Workflow

Recipient validation consists of a sequence of steps. The following diagram is a simplified Workflow of the combined validation process with the most important steps.

Figure 1. Recipient Validation Workflow

Step Description

Step	Description
Search address	The first step is to search for all possible candidates that could match the input address.
Evaluate address	After all possible candidates have been found, they are evaluated, i.e. the quality of the input address is determined. For example, misspellings of a street are considered when determining the quality. The most important result of this step is the determination of an address result class, which describes the quality of the validated address. For more information on determining the quality see Address Result.
Validate recipient	After the address has been evaluated, the recipient is evaluated if the following conditions are fulfilled: One address could be identified (`addressResult` A, B, C or D) The identified address was a delivery address (`addressType`=`delivery`) At least one of the fields is filled in the request: `lastName` or `recipient` More information on evaluating the recipient can be found on the page Recipient-Validation: Data Model - Quality of an address and recipient.
Enrich address	The address or addresses that are returned can be enriched with additional data (like ISO codes or coordinates). Note that some data may require a separate license. For more information see Address-Validation: Data Enrichment.
Return result	At the end of the workflow, the correct address with the recipient or a list of address candidates is returned together with an overall `resultClass` and `resultClassDetails` (see Recipient-Validation: Data Model - Quality of an address and recipient.)

Search address

The first step is to search for all possible candidates that could match the input address.

Evaluate address

After all possible candidates have been found, they are evaluated, i.e. the quality of the input address is determined. For example, misspellings of a street are considered when determining the quality. The most important result of this step is the determination of an address result class, which describes the quality of the validated address.
For more information on determining the quality see Address Result.

Validate recipient

After the address has been evaluated, the recipient is evaluated if the following conditions are fulfilled:

One address could be identified (addressResult A, B, C or D)
The identified address was a delivery address (addressType=delivery)
At least one of the fields is filled in the request: lastName or recipient

More information on evaluating the recipient can be found on the page Recipient-Validation: Data Model - Quality of an address and recipient.

Enrich address

The address or addresses that are returned can be enriched with additional data (like ISO codes or coordinates). Note that some data may require a separate license. For more information see Address-Validation: Data Enrichment.

Return result

At the end of the workflow, the correct address with the recipient or a list of address candidates is returned together with an overall resultClass and resultClassDetails (see Recipient-Validation: Data Model - Quality of an address and recipient.)