Our Reverse Geo Web Service allows you to return the distance from your current location to the nearest known location within a provided list, or in other words, create a ‘dealer locator’. Traditionally, Reverse Geo Web Service (RGWS) returned the nearest valid address to the input (starting location) which was a latitude/longitude pair and is commonly used for disaster relief mapping or emergency location applications. The ‘doLookupFromList’ feature allows the developer to instead obtain the nearest valid address from a predetermined finite list of valid addresses. Example applications might be to help customers find the closest healthcare clinic or a particular coffee shop to their current location.
Prerequisites:
The input starting location can be defined (in addition to the default set of lat/long coordinates) by a Melissa Address Key (MAK) – a unique identifier given to every valid U.S. address. The provided list of input locations to be looked up must be a list of MAKs and a unique identifier for each. Therefore, to use this feature, one must first convert a list of valid addresses to obtain their respective MAKs. Using this feature requires the request to use the JSON format.
Example: Where’s the Nearest Dunkin’ Donuts®?
It may look like this:
And return this:
This example shows how easily this feature can be used in tandem with a geolocation API for smart device application. For more information on creating a dealer locator, check out the application note. Or to get started with Reverse Geo Web Service, you can Schedule a Demo, view the Quick Start Guide, or Download the Sample Code.
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