Tinderbox will automatically attempt to find the location of notes where an $Address is set and both $Latitude and $Longitude are 0 (zero, i.e. unset). This is done using Google's geocoding service. If a value for latitude or longitude has already been entered no further lookup occurs. Thus if $Address changes, the user must reset $Latitude and $Longitude to zero to update them. The checking of values is done as part of the agent/Rule update cycle.
- Latitude: positive values are North, negative are South
- Longitude: positive values are East, negative are West.
The geocoding service is more likely to work for addresses in the more developed parts of the globe. For such areas including national zip/post codes in addresses will certainly help improve accuracy (or getting response at all).
It is important to note that Tinderbox has no control over the results offered, it simply uses the result - if any - returned by Google's service. Thus Tinderbox must poll Google with $Address data but this does not guarantee $Latitude or $Longitude values or their accuracy. Google also rate limit geocoding accesses - normally suspending service access for a day or so if over-used. Thus this feature should not be relied on for bulk geocoding.
If a geocode action is successful, the resolved address is stored in $FormattedAddress.