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The right data type for a postal code is a string. In a SQL database, this would typically be VARCHAR() or CHAR() , of the appropriate length.
There are four types of ZIP Codes: Unique: assigned to a single high-volume address. Post office box-only: used only for PO boxes at a given facility, not for any other type of delivery.
The longest postcodes in the world belong to Iran (Islamic Rep.) and the United States of America. Postcodes in Iran consist of 10 digits below the locality name. In the United States of America, the ZIP+4 system defines postcodes as having five digits, a hyphen, and four digits.
The unicode CLDR contains the postal code regex for each country. (158 regex's in total!)
core.zip from http://unicode.org/Public/cldr/26.0.1/
common/supplemental/postalCodeData.xml from the unzipped content (direct content: common/supplemental/postalCodeData.xml)Google also has a web service with per-country address formatting information, including postal codes, here - http://i18napis.appspot.com/address (I found that link via http://unicode.org/review/pri180/ )
Edit
Here a copy of postalCodeData.xml regex :
"GB", "GIR[ ]?0AA|((AB|AL|B|BA|BB|BD|BH|BL|BN|BR|BS|BT|CA|CB|CF|CH|CM|CO|CR|CT|CV|CW|DA|DD|DE|DG|DH|DL|DN|DT|DY|E|EC|EH|EN|EX|FK|FY|G|GL|GY|GU|HA|HD|HG|HP|HR|HS|HU|HX|IG|IM|IP|IV|JE|KA|KT|KW|KY|L|LA|LD|LE|LL|LN|LS|LU|M|ME|MK|ML|N|NE|NG|NN|NP|NR|NW|OL|OX|PA|PE|PH|PL|PO|PR|RG|RH|RM|S|SA|SE|SG|SK|SL|SM|SN|SO|SP|SR|SS|ST|SW|SY|TA|TD|TF|TN|TQ|TR|TS|TW|UB|W|WA|WC|WD|WF|WN|WR|WS|WV|YO|ZE)(\d[\dA-Z]?[ ]?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}))|BFPO[ ]?\d{1,4}"
"JE", "JE\d[\dA-Z]?[ ]?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}"
"GG", "GY\d[\dA-Z]?[ ]?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}"
"IM", "IM\d[\dA-Z]?[ ]?\d[ABD-HJLN-UW-Z]{2}"
"US", "\d{5}([ \-]\d{4})?"
"CA", "[ABCEGHJKLMNPRSTVXY]\d[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z][ ]?\d[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]\d"
"DE", "\d{5}"
"JP", "\d{3}-\d{4}"
"FR", "\d{2}[ ]?\d{3}"
"AU", "\d{4}"
"IT", "\d{5}"
"CH", "\d{4}"
"AT", "\d{4}"
"ES", "\d{5}"
"NL", "\d{4}[ ]?[A-Z]{2}"
"BE", "\d{4}"
"DK", "\d{4}"
"SE", "\d{3}[ ]?\d{2}"
"NO", "\d{4}"
"BR", "\d{5}[\-]?\d{3}"
"PT", "\d{4}([\-]\d{3})?"
"FI", "\d{5}"
"AX", "22\d{3}"
"KR", "\d{3}[\-]\d{3}"
"CN", "\d{6}"
"TW", "\d{3}(\d{2})?"
"SG", "\d{6}"
"DZ", "\d{5}"
"AD", "AD\d{3}"
"AR", "([A-HJ-NP-Z])?\d{4}([A-Z]{3})?"
"AM", "(37)?\d{4}"
"AZ", "\d{4}"
"BH", "((1[0-2]|[2-9])\d{2})?"
"BD", "\d{4}"
"BB", "(BB\d{5})?"
"BY", "\d{6}"
"BM", "[A-Z]{2}[ ]?[A-Z0-9]{2}"
"BA", "\d{5}"
"IO", "BBND 1ZZ"
"BN", "[A-Z]{2}[ ]?\d{4}"
"BG", "\d{4}"
"KH", "\d{5}"
"CV", "\d{4}"
"CL", "\d{7}"
"CR", "\d{4,5}|\d{3}-\d{4}"
"HR", "\d{5}"
"CY", "\d{4}"
"CZ", "\d{3}[ ]?\d{2}"
"DO", "\d{5}"
"EC", "([A-Z]\d{4}[A-Z]|(?:[A-Z]{2})?\d{6})?"
"EG", "\d{5}"
"EE", "\d{5}"
"FO", "\d{3}"
"GE", "\d{4}"
"GR", "\d{3}[ ]?\d{2}"
"GL", "39\d{2}"
"GT", "\d{5}"
"HT", "\d{4}"
"HN", "(?:\d{5})?"
"HU", "\d{4}"
"IS", "\d{3}"
"IN", "\d{6}"
"ID", "\d{5}"
"IL", "\d{5}"
"JO", "\d{5}"
"KZ", "\d{6}"
"KE", "\d{5}"
"KW", "\d{5}"
"LA", "\d{5}"
"LV", "\d{4}"
"LB", "(\d{4}([ ]?\d{4})?)?"
"LI", "(948[5-9])|(949[0-7])"
"LT", "\d{5}"
"LU", "\d{4}"
"MK", "\d{4}"
"MY", "\d{5}"
"MV", "\d{5}"
"MT", "[A-Z]{3}[ ]?\d{2,4}"
"MU", "(\d{3}[A-Z]{2}\d{3})?"
"MX", "\d{5}"
"MD", "\d{4}"
"MC", "980\d{2}"
"MA", "\d{5}"
"NP", "\d{5}"
"NZ", "\d{4}"
"NI", "((\d{4}-)?\d{3}-\d{3}(-\d{1})?)?"
"NG", "(\d{6})?"
"OM", "(PC )?\d{3}"
"PK", "\d{5}"
"PY", "\d{4}"
"PH", "\d{4}"
"PL", "\d{2}-\d{3}"
"PR", "00[679]\d{2}([ \-]\d{4})?"
"RO", "\d{6}"
"RU", "\d{6}"
"SM", "4789\d"
"SA", "\d{5}"
"SN", "\d{5}"
"SK", "\d{3}[ ]?\d{2}"
"SI", "\d{4}"
"ZA", "\d{4}"
"LK", "\d{5}"
"TJ", "\d{6}"
"TH", "\d{5}"
"TN", "\d{4}"
"TR", "\d{5}"
"TM", "\d{6}"
"UA", "\d{5}"
"UY", "\d{5}"
"UZ", "\d{6}"
"VA", "00120"
"VE", "\d{4}"
"ZM", "\d{5}"
"AS", "96799"
"CC", "6799"
"CK", "\d{4}"
"RS", "\d{6}"
"ME", "8\d{4}"
"CS", "\d{5}"
"YU", "\d{5}"
"CX", "6798"
"ET", "\d{4}"
"FK", "FIQQ 1ZZ"
"NF", "2899"
"FM", "(9694[1-4])([ \-]\d{4})?"
"GF", "9[78]3\d{2}"
"GN", "\d{3}"
"GP", "9[78][01]\d{2}"
"GS", "SIQQ 1ZZ"
"GU", "969[123]\d([ \-]\d{4})?"
"GW", "\d{4}"
"HM", "\d{4}"
"IQ", "\d{5}"
"KG", "\d{6}"
"LR", "\d{4}"
"LS", "\d{3}"
"MG", "\d{3}"
"MH", "969[67]\d([ \-]\d{4})?"
"MN", "\d{6}"
"MP", "9695[012]([ \-]\d{4})?"
"MQ", "9[78]2\d{2}"
"NC", "988\d{2}"
"NE", "\d{4}"
"VI", "008(([0-4]\d)|(5[01]))([ \-]\d{4})?"
"PF", "987\d{2}"
"PG", "\d{3}"
"PM", "9[78]5\d{2}"
"PN", "PCRN 1ZZ"
"PW", "96940"
"RE", "9[78]4\d{2}"
"SH", "(ASCN|STHL) 1ZZ"
"SJ", "\d{4}"
"SO", "\d{5}"
"SZ", "[HLMS]\d{3}"
"TC", "TKCA 1ZZ"
"WF", "986\d{2}"
"XK", "\d{5}"
"YT", "976\d{2}"
There is none.
Postal/zip codes around the world don't follow a common pattern. In some countries they are made up by numbers, in others they can be combinations of numbers an letters, some can contain spaces, others dots, the number of characters can vary from two to at least six...
What you could do (theoretically) is create a seperate regex for every country in the world, not recommendable IMO. But you would still be missing on the validation part: Zip code 12345 may exist, but 12346 not, maybe 12344 doesn't exist either. How do you check for that with a regex?
You can't.
use these regx
$ZIPREG=array(
"US"=>"^\d{5}([\-]?\d{4})?$",
"UK"=>"^(GIR|[A-Z]\d[A-Z\d]??|[A-Z]{2}\d[A-Z\d]??)[ ]??(\d[A-Z]{2})$",
"DE"=>"\b((?:0[1-46-9]\d{3})|(?:[1-357-9]\d{4})|(?:[4][0-24-9]\d{3})|(?:[6][013-9]\d{3}))\b",
"CA"=>"^([ABCEGHJKLMNPRSTVXY]\d[ABCEGHJKLMNPRSTVWXYZ])\ {0,1}(\d[ABCEGHJKLMNPRSTVWXYZ]\d)$",
"FR"=>"^(F-)?((2[A|B])|[0-9]{2})[0-9]{3}$",
"IT"=>"^(V-|I-)?[0-9]{5}$",
"AU"=>"^(0[289][0-9]{2})|([1345689][0-9]{3})|(2[0-8][0-9]{2})|(290[0-9])|(291[0-4])|(7[0-4][0-9]{2})|(7[8-9][0-9]{2})$",
"NL"=>"^[1-9][0-9]{3}\s?([a-zA-Z]{2})?$",
"ES"=>"^([1-9]{2}|[0-9][1-9]|[1-9][0-9])[0-9]{3}$",
"DK"=>"^([D|d][K|k]( |-))?[1-9]{1}[0-9]{3}$",
"SE"=>"^(s-|S-){0,1}[0-9]{3}\s?[0-9]{2}$",
"BE"=>"^[1-9]{1}[0-9]{3}$",
"IN"=>"^\d{6}$"
);
Every postal code system uses only A-Z and/or 0-9 and sometimes space/dash
Not every country uses postal codes (ex. Ireland outside of Dublin), but we'll ignore that here.
The shortest postal code format is Sierra Leone with NN
The longest is American Samoa with NNNNN-NNNNNN
You should allow one space or dash.
Should not begin or end with space or dash
This should cover the above:
(?i)^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\- ]{0,10}[a-z0-9]$
Trying to cover the whole world with one regular expression is not completely possible, and certainly not feasible or recommended.
Not to toot my own horn, but I've written some pretty thorough regular expressions which you may find helpful.
Canadian postal codes
Basic validation:
^[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTVXY]{1}[0-9]{1}[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]{1}[ ]?[0-9]{1}[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]{1}[0-9]{1}$
Extended validation:
^(A(0[ABCEGHJ-NPR]|1[ABCEGHK-NSV-Y]|2[ABHNV]|5[A]|8[A])|B(0[CEHJ-NPRSTVW]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|2[ABCEGHJNRSTV-Z]|3[ABEGHJ-NPRSTVZ]|4[ABCEGHNPRV]|5[A]|6[L]|9[A])|C(0[AB]|1[ABCEN])|E(1[ABCEGHJNVWX]|2[AEGHJ-NPRSV]|3[ABCELNVYZ]|4[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|5[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV]|6[ABCEGHJKL]|7[ABCEGHJ-NP]|8[ABCEGJ-NPRST]|9[ABCEGH])|G(0[ACEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|2[ABCEGJ-N]|3[ABCEGHJ-NZ]|4[ARSTVWXZ]|5[ABCHJLMNRTVXYZ]|6[ABCEGHJKLPRSTVWXZ]|7[ABGHJKNPSTXYZ]|8[ABCEGHJ-NPTVWYZ]|9[ABCHNPRTX])|H(0[HM]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|2[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|3[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|4[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|5[AB]|7[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|8[NPRSTYZ]|9[ABCEGHJKPRSWX])|J(0[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|1[ACEGHJ-NRSTXZ]|2[ABCEGHJ-NRSTWXY]|3[ABEGHLMNPRTVXYZ]|4[BGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|5[ABCJ-MRTV-Z]|6[AEJKNRSTVWYXZ]|7[ABCEGHJ-NPRTV-Z]|8[ABCEGHLMNPRTVXYZ]|9[ABEHJLNTVXYZ])|K(0[ABCEGHJ-M]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|2[ABCEGHJ-MPRSTVW]|4[ABCKMPR]|6[AHJKTV]|7[ACGHK-NPRSV]|8[ABHNPRV]|9[AHJKLV])|L(0[[ABCEGHJ-NPRS]]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|2[AEGHJMNPRSTVW]|3[BCKMPRSTVXYZ]|4[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|5[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTVW]|6[ABCEGHJ-MPRSTV-Z]|7[ABCEGJ-NPRST]|8[EGHJ-NPRSTVW]|9[ABCGHK-NPRSTVWYZ])|M(1[BCEGHJ-NPRSTVWX]|2[HJ-NPR]|3[ABCHJ-N]|4[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|5[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTVWX]|6[ABCEGHJ-NPRS]|7[AY]|8[V-Z]|9[ABCLMNPRVW])|N(0[ABCEGHJ-NPR]|1[ACEGHKLMPRST]|2[ABCEGHJ-NPRTVZ]|3[ABCEHLPRSTVWY]|4[BGKLNSTVWXZ]|5[ACHLPRV-Z]|6[ABCEGHJ-NP]|7[AGLMSTVWX]|8[AHMNPRSTV-Y]|9[ABCEGHJKVY])|P(0[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|1[ABCHLP]|2[ABN]|3[ABCEGLNPY]|4[NPR]|5[AEN]|6[ABC]|7[ABCEGJKL]|8[NT]|9[AN])|R(0[ABCEGHJ-M]|1[ABN]|2[CEGHJ-NPRV-Y]|3[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|4[AHJKL]|5[AGH]|6[MW]|7[ABCN]|8[AN]|9[A])|S(0[ACEGHJ-NP]|2[V]|3[N]|4[AHLNPRSTV-Z]|6[HJKVWX]|7[HJ-NPRSTVW]|9[AHVX])|T(0[ABCEGHJ-MPV]|1[ABCGHJ-MPRSV-Y]|2[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|3[ABCEGHJ-NPRZ]|4[ABCEGHJLNPRSTVX]|5[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|6[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTVWX]|7[AENPSVXYZ]|8[ABCEGHLNRSVWX]|9[ACEGHJKMNSVWX])|V(0[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTVWX]|1[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|2[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|3[ABCEGHJ-NRSTV-Y]|4[ABCEGK-NPRSTVWXZ]|5[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|6[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]|7[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Y]|8[ABCGJ-NPRSTV-Z]|9[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z])|X(0[ABCGX]|1[A])|Y(0[AB]|1[A]))[ ]?[0-9]{1}[ABCEGHJ-NPRSTV-Z]{1}[0-9]{1}$
US ZIP codes
^[0-9]{5}(-[0-9]{4})?$
UK post codes
^([A-PR-UWYZ]([0-9]{1,2}|([A-HK-Y][0-9]|[A-HK-Y][0-9]([0-9]|[ABEHMNPRV-Y]))|[0-9][A-HJKS-UW])\ [0-9][ABD-HJLNP-UW-Z]{2}|(GIR\ 0AA)|(SAN\ TA1)|(BFPO\ (C\/O\ )?[0-9]{1,4})|((ASCN|BBND|[BFS]IQQ|PCRN|STHL|TDCU|TKCA)\ 1ZZ))$
It is not possible to guarantee accuracy without actually mailing something to an address and having the person let you know when they receive it, but we can narrow things by down by eliminating cases that we know are bad.
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