Identifying Foreign Records in a List

If you need to find or remove foreign records from a list, this technote will help you. Most foreign records have some kind of indicator that they are foreign. There is usually a country field that specifies what country each address is in. If you have United States or USA in the country field for domestic records, you can use the Search Editor to find all records that do not contain USA or United States in the country field.

1. With the file open in AccuZIP6, pull down the Select menu to Search Editor.
2. If there is anything in the Search Filter, click on the double red X to clear it.
3. Select the country field from the fields list.
4. Select 'Does not contain' from the conditions list.
5. Type in USA in the Find box exactly as it appears in your list. (If you list has United States or another variance type in that information exactly as it appears in your list.)
6. If your list has more than one identifier for domestic records, select the OR condition and repeat steps 3 through 5.
7. If you want to remove the foreign records from your list, click on the Delete Matches check box. If you want to flag them, check the Mark Matches check box.
8. Click Search.

If the country field is blank for only the American addresses, you can use the Search Editor to find all records that do not have a blank country field, then flag those records or delete them.

1. With the file open in AccuZIP6, pull down the Select menu to Search Editor.
2. If there is anything in the Search Filter, click on the double red X to clear it.
3. Select the country field from the fields list.
4. Select the Condition, 'Is Not an Empty Field' from the conditions list.
5. If you want to remove the foreign records from your list, click on the Delete Matches check box. If you want to flag them, check the Mark Matches check box.
6. Click Search.

If your file does not have a country field, you may be able to identify foreign records by the ZIP field. Many countries have letters in the ZIP Code or have a ZIP Code with more or less than 5 characters. These instructions will help you identify foreign records by examining the ZIP field:

1. With the file open in AccuZIP6, pull down the Select menu to Search Editor.
2. If there is anything in the Search Filter, click on the double red X to clear it.
3. Select the zip field from the fields list.
4. Select the Condition, 'Contains Number and Letters' from the conditions list.
5. Remove the foreign records from your list by clicking on the Delete Matches check box. If you want to flag them, check the Mark Matches check box.
6. Click Search.

Either of these methods should help you segregate the foreign records from the domestic records.

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