Why does CoMaps seem to not understand addresses? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 2 weeks ago by Debs@lemmy.zip to c/CoMaps@sopuli.xyz

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There is a frustrating issue with the CoMaps work flow. If I copy an address from Google maps into the CoMaps search bar, the application cannot find it.

For example, if I copy the address listed for the Portland Art Museum into CoMaps search:

1219 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97205

The search result varies. Sometimes it is:

Southwest 18th Avenue, 1219

Sometimes it is for the entire road:

Southwest Park Avenue

Is there a syntax issue here? You would think this would be a very easy find.

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[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This is going to surprise you but I work in logistics software and can assert it's true

There's no correct way to parse an address, and no assumption that can generally be applied about it

You basically need some form of AI to parse an address with acceptable quality in an application designed for international audiences

If the search feature is for one province or area you might be able to get away with some hard coded format or heuristic but in the international space, even between countries that speak the same language, or within one country, there is no one technique for parsing an address

this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2026

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