U.S. ZIP Codes and Mexican Postal Codes share a similar naming convention. To ensure the entered ZIP/Postal Code matches the desired location, there are settings available for the PCMSERVE.INI.

UseUSPostCodes=True/False

UseMexPostCodes=True/False

To add these setting options:

1.  Open PCMSERVE.INI (this file can be found in your Windows or WINNT folder) using Notepad, Wordpad, or another text editor.

2.   Find the [OPTIONS] section.

3.   Under [OPTIONS] add the above lines (see below for valid combinations).

4.   Save and exit PCMSERVE.INI.

The possible setting combinations are:

1. UseUSPostCodes=False and UseMexPostCodes=False – Defaults to the U.S. ZIP with no routing to Mexican postal codes.

2. UseUSPostCodes=True and UseMexPostCodes=False – Same as above.

3. UseUSPostCodes=True and UseMexPostCodes=True – Defaults to the U.S. ZIP, must pass an Estados code to get Mexican location (e.g. “50510,EM”).

4. UseUSPostCodes=False and UseMexPostCodes=True – Only Mexican postal codes are available, in the U.S. only city-state pairs will get U.S. location (e.g. “Chico, CA”).

Using 3-Digit Zip Codes

When using 3-digit ZIP codes, a state abbreviation must be included, e.g. "123, NY".  If the state is not included, an error message will be returned. Depending on how the cell is formatted, Excel may add zeroes at the beginning of the ZIP code; but an error message will be generated whether or not this occurs.

Changing the "NL" Setting

PC*MILER Spreadsheets users can choose whether to set NL to geocode to Newfoundland and Labrador locations in Canada or to Nuevo Leon locations in Mexico. In PC*MILER, this setting is defaulted to Use NL for Newfoundland and Labrador. This setting can be adjusted in the PCMSERVE.INI file as follows.

[OPTIONS] 

UseNLAbbrevInMX=True