Allowing the customization of address formats

Countries and regions around the world have different address formats.

Guideline C12

Allow the user to customize the address format.

Ensure address formats are configurable by country, taking into account different data requirements, different field validation criteria and the order of presentation. Once collected, the database must be able to store the superset of possible fields. When presented or printed, the layout of the information will vary by country. For example, a Japanese address is written horizontally from left to right on one line. The postal code is written first, followed by the prefecture, ward, city, map grid position and street number.


Unfortunately, APIs for handling addresses are not available in tools that provide multicultural support such as Java, ICU or POSIX.