Posted by Beauregard T. Shagnasty on 06/19/07 19:41

vunet.us@gmail.com wrote:

> On Jun 19, 12:56 pm, "Jukka K. Korpela" <jkorp...@cs.tut.fi> wrote:
>> Scripsit Beauregard T. Shagnasty:
>>
>>> A visitor, once realizing you are checking zipcodes, may still enter a
>>> bogus name and street address.
>>
>> Or he may move to a better site.
>>
>> Any checks have the risk of rejecting correct data. It's actually _very_
>> difficult to check even an e-mail address reliably. Zip codes might be
>> easier since they constitute a finite and known set, but what happens when
>> the set changes, e.g. new codes are added?

What happens is that the next quarterly subscription update to the
zipcode database should reflect the new codes. ;-)

> What if I use google map to determine a valid address? I'd get HTML of
> the map page with user-supplied 'loc' string and if google does not
> find it (will contain string "No match found" inside) I will alert the
> user of a wrong address entered...?

That won't work. I just typed a non-existent street address for my
street, and google maps quickly showed me the woods nearby, where no
house exists.

And you will never be able to check for valid names.

I run the computers for an annual event's registration, where there are
normally a bit over a thousand people. Using my up-to-date US and
Canadian zip/postal code databases, I always get forms with zip and
postal codes not in the latest databases. Whether or not the people are
writing down correct numbers (and letters), I have no way to tell. So I
accept them, and add them to the database with a marker signifying
'added at the event.' Then I check later...

--
-bts
-Motorcycles defy gravity; cars just suck

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