[November 25, 2002] The Address Data Interchange Specification (ADIS) [ADIS GCA Standard 105-1986, ADIS 01-1] was published under the subtitle "An Industry Standard For Domestic and International Address Management and Mail Production Using Address Element Technology." The electronic distribution form includes the database file formats, the XML DTD, sample XML data, and a narrative description; it is available online.
ADIS website description 2002-11:
IDEAlliance ADIS version 01-1 was published in April 2001. This was the result of a rigorous process that has involved major printers, postal software suppliers, and leading direct marketing service bureaus, along with the USPS. The ADIS committee became the IDEAlliance ADIS Working Group in September 2002, assuring that ADIS will remain royalty-free. Based on results of prototype testing, input from the committee and the need to maintain compatibility with the upcoming UPU standard, the next version of ADIS is now under development."
The IDEAlliance ADIS (Address Data Interchange Specification) Working Group aims to define a uniform specification for the interchange of address data both domestically and internationally. It is based on storing the parts of an address, or address elements, and then combining them together with intelligent editing to create output formats, or renditions, for particular mailpieces. It includes data about the addresses, such as whether they are complete or missing particular elements that affect address quality. Domestically, ADIS also includes mailing production variables that may appear on a mailpiece, such as container numbers, package types, and ink jet messages.
For mailers, the benefits include improved address quality, better mail delivery, and the ability to manage international files with a single format. Postal services will benefit by the ability to manage rendition quality, by reduced mail handling, and reduced mail forwarding. Service bureaus have the opportunity to simplify processes ranging from acquiring missing address elements to merge/purge to output media creation, and can improve consistency. Postal services, printers and letter shops will be able to combine ADIS with IDEAlliance's Mail.dat file specification to improve containerization and to support predictive co-palletization and co-mailing. This combination will also allow mailers to obtain reduced cycle times for incorporating address changes and late additions into mailing files.
ADIS has been specified in two forms: a database format and XML. There are XML DTDs for addresses, message data and address templates. The address template format used by ADIS has been selected by the USPS for use in testing of a new Universal Postal Union (UPU) international address standard. An ADIS reference implementation is being developed to format the XML data and associated content and to provide a model for converting ADIS XML instance files to the database format and back again. XML includes Unicode, and can represent all the alphabets of the world.
The USPS has an EDI format for addresses, used mainly by large government departments and financial institutions. It is being updated through the UN EDIFACT group to support both domestic and international addresses. The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) supports the International Address Element Code (IAEC) list on its Web site. Internationally, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is developing a standard for address elements and templates, including rendition rules, and will later take up data interchange and validation. ADIS is compatible at the element level with all these efforts.
According to an early description [May 2001] from of Mabel Grein (United States Postal Service, Information Technology) in a presentation "Where Does ADIS Fit In?": - "The GCA ADIS standard is being developed to support address element technology and to support the common line by line addressing style most companies are using today. ADIS also incorporates information that printers require. It is fully compatible with the domestic EDI address standard TS-101. ADIS can support PROLST: PROLST is a fully parsed address format. If the data is parsed in ADIS then ADIS and PROLST are also fully compatible. The difference between PROLST and ADIS: The ADIS standard transmits not only name and address information but printer oriented information as well. Functionally, TS-101 and PROLST were vehicles for exchanging name and address list information..."
Address Data Interchange Specification (ADIS). An Industry Standard for Domestic and International Address Management and Mail Production Using Address Element Technology. GCA Standard 105-1986, Version 01-1. Edited by Mabel Grein (United States Postal Service, Information Technology), Phil Thompson (Quad/Graphics), and Noel Wickham (Experian). From Graphic Communications Association (GCA). April, 2001. 96 pages. First version: 1986. Pages 21-25 supply the XML DTD for ADIS Version 01-1. Appendix I: Additional CEN Elements. Appendix II: Additional PROLST Elements. Appendix III: Templates for USPS Addresses. Appendix IV: UPU Standards Board Resolutions. The document "is meant to make a contribution toward the objectives approved by the Standards Board of the Universal Postal Union in its two [2001] resolutions pertaining to the topic of international address standardization." The section on "ADIS and Related Specifications" discusses compatibility with PROLST, ASC/X12 TS101, CEN/TC331 address standards, UPU POST*CODE project deliverables, ECCMA International Address Element Codes, etc. Note: GCA is now IDEAlliance. [source, IDEAlliance]
References:
- ADIS website
- IDEAlliance ADIS Working Group
- ADIS GCA Standard 105-1986, Version 01-1. IDEAlliance source
- Contact: Joe Lubenow (President, Lubenow & Associates)
- See: "Markup Languages for Names and Addresses" - Main reference page.
