refine the search by including city, state, postal code, or other distinguishing information. Additionally, if the search includes a city or postal code that is outside the search
, no matches will be returned.
Proximity searches
Geocoding results are typically sorted according to their relevance to the search and their relative importance. However, with some applications, especially mobile apps, users are more concerned with finding features closest to their current location. For this reason, the find
operation supports prioritization of candidates based on their distance from a specified point. By passing in the location
parameter, you can define an area of influence for your searches. The location
value represents the center point of the area, which spans a radius of 50,000 meters. Features closest to the input location show up higher in the list of candidates. Results that are within the area of influence area receive a greater boost than those outside the area.
It is important to note that proximity search does not filter results that are farther than 50,000 meters from the input location—it is intended to influence the sort order of results so the most locationally relevant candidates are returned first. For instance, if your location is in Las Vegas, and you search for Golden Nugget, the first candidate is Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The second is Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Mississippi. So even though Golden Nugget in Biloxi is much farther away than the 50,000 meters, it is still returned because it is the second most relevant (closest) candidate. In general, the number of candidates returned by a proximity search is only limited by the max
parameter.
Example: Find a place-name using a proximity search (Golden Nugget)
Single-field request URL
https
Multifield request URL
https
JSON response
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "Golden Nugget",
"location": {
"x": -115.14472999999998,
"y": 36.170330000000035
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"City": "Las Vegas",
"Region": "Nevada",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -115.14972999999998,
"ymin": 36.165330000000033,
"xmax": -115.13972999999999,
"ymax": 36.175330000000038
}
},
{
"address": "Golden Nugget",
"location": {
"x": -88.860549999999989,
"y": 30.39047000000005
},
"score": 100,
"attributes": {
"City": "Biloxi",
"Region": "Mississippi",
"Country": "USA"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -88.865549999999985,
"ymin": 30.385470000000051,
"xmax": -88.855549999999994,
"ymax": 30.395470000000049
}
},
If you only want to return candidates within a specific area, and sort the candidates according to their proximity to a location, you need to define a search extent by passing the search
parameter in the request along with the location
parameter. Consider the Golden Nugget example again. If your location is in Las Vegas and you want to confine your search results to places named Golden Nugget that are within the map extent, you would need to construct a request with the following parameters:
Single
(orLine address
): Golden Nuggetlocation
: -115.144989,36.167361search
: -115.161912,36.158764,-115.126925,36.179793Extent
Category filtering
The find
operation supports filtering searches by category values, which represent address and place types. By including the category
parameter in a find
request, you can avoid false positive matches to unexpected place and address types due to ambiguous searches.
For example, a user may search for June, expecting the service to match to June Mountain ski resort. However, there are many places in the world named June, so the search returns several cities named June.
The solution for this case is to pass the category
parameter in the request. By including category=
in the request, all places that are not ski resorts are bypassed by the search, and only ski resorts whose names begin with June are returned.
Example: Search for June with category= Ski Resort
Request URL
https
{
"spatialReference": {
"wkid": 4326,
"latestWkid": 4326
},
"candidates": [
{
"address": "June Mountain",
"location": {
"x": -119.08940999999999,
"y": 37.770690000000059
},
"score": 90.709999999999994,
"attributes": {
"Type": "Ski Resort",
"PlaceName": "June Mountain",
"Place_Addr": "3819 CA-158, June Lake, California, 93529",
"City": "June Lake",
"Region": "California"
},
"extent": {
"xmin": -119.09440999999998,
"ymin": 37.765690000000056,
"xmax": -119.08440999999999,
"ymax": 37.775690000000061
}
}
]
}