locations.module (version 1.1)

locations.module is an easily-implemented library of functions for calculating the distance between postcodes in Australia.

Functions in the locations.module library include:

• calculate the distance between two postcodes in Australia
• calculate the distance between two localities in Australia
• calculate the distance between postcode and any locality in Australia
• sort a list of postcodes in order of 'nearness' to a reference postcode (or locality)
• retrieve and graph long-term data on insolation, temperature and windspeed for a postcode.

The 'nearness' is commonly used in informing a web-site visitor as to the closest branch to the visitor's postcode, but all sorts of postcode distance calculations are supported.

The calculated distances in locations.module are 'great circle' distances, so they represent the shortest flying distances between localities or postcodes.

Because locations.module is able to deal with localities as well as postcodes, it is much more user-friendly than products limited to postcode distances; after all, few of us can recall the postcode of Alice Springs, but all of us know the name. As well as the full set of over 2600 Australian delivery area postcodes, there are nearly 18,000 locality reference points available, so accuracy can be much higher using localities rather than postcodes, though locations.module can cope with either.

locations.module is able to perform over 50 complete distance calculations per second, so performance is more than adequate for any web-site needs.

Examples of acual use of locations.module in use include:

• hondausedcars.com.au, a site developed by MotorTRAK Australia where the module is used to determine which used cars are nearest to the site visitor
• Craftsmart Australia, where the module is used to target mail brochures to stores within a prescribed distance of major city centres
• Mercer Human Resources Consulting (www.mercerHR.com), who use the module to calculate the distance of employees from branches
• HIA Award Winners Adenbrook Homes, who calculate the nearest display home to the site visitor
• Sydney water supplier Alphawater, used to determine whether a locality is serviced by them.

See a demonstration of the capabilities of locations.module.

To see locations.module interfaced to Google Map data, click here.

For frequently asked questions about locations.module, click here.