How Geography Structure, Hierarchy, and Validation Fit Together for the US

There are three related components that help you define your organization data.

You define them in this order.

1. Geography structure

2. Geography hierarchy

3. Geography validation

Geography Structure

You first create a geography structure. This defines which geography types are part of the country structure, and how the geography types are hierarchically related within the country structure.

For example, you can create geography types called State, City, and ZIP Code. Then you can rank the State geography type as the highest level within the country, the City as the second level, and the ZIP Code as the lowest.

You can define geography structure using the Geographies task or import them using tasks in the Define Geographies activity.

Geography Hierarchy

Once you have defined the geography structure, add the geographies for each geography type to the hierarchy.

For example, below United States you can create a geography called Nebraska using a State geography type.

As part of managing the geography hierarchy, you can view, create, edit, and delete the geographies for each geography type in the country structure. You can also add a primary and alternate name and code for each geography. You can create a geography hierarchy using the Geographies task, or you can import it using tasks in the Define Geographies activity.

Geography Validation

After defining the geography hierarchy, you specify the geography validations for the country. You can choose which address style formats you would like to use, and for each selected address style format, you can map geography types to address attributes.

You can also select which geography types should be included in geography or tax validation, and which geography types display in a list of values during address entry in other user interfaces. The geography validation level for the country, such as error or warning, can also be selected.