NAME

Geo::Postcodes::NO - Norwegian postcodes with associated information

SYNOPSIS

This module can be used object oriented, or as procedures. Take your pick.

OBJECTS

use Geo::Postcodes::NO qw(valid);

my $postcode = '1178'; # My postcode.

if (valid($postcode)) # A valid postcode? { my $P = Geo::Postcodes::NO->new($postcode);

printf "Postcode         '%s'.\n", $P->postcode();
printf "Postal location: '%s'.\n", $P->location();
printf "Borough number:  '%s'.\n", $P->borough_number();
printf "Borough:         '%s'.\n", $P->borough();
printf "County:          '%s'.\n", $P->county();
printf "Postcode type:   '%s'.\n", $P->type(); 
}

The test for a valid postcode can also be expressed this way:

my $P = Geo::Postcodes::NO->new($postcode);

if ($P) { ... }

PROCEDURES

use Geo::Postcodes::NO ':all';

my $postcode = "1178";

if (valid($postcode)) { printf "Postcode" '%s'.\n", $postcode; printf "Postal location: '%s'.\n", location_of($postcode); printf "Borough number: '%s'.\n", borough_number_of($postcode); printf "Borough: '%s'.\n", borough_of($postcode); printf "County: '%s'.\n", county_of($postcode); printf "Postcode type: '%s'.\n", type_of($postcode); }

ABSTRACT

Geo::Postcodes::NO - Perl extension for the mapping between norwegian postal codes, postal locations, and the local administrative levels of boroughs (kommuner) and counties (fylker).

DESCRIPTION

Tired of entering the postal location all the time? This is not necessary, as it is uniquely defined from the postcode. Request the postcode only, and use this library to get the postal name.

The library can also tell you in which borough by name or number and county by name the postcode is located. The borough number can be handy, as it is used when reporting wages and tax to the Norwegian Tax Administration

EXPORT

None by default.

The procedures can be imported individually, or en block with use Geo::Postcodes::NO ':all';.

DEPENDENCIES

This module is a subclass of Geo::Postcodes, which must be installed first.

PROCEDURES and METHODS

These functions can be used as methods or procedures.

is_method

my $boolean = Geo::postcodes::NO::is_method($method);

my $boolean = $object->is_method($method);

Does the specified method exist.

methods

my @methods = Geo::postcodes::NO::methods();

my @methods = $object->methods();

A list of legal methods.

selection

See the Geo::Postcodes manual.

PROCEDURES

Note that the xxx_of procedures return undef when passed an illegal argument.

legal

my $boolean = Geo::Postcodes::NO::legal($number);

Do we have a legal postcode; a code that follows the syntax rules?

valid

my $boolean = Geo::Postcodes::NO::valid($number);

Do we have a valid postcode; a code in actual use?

location_of

my $poststed = Geo::Postcodes::NO::location_of($number);

The postal location associated with the specified postcode.

borough_number_of

my $kommunenr = Geo::Postcodes::NO::borough_number_of($number);

The number of the borough (kommune) where the postcode is located.

kommunenr2kommune

my $kommune = Geo::Postcodes::NO::kommunenr2kommune($number);

The name of the borough (kommune) with the specified borough number.

borough_of

my $kommune = Geo::Postcodes::NO::borough_of($number);

The name of the borough (kommune) where the postcode is located.

county_of

my $fylke = Geo::Postcodes::NO::county_of($number);

The name of the county (fylke) where the postcode is located.

kommunenr2fylke

my $fylke = Geo::Postcodes::NO::kommunenr2fylke($number);

The name of the county (fylke) where the specified borough number (kommune nummer) is located.

type_of

my $kategori = Geo::Postcodes::NO::type_of($number);

What kind of postcode is this. The values, as given by the norwegian postal service, are "Både gateadresser og postbokser", "Flere bruksområder (felles)", "Gateadresser", "Kunde med eget postnummer", "Postbokser", and "Serviceboks".

This information may not be especially useful.

METHODS

new

my $P = Geo::Postcodes::NO->new($number);

Create a new postcode object.

The constructor will return undef when passed an invalid or illegal postcode. See the description of the legal and valid procedures above.

Either check the postcode with legal before this call, or test it afterwards; if ($P) { ... }.

postcode

my $postcode = $P->postcode();

The postcode, as given to the constructor.

location

my $location = $P->location();

The postal location associated with the specified postcode.

borough_number

my $borough_number = $P->borough_number();

The number of the borough (kommune) where the postcode is located.

borough

my $borough = $P->borough();

The name of the borough (kommune) where the postcode is located.

county

my $county = $P->county();

The name of the county (fylke) where the postcode is located.

type

my $postal_type = $P->type();

See the description of the procedure type_of above.

CAVEAT

POSTCODES

The norwegain postcodes are four digit numbers, in the interval "0000" to "9999" (and this means that "0010" is legal, while "10" is not).

Use legal to check for legal postcodes, and valid to check if the postcode is actually in use. Geo::Postcodes::NO->new($postcode) will return undef if passed an illegal or invalid postcode.

An attempt to access the methods of a non-existent postcode object will result in a runtime error. This can be avoided by checking if the postal code is legal, before creating the object; valid($postcode) returns true or false.

LEGAL BOROUGH NUMBERS

Borough (Kommune) numbers are also four digit numbers (not to be confused with the postcodes), in the interval "0101" to "2399". The two first digits identifies the county (fylke).

CHARACTER SET

The library was written using the ISO-8859-1 (iso-latin1) character set, and the special norwegian letters 'Æ', 'Ø' and 'Å' occur regularly in the postal locations and borough and county names. Usage of other character sets may cause havoc. Unicode is not tested. Some locations in northern norway use sami names, but the special characters is not handled correctly.

Note that all names are given in UPPER CASE. This is courtesy of the norwegian postal services.

SEE ALSO

The latest version of this library should always be available on CPAN, but see also the library home page; http://bbop.org/perl/GeoPostcodes for addittional information and sample usage.

AUTHOR

Arne Sommer, <arne@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2006 by Arne Sommer

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm Geo::Postcodes::NO

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Geo::Postcodes::NO