Chapter 8

Street centerline

A file containing line segments representing roads.

TIGER/Line

A file produced by the U.S. Census Bureau that contains (among other items) the line segments that correspond with roads all over the United States.

Linear interpolation

A method used in geocoding to place an address location among a range of addresses along a segment.

Algorithm

A set of steps used in a process designed to solve a particular type of problem (for example, the steps used in computing a shortest path).

Line segment

A single edge of a network that corresponds to one portion of a street (for instance, the edge between two junctions).

Edge

A term used for the links of a network.

Junction

A term used for the nodes (or places where edges come together) in a network.

Transit cost

A value that represents how many units (of time or distance, for example) are used in moving along a network edge.

Address matching

Another term for geocoding.

Parsing

Breaking an address up into its component parts.

Batch geocoding

Matching a group of addresses together at once.

Address standardization

Setting up the components of an address in a regular format.

Reference database

The base network data used as a source for geocoding.

Connectivity

The linkages between edges and junctions of a network.

Geocoding

The process of using the text of an address to plot a point at that location on a map.

Shortest path

The route that corresponds to the lowest cumulative transit cost between stops in a network.