T2A API Documentation - Search for a Person

API Method: person_search

Description

Searches the edited electoral register, phone book, companies house and consumer data for a UK resident.

Mandatory Parameters

Name	Description
`api_key` or `javascript_key`	Use your API key if invoking server-side. If invoking from the browser via JavaScript, generate a JavaScript key using the javascript_key method.

Optional Parameters

Name	Description
client	You can optionally include an identifier for your final client or user. This is logged in your usage log and you will be able to view your usage statistics by client.
output	Set to json for a JSON response; the default response is XML. Not applicable to the SOAP API.
callback	When using JSON, specify a JSONP wrapper in which the JSON response is to be wrapped.
records_per_page	Specify the number of records to return on the current page. We offer page caching for this method - once your search is invoked, we store the pages on our server for 60 minutes; a subsequent request for a page of results from that search is displayed from the cache, at no charge to you. See result page caching.
page_num	Zero based integer - current page number to return.
name	The person's name, for example:- Mr John D Fawcett J Fawcett Fawcett Fawcett, John Do not specify this if you wish to do an address-only search. T2A will parse the name into the relevant components.
name2	The name of a 2nd resident The person_search method allows you to search for records where `name` and `name2` are found at the same address. T2A will parse the name into the relevant components.
forename	The person's forename, for example:- John, J or Janet To make the person_search more flexible we allow you to input the components of a name (forename, middleinitial and lastname) separately. Do not use these distinct parameters if you have specfied a `name`.
middleinitial	The person's middle initial, this will filter out any records which do not have this middle initial. Please note some data sources may not record the person's middle initial. To make the person_search more flexible we allow you to input the components of a name (forename, middleinitial and lastname) separately. Do not use these distinct parameters if you have specfied a `name`.
lastname	The person's lastname, for example:- Smith To make the person_search more flexible we allow you to input the components of a name (forename, middleinitial and lastname) separately. Do not use these distinct parameters if you have specfied a `name`.
forename2	The forename of a second resident, the person_search method allows you to search for records where two names are found at the same address.
middleinitial2	The middleinitial of a second resident, the person_search method allows you to search for records where two names are found at the same address.
lastname2	The lastname of a second resident, the person_search method allows you to search for records where two names are found at the same address.
place	Enter a UK place, postcode, or postcode area. Do not specify this to do a national UK search.
street	The street name.
premises	The house number or name.
sex	Set to m or f to specify the gender to be returned, where that gender is known. This parameter is only applicable to electoral roll data; any results from other data sources are not filtered by this parameter.
use_er	Set to false to NOT search the electoral register. Defaults to true.
use_osis	Set to false to NOT search the phone book. Defaults to true.
use_director	Set to false to NOT search for directors using Companies House. Defaults to true.
fuzzy	Defaults to true. Set to false to disable fuzzy matching.

Returned Values

The XML response is contained within a <person_search_res> element.

Name	Description
status	Returns `ok` if the operation has succeeded, or `error` if an error has occurred; Returns the `error_code` for error details.
error_code	Returns the error code when the status is `error`. See below for error codes.
t2a_version_number	The current API version number.
credit_used	The number of credits used in order to execute the request.
mode	Returns `normal` or `test` when executed in the free test mode.
person_list	An array of person records. Only one of the lists is present :- If a `place_list` is returned, the place name is ambiguous, and the final user should be given a selection from the list. If a `street_list` is returned, the street specified is ambiguous, and the final user should be given a selection from the list. If a `person_list` is returned, the search has returned a list of people.
place_list	An array of place records. This is present if the place name is ambiguous. No charge is made when a `place_list` is retuned.
street_list	An array of street records. This is present if the street name is ambiguous. No charge is made when a `street_list` is returned.
premises_list	This is seen if the premises parameter is ambiguous or not specified; it is a free list of addresses at which there is data about the resident(s), and can be used to allow the end user to select the household to be viewed. Use the name value from the selected premises to replace the premises input parameter value when re-invoking this method. No charge is made when a `premises_list` is returned.
total_records	The total number of records, irrespective of the number displayed on any page. This is only used when a `person_list` is present.
page_number	Current page being displayed, a zero-based integer. This is only used when a `person_list` is present.
er_searched	Set to true if the electoral roll data was searched.
telephone_data_searched	Set to true if the telephone data was searched. Note that licensing restrictions prevent telephone data being searched if:- No surname is supplied No place is supplied The surname is less than 3 characters long.

Error Codes

See the common error codes. There are no errors which are specific to this method.

Free Test Mode

When operating in the free test mode errors are returned if mandatory parameters are missing, or it returns a dummy data response, in an identical format to a real response.

Note that the mode is returned as test when the method is operating in the free test mode.

The free test mode for this method operates in the following manner:-

If the place parameter is set to leeds, a place_list is returned.
If the surname and place are both empty, a dummy street_list is returned.
If the surname is set (to anything) a dummy person_list is returned.

Example XML Response


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<people_search_res>
  <mode>test</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>3.2.9.4b</t2a_version_number>
  <status>ok</status>
  <credit_used>0</credit_used>
  <person_list>
    <person>
      <line_1>17</line_1>
      <line_2>Imagination Gardens</line_2>
      <line_3>Virtual Road</line_3>
      <place>Heslington</place>
      <town>York</town>
      <postcode>YO91 3X0</postcode>
      <addr_single_line>17 Imagination Gardens, Virtual Road, Heslington, York, YO91 3X0</addr_single_line>
      <title>Mr</title>
      <forename>Alan</forename>
      <surname>Fiction</surname>
      <name_single_line>Mr Alan Fiction</name_single_line>
      <telephone_number>(01904) 000000</telephone_number>
      <years_list>
        <string>2009</string>
        <string>2010</string>
        <string>2011</string>
      </years_list>
	  <mobile></mobile>
	  <dob>1974-12-01</dob>
	  <email_address>alan.fiction@gmail.com</email_address>
    </person>
    <person>
      <line_1>17</line_1>
      <line_2>Imagination Gardens</line_2>
      <line_3>Virtual Road</line_3>
      <place>Heslington</place>
      <town>York</town>
      <postcode>YO91 3X0</postcode>
      <addr_single_line>17 Imagination Gardens, Virtual Road, Heslington, York, YO91 3X0</addr_single_line>
      <title>Mrs</title>
      <forename>Anne</forename>
      <middle_initial>J</middle_initial>
      <name_single_line>Mrs Anne J</name_single_line>
      <telephone_number>(01904) 000000</telephone_number>
      <years_list>
        <string>2009</string>
        <string>2010</string>
        <string>2011</string>
      </years_list>
	  <mobile></mobile>
	  <dob>1980-06-08</dob>
	  <email_address>anne.j@gmail.com</email_address>	  
    </person>
  </person_list>
  <er_searched>true</er_searched>
  <telephone_data_searched>true</telephone_data_searched>
</people_search_res>

Search for a Person