GeoNames Forum

ws.geonames.org is deprecated for 6 months :
http://geonames.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/application-identification-for-free-geonames-web-services/

A few days ago we have updated the french postalcodes according to recent changes by LaPoste.
Normal codes are still 5 chars long.
Special codes for business are called CEDEX.
To separate the two groups (normal/business) we have added CEDEX to the second ones.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_postal_en_France

Use this syntax to browse australian populated places (PPL) by first level administrative division (ADM1):

http://geotree.geonames.org/?id=AU&find=ADM1:PPL

See GeoTree usage and examples for more options.

Some recent changes to France ADM4 names :
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichSarde.do?reprise=true&page=1&idSarde=SARDOBJT000007104406&ordre=null&nature=null&g=ls

Not sure to have time before end of january

We plan to add the word CEDEX to those special postcodes :
"29182 CEDEX", etc...

@steptom :

French postal codes have been updated a few weeks ago according to laposte official list.

Please do not delete CEDEX postal codes such as 02023 LAON
because some geonames users need this full list to validate input forms.

Is it what you are looking for ?
http://tutorialzine.com/2010/03/who-is-online-widget-php-mysql-jquery/

phoenix wrote:

How i can use postal codes in my local database ?

May you explain what you want to do with postal codes (form pre-filling ? form validation ? etc) and for which countries ?

FR population ADM1/2/3/4 has been recently updated in GeoNames
according to latest official from insee (2007).
http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/recensement/populations-legales/france-departements.asp?annee=2007

We have updated the doc to explain the restriction :
http://www.geonames.org/export/ws-overview.html

You can download postal codes dumps from here :
http://download.geonames.org/export/zip/

You are right : this is for JSON only.
We will fix the doc. Thanks.

Did you have a look to this thread:
http://forum.geonames.org/gforum/posts/list/1791.page

This is the power of json :
javascript data from 'response' array have exactly the same name as in the json demo output :
view-source:http://ws.geonames.org/findNearbyPlaceNameJSON?formatted=true&lat=47.3&lng=9&style=full

Code:

 success: function(response) {
 	// ws returns an error message
 	if (response.status) {
 		alert(response.status.message+response.status.value);
 	}
 	// ws returns an array of data
 	if (response.geonames && response.geonames.length) {
 		$.each(response.geonames, function() {
 			alert(this.fcode);
 			alert(this.toponymName);
 			etc...
 		}
 	}
 }

Once again, have a look to geotree.html :
view-source:http://geotree.geonames.org/geotree.html

It is better to use $.ajax() with dataType:'jsonp'

Have a look to geotree.html :
view-source:http://geotree.geonames.org/geotree.html

The reason why I would revert the arrondissement to PPLX is to differentiate the city "Paris" from its arrondissements when searching a city by name. I usually remove PPLX from search results, and it usually is ok.

With arrondissements being PPL, it's quite impossible to differentiate the whole city of Paris from its subdivision.

A simple rule : remove places with name containing digit

From an administrative (A) point of vue, sure you're right, arrondissements have a special meaning in France; but for a population (P) point of vue, they don't really have (I live in Paris XI, work in Paris II...)
Furthermore, since arrondissements are subdivisions of the city, I really think they enter in the PPLX category.

20 Arrondissements = PPL
80 Quartiers = PPLX

I tried to rely on the link with ADM4 for arrondissements, but Paris is also linked to an ADM4, so...

Does that mean the only way to differentiate Paris for its arrondissements is to create an exception for Paris case ?

Either you talk about Paris (75056) with "Mairie de Paris"
or Paris 09 (75109) with "Mairie du 9e", etc

Why Lyon and Marseille keep the (correct in my opinion) PPLX-way ?

Thanks for your reply.

Still in progress

"Arrondissements municipaux" of Paris/Lyon/Marseille have a special status
and can be considered as distinct "cities" with their own insee code (ADM4).
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrondissement_de_Paris

It is the reason why we are changing arrondissements of Paris from PPLX to PPL linked to each ADM4 from 75101 to 75120.

Each "quartier" becomes a PPLX linked to appropriate PPL.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartiers_administratifs_de_Paris

Is there a major reason why you want to revert the change ?

Read this thread :
http://forum.geonames.org/gforum/posts/list/2033.page
to get everything (except postal codes) in your local MySQL database.

http://download.geonames.org/export/zip/
contains ONLY postal codes

when
http://download.geonames.org/export/dump/
contains all GeoNames records

For some countries like France, postal codes can also be found in
http://download.geonames.org/export/dump/alternateNames.zip
with language code = 'post'