Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional - Manual (Page 376)

The dialog box also offers you the option of geocoding your data in two modes: automatically or
interactively. When you geocode a table automatically, MapInfo Professional geocodes exact matches
only and ignores all other records. It is the faster method, since MapInfo Professional requires no user
interaction once the geocoding process begins. When you geocode a table interactively, MapInfo
Professional pauses when it fails to match a record and lets you select from a list of close matches.
We recommend that you geocode your table automatically first and then go back and geocode
interactively to match the remaining records. Note:
Not Getting Geocoding? Try this Example...
The objective of geocoding is to place data from your database accurately on a map. Let us call your
data the source table. You can think of the geographical coordinates on a map as a target table.
To geocode a record:
• MapInfo has to match an address in the source table with a location on the target table
Most of the problems in geocoding occur in trying to take the address data in the source file and match
it to addresses in the target tables.
For more about the automatic and interactive geocoding modes, see Modes of Geocoding .
Modes of Geocoding
MapInfo Professional has two geocoding modes: automatic and interactive. The process of matching
target addresses with source addresses is the same in both modes.
Automatic mode matches addresses based on the choices in the Geocode dialog box.
When Geocoding is in automatic mode, only exact matches are geocoded. When some of your data
fails to match exactly (due, perhaps, to typographical errors), you need to geocode in Interactive mode
to match the near misses by hand. It is generally best to do two passes through your table, with the first
pass set on Automatic and the second pass set on Interactive. This approach takes less processing
time.
For instructions on geocoding in automatic mode, see Geocoding Automatically in the Help System.
Interactive mode stops at each address that does not meet the geocode parameters and permits you
to assist in the matching process. When you geocode interactively, you are not changing the data. You
are merely redirecting MapInfo Professional to look for different information.
For more information, see Geocoding Interactively in the Help System.
In most cases, the best geocoding strategy is to geocode in automatic mode and then geocode in
interactive mode to deal with the records MapInfo Professional was unable to handle automatically.
Manual mode. Automatic and interactive geocoding work well for databases with "clean" data. Sometimes,
however, you know where a point should be on the map, but the location data does not allow for a match.
Manual geocoding is the process of placing your data records on the map by clicking its location on the
map. This method works best when you have a small table which contains data that you are very familiar
with.
For more information, see Geocoding Manually in the Help System.
Methods of Geocoding
In addition to geocoding automatically and manually, you have choices in how precise you want the
geocoded record to be. Let us look at the variety of ways you can geocode your table.
Geocoding by Address
Street addresses typically consist of two or three components:
• Street number
MapInfo Professional 12.5 376
Geocoding - Assigning Coordinates to Records