Express Entry:UK FF Sample Code FAQ
- U.K. Free Form Address lookup was created from the sample code below.
Introduction
Adding Global Express Entry’s Free Form lookup to your web page is simple when you use the sample code provided. For the most part, you just need to copy and paste the autocomplete function targeting the input field, make a few modifications, and suit to taste. The autocomplete function itself is JQuery code that resides in between <script> tags and is associated with your input field. This guide will show you how to take the sample code and add it to a basic web page.
<script> Section
First let’s take a look at the sample code:
jQuery(document).ready(function()
{
$('#address1').autocomplete(
{
showHeader: true,
minLength: 4,
delay: 400,
source: function(request, response)
{
$.getJSON(url + "jsonp/GlobalExpressFreeForm?callback=?", {format: "jsonp", id: id, FF: request.term, country: $('#country').val(), maxrecords: "10"}, function (data)
{
//alert(JSON.stringify(data.Results));
response($.map(data.Results, function( item )
{
return{label: item.Address.DeliveryAddress + ", " + item.Address.Locality + ", " + item.Address.AdministrativeArea + ", " + item.Address.PostalCode, value: item.Address.DeliveryAddress};
}));
});
},
select: function(evt, ui)
{
//put selection in result box
this.form.result.value = ui.item.label;
}
});
});
As you can see, the autocomplete function is bound to the HTML element ‘address1,’ which will start autocompleting after 4 keystrokes, with a delay of 400 milliseconds.
Next the source is defined with its request object and response callback (you don’t need to know the meaning of those terms to use Express Entry, so we’ll skip a discussion of object-oriented programming and callbacks here). Here you will need to do a little editing.
getJSON
The following code points to the server and the web service:
$.getJSON(url + "jsonp/GlobalExpressFreeForm?callback=?", {format: "jsonp", id: id, FF: request.term, country: $('#country').val(), maxrecords: "10"}, function (data)
{
//alert(JSON.stringify(data.Results));
response($.map(data.Results, function( item )
{
return{label: item.Address.DeliveryAddress + ", " + item.Address.Locality + ", " + item.Address.AdministrativeArea + ", " + item.Address.PostalCode, value: item.Address.DeliveryAddress};
}));
});
},
The label: and value: inside the return statement control how the pick list will look and what the output will be like when an item on it is selected.
select:function
Next is the select parameter of autocomplete(), which controls what will happen when one of the items on the pick list is selected:
select: function(evt, ui)
{
//put selection in result box
this.form.result.value = ui.item.label;
}
The label from the previous section of code will be placed into the item with id ‘result,’ in the HTML form on this page. We’ll change this section to suit our needs later.
And that explains the <script> section of the code, which we will now modify to work with the demo HTML page.
<html> Section
Moving on to the web page, we set up the <html> and <head> sections:
<html> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie-edge"> <title>U.K. Address & Postcode Lookup</title><br> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="main.css" /> <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.8.2.js"></script> <script src="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.9.1/jquery-ui.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.9.1/themes/base/jquery-ui.css" />
This section is basically just some metadata, a title, and the necessary includes for JQuery from the Content Delivery Network.
<script>
Next set up the <script> section:
<script> var id; id='#########'; url = "https://expressentry.melissadata.net/";
Put your ident or license key into the id variable instead of ‘#########’. Set the variable, (in this case ‘id’), to your license string or ident given to you by Melissa Data so it can be passed with each request. Now let’s put an imaginary bookmark in the JavaScript code here so we can come back later when the HTML is finished (Click here to jump to the jQuery Section).
<body>
Set up the <body> section of the HTML:
<body>
<form>
<div class="container">
<div class="subHead"><h3>Free Form Address Lookup    <a href="http://wiki.melissadata.com" style="color:white">(How we created this lookup from the sample code)</a></h3></div>
<div class="padded">
<p class="intro">Enter Address: <br></p>
<input id="freeform" type="text" style="padding:2px;width:600px;"></input><br><br>
<div id="organizationout">Organization</div>
<div id="buildingnameout">Building Name/SubBuilding</div>
<div id="buildingnumberandthoroughfareout">Building Number and Thoroughfare</div>
<div id="localityout">Local Area or Village Name</div>
<div id="posttownout">Post Town</div>
<div id="postcodeout">Postcode</div><br>
<input id="clear" type="button" name="Query" value="Clear" class="btn" />
</div>
</div>
</form>
</body>
The main point of interest here is the <input> line. Its id, ‘freeform’, is used as a hook for the autocompletion code. The <div>’s will act as destinations for the autocomplete. In the case of the country UK, those fields are: Organization, Building & Subbuilding, Building Number & Thoroughfare, Local Area or Village Name, Post Town, and Postcode, according to the standard addressing format from Royal Mail for the United Kingdom.
jQuery
Back to the mental bookmark. Since we have the HTML all ready for the viewable portion of the web page, we can now set up the JavaScript. Copy and paste this section from the sample code continuing the <script> section:
jQuery(document).ready(function()
{
$("#freeform").focus();
$('#freeform').autocomplete(
{
showHeader: false,
minLength: 4,
delay: 400,
source: function(request, response)
{
$.getJSON(url + "jsonp/GlobalExpressFreeForm?callback=?", {format: "jsonp", id: id, FF: request.term, maxrecords: "50", country: "GB"}, function (data)
{
//alert(JSON.stringify(data.Results));
response($.map(data.Results, function( item )
A few things to do here; add the target ‘#freeform’ in the beginning to place the focus on the input field when the page loads, add the target $(‘#freeform’).autocomplete so the browser knows that the input field is an autocompleting one, and replace the country parameter with ‘GB’ since that is the only country we will be using for this web page.
label and value
For the next part it is important to know that certain lines in U.K. Addresses are not always necessary, for example Organization, but since we sometimes have them in the data, I use the ternary operator to make the Organization field appear or disappear when desired.
{
return{
label: item.Address.Organization == '' ? (item.Address.DeliveryAddress + ", " + item.Address.Locality + ", " + item.Address.AdministrativeArea + ", " + item.Address.PostalCode) : (item.Address.Organization + ", " + item.Address.DeliveryAddress + ", " + item.Address.Locality + ", " + item.Address.AdministrativeArea + ", " + item.Address.PostalCode),
value: item.Address.PostalCode, organization: item.Address.Organization, buildingname: item.Address.Building, subbuilding: item.Address.SubBuilding, buildingnumberandthoroughfare: item.Address.Premise + " " + item.Address.Thoroughfare, locality: item.Address.DependentLocality, posttown: item.Address.Locality, postcode: item.Address.PostalCode
};
select:function(2)
Almost done: we use the select parameter, again with the ternary operator, to fill out the sections which we laid out in the div’s in HTML (Watch for closing braces and parentheses here):
}));
});
},
select: function(evt, ui)
{
$("#organizationout2").text ( ( ui.item.organization == '' ) ? ( "" ) : ( ui.item.organization ) );
$("#buildingnameout2").html ( ( ui.item.buildingname == '' ) ? (
ui.item.subbuilding == '' ? "" : ui.item.subbuilding ) : ( ui.item.buildingname + "<br/>" + ui.item.subbuilding ) );
$("#buildingnumberandthoroughfareout2").text ( ui.item.buildingnumberandthoroughfare );
$("#localityout2").text ( (ui.item.locality == '' ) ? ( "" ) : ( ui.item.locality ) );
$("#posttownout2").text ( ui.item.posttown.toUpperCase() );
$("#postcodeout2").text ( ui.item.postcode );
}
});
clear Button
Finally a little code for the clear button:
$('#clear').click(function()
{
//clear form
//with a reload
//window.location.reload(true);
//or just clear the fields
this.form.freeform.value = '';
$("#organizationout").text ("Organization");
$("#buildingnameout").text ("Building Name/SubBuilding");
$("#buildingnumberandthoroughfareout").text ("Building Number and Thoroughfare") ;
$("#localityout").text ("Local Area or Village Name") ;
$("#posttownout").text ("Post Town") ;
$("#postcodeout").text ("Postcode");
//set focus
$("#postcode").focus();
});
});
And don’ t forget to close with the </script> tag in its location above <body> and <form>:
</script>
This web page, as shown in the includes at the top, will also require the main.css file to be in the same directory. That’s how the lookup page was created. If you followed this guide you should now have a web page which will access Melissa Data’s web service to autocomplete addresses in the U.K., filling out the HTML form according to Royal mail’s standard addressing guidelines.