Practical International Data Management - Mailing address

Definition

A mailing address is one which is not a geographical (street) location or one directed to a large user. Mailing addresses contain post office box numbers, private bag information, a route indicator or any other postal device for delivery.

Components

A mailing address may contain one or more of these elements:

• The mailing delivery type (postbox, private bag, poste-restante, rural route etc.)
• A postbox (or other delivery type) number prefix
• A postbox (or other delivery type) number
• A postbox (or other delivery type) number suffix
• A post office and/or district name
• Other components shared wioth other address types, such as place name, postal code, administrative district etc.

Processing

• mailing addresses and street addresses should not be added to the same fields in databases. They may have different postal codes and/or place name and using both forms together may create an undeliverable address.
• Post office boxes and other mailing address types are not always defined by numbers. They may contain prefixes and suffixes, so this data should not be stored in a numeric field in a database.

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