a player asked for the geometries / boundaries of postal code areas in a map. As this question pops up every once in a while I decided to answer it in the forum. So here's my feedback...
- For each zip code in a country we would like to know a surrounding polygon. Is there a service to call this info on demand through an API?
- For a range of zip codes we would like to combine/join all codes in that area, e.g. "Germany 76" is supposed to merge all German areas starting with 76. Last but not least some pattern such as "Germany 761-763" should consider all areas within the range 76100 and 76300.
- Technical approach: Currently we do not offer an API based service as requested but we have an even bettere solution for this: We offer aggregated data sets that can be stored in your own (spatial) database. This enables you to request only those geometries that are covered by your spacial data where clause (e.g. point (x,y) in polygon, top 10 areas based on revenue, ...)
- Pricing: please get in touch with your PTV Account Manager to get an offer.
- Performance: Visualization of postal codes easily challenges the application to display several thousands of objects in a mapping interface. I therefore recommend that you evaluate this subtopic: depending on the mapping framework in use there might be different strategies available to ensure a proper user experience.
- Sample application: Just found this nice demo based on Cesium
- Sample data: We offer a sample download
