NAME
    Geo::UK::Postcode - Object and class methods for working with British
    postcodes.

SYNOPSIS
        # See Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex for parsing/matching postcodes

        use Geo::UK::Postcode;

        my $pc = Geo::UK::Postcode->new("wc1h9eb");

        $pc->raw;             # wc1h9eb - as entered
        $pc->as_string;       # WC1H 9EB - output in correct format
        "$pc";                # stringifies, same output as '->as_string'
        $pc->fixed_format;    # 8 characters, the incode always last three

        $pc->area;            # WC
        $pc->district;        # 1
        $pc->subdistrict;     # H
        $pc->sector;          # 9
        $pc->unit;            # EB

        $pc->outcode;         # WC1H
        $pc->incode;          # 9EB

        $pc->strict;          # true if matches strict regex
        $pc->valid;           # true if matches strict regex and has a valid outcode
        $pc->partial;         # true if postcode is for a district or sector only

        $pc->non_geographical;    # true if outcode is known to be
                                  # non-geographical

        # Sort Postcode objects:
        use Geo::UK::Postcode qw/ pc_sort /;

        my @sorted_pcs = sort pc_sort @unsorted_pcs;

DESCRIPTION
    An object to represent a British postcode.

    For matching and parsing postcodes in a non-OO manner (for form
    validation, for example), see Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex

    For geo-location (finding latitude and longitude) see "GEO-LOCATING
    POSTCODES".

    Currently undef development - feedback welcome. Basic API unlikely to
    change greatly, just more features/more postcodes supported - see "TODO"
    list.

METHODS
  raw
    Returns exact string that the object was constructed from.

  as_string
        $pc->as_string;

        # or:

        "$pc";

    Stringification of postcode object, returns postcode with a single space
    between outcode and incode.

  fixed_format
        my $fixed_format = $postcode->fixed_format;

    Returns the full postcode in a fixed length (8 character) format, with
    extra padding spaces inserted as necessary.

  area, district, subdistrict, sector, unit
    Return the corresponding part of the postcode, undef if not present.

  outcode
    The first half of the postcode, before the space - comprises of the area
    and district.

  incode
    The second half of the postcode, after the space - comprises of the
    sector and unit. Returns an empty string if not present.

  outward, inward
    Aliases for "outcode" and "incode".

  valid
        if ($pc->valid) {
            ...
        }

    Returns true if postcode has valid outcode and matches strict regex.

  partial
        if ($pc->partial) {
          ...
        }

    Returns true if postcode is not a full postcode, either a postcode
    district ( e . g . AB10 ) or postcode sector (e.g. AB10 1).

  strict
        if ($pc->strict) {
          ...
        }

    Returns true if postcode matches strict regex, meaning all characters
    are valid ( although postcode might not exist ) .

  non_geographical
        if ($pc->non_geographical) {
          ...
        }

    Returns true if the outcode is known to be non-geographical. Note that
    geographical outcodes may have non-geographical postcodes within them.

    (Non-geographical postcodes are used for PO Boxes, or organisations
    receiving large amounts of post).

  bfpo
        if ($pc->bfpo) {
            ...
        }

    Returns true if postcode is mapped to a BFPO number (British Forces Post
    Office).

  posttowns
        my (@posttowns) = $postcode->posttowns;

    Returns list of one or more posttowns that this postcode is assigned to.

EXPORTABLE
  pc_sort
        my @sorted_pcs = sort pc_sort @unsorted_pcs;

    Exportable sort function, sorts postcode objects in a useful manner. The
    sort is in the following order: area, district, subdistrict, sector,
    unit (ascending alphabetical or numerical order as appropriate).

GEO-LOCATING POSTCODES
    Postcodes can be geolocated by obtaining the Ordnance Survey
    'Code-Point' data (or the free 'Code-Point Open' data).

    For full details of using this class with Code-Point data, see:
    Geo::UK::Postcode::Manual::Geolocation.

SEE ALSO
    *   Geo::UK::Postcode::Regex

    *   Geo::Address::Mail::UK

    *   Geo::Postcode

AUTHOR
    Michael Jemmeson <mjemmeson@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright 2014- Michael Jemmeson

LICENSE
    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

