METHOD AND SYSTEM TO PARSE ADDRESSES USING A PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20090119093A1
• Filed: 11/02/2007
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: YAZICI, Baris
• Granted Patent: US 8,055,497 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing

Abstract

A method and system for parsing an address is disclosed. The method and system comprise separating the address into a plurality of tokens and providing one or more token meaning discovery passes based upon region specific configuration information to determine the meaning of each token in the address. In so doing, an address can be parsed by a processing system in an efficient and effective fashion. By disclosing the meaning of each token of the address in accordance with a region specific configuration information rule set a parsing process is provided which allows for easy modification as the requirements for the parsing change.

Claims

1. A parsing method comprising:

separating an address into a plurality of tokens; and

providing one or more token meaning discovery passes based upon region specific configuration information to determine the meaning of each token in the address.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing one or more token meaning discovery passes comprises providing a first token meaning discovery pass without context information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the providing one or more token discovery meaning passes comprises providing one or more subsequent token meaning passes with context information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein region specific configuration information includes address parts and rule sets.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the address comprises a street address.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the region specific configuration information comprises context specific rules and non-context specific rules.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein elements of the address are merged to provide a token.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein elements of the address are separated to provide separate tokens.

9. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for parsing an address comprising:

separating an address into a plurality of tokens; and

providing one or more token meaning discovery passes based upon region specific configuration information to determine the meaning of each token in the address.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the providing one or more token meaning discovery passes comprises providing a first token meaning discovery pass without context information.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the providing one or more token discovery meaning passes comprises providing one or more subsequent token meaning passes with context information.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein region specific configuration information includes address parts and rule sets.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the address comprises a street address.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the region specific configuration information comprises context specific rules and non-context specific rules.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein elements of the address are merged to provide a token.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein elements of the address are separated to provide separate tokens.

17. A processing system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor; and

a parsing code to be executed by the processor;

the parsing code further comprising separating an address into a plurality of tokens; and

providing one or more token meaning discovery passes based upon region specific configuration information to determine the meaning of each token in the address.

18. The processing system of claim 17, wherein the providing one or more token meaning discovery passes comprises providing a first token meaning discovery pass without context information.

19. The processing system of claim 17, wherein the providing one or more token discovery meaning passes comprises providing one or more subsequent token meaning passes with context information.

20. The processing system of claim 17, wherein region specific configuration information includes address parts and rule sets.

21. The processing system of claim 17, wherein the address comprises a street address.

22. The processing system of claim 17, wherein the region specific configuration information comprises context specific rules and non-context specific rules.

23. The processing system of claim 17, wherein elements of the address are merged to provide a token.

24. The processing system of claim 17, wherein elements of the address are separated to provide separate tokens.