Allowing the customization of address formats
Countries and regions around the world have different address formats.
Ensure address formats are configurable by country, taking into account different data requirements, different field validation criteria and the order of presentation. Once collected, the database must be able to store the superset of possible fields. When presented or printed, the layout of the information will vary by country. For example, a Japanese address is written horizontally from left to right on one line. The postal code is written first, followed by the prefecture, ward, city, map grid position and street number.
Unfortunately, APIs for handling addresses are not available in tools that provide multicultural support such as Java, ICU or POSIX.
Need assistance with your globalization questions?
- Guidelines quick reference
- A: User interface
- B: Writing for an international audience
- C: Respect for culture and conventions
- D: Product structure in a globalized environment
- E: Input and output interfaces
- F: Coded character sets
- G: Introducing Asian ideographic scripts
- H: Languages with a bidirectional script
- I: The cursive Arabic script