To retrieve all areas of a specific type using a basket, what geography wildcards are provided by Data Buffet?
In Data Buffet, each time series is identified by a mnemonic that includes a geography code, and the codes are systematically patterned:
- Within a geo level, codes are similar
- For different geo levels, codes are dissimilar
Because of this, you can create geo wildcard expressions in baskets. For example, the set of "all MSAs" is described by the expression IUSA_M^^^ (the fixed prefix "IUSA_M" followed by three carets), and "all counties in Pennsylvania" is PA^^^ (the state postal prefix "PA" followed by three carets). In the tables below, the "pattern" may be expressed with "a" or "n" to indicate the position is filled with a letter or digit, but what you actually type is a caret.
In the basket "grid editor" mode, when you specify a series with a geo wildcard, the Description column will read "wildcard." If you left-click and pick "view expanded list," a popup window will tabulate all series, with title, geography, and mnemonic.
A single physical area may have multiple statistical identities, and therefore be named in different datasets using different geo types: for example, metro area delineations based on the 2010, 2000 or 1990 census.
Table 1. Major geo levels and geo code patterns for the United States. The "count" column denotes how many such geo codes we have defined, but coverage in specific datasets will vary; for example, the "Fiserv CSI™" (c.2010) covered only 4,500 out of 45,000 U.S. ZIP Code areas.
As of October 2017, we invalidated the "US" national geo code, so the wildcard "^^" returns only states and state-equivalent areas.
| Geography level |
Authority |
Count |
Pattern |
Example |
Name |
| United States |
| Large areas |
| United States (nation, country) |
|
1 |
IUSA |
IUSA |
|
| Census region |
|
4 |
C^^R |
CNER |
Northern census region |
| Census division |
|
9 |
C^^^ |
CMAC |
Middle Atlantic census division |
| States and territories |
USPS |
50+ |
^^ |
PA |
Pennsylvania |
| Core-based statistical area (CBSA) types - 2013 OMB based on 2010 census |
| Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) |
OMB |
560 |
IUSA_M^^^ |
IUSA_MNEY |
|
| Metropolitan division |
OMB |
51 |
IUSA_DM^^^ |
IUSA_DMNEY |
|
| Micropolitan area |
OMB |
721 |
IUSA_O^^^ |
IUSA_OABE |
Aberdeen, SD micropolitan statistical area |
| Combined statistical area (CSA) |
OMB |
359 |
IUSA_CS^^^ |
IUSA_CSAMA |
Amarillo-Borger, TX combined statistical area |
| New England city and town area (NECTA) |
OMB |
73 |
IUSA_N^^^ |
IUSA_NAGU |
August, ME micropolitan NECTA |
| CBSA types - 2003 OMB based on 2000 census |
| MSA |
OMB |
374 |
M^^^ |
MNEY |
|
| Metropolitan division |
OMB |
29 |
DM^^^ |
DMNEY |
|
| Micropolitan area |
OMB |
590 |
O^^^ |
OABB |
Abbeville, LA micropolitan statistical area |
| CSA |
OMB |
130 |
CS^^^ |
CSASH |
Asheville-Brevard, NC CSA |
| NECTA |
OMB |
43 |
N^^^ |
NBAN |
Bangor, ME metropolitan NECTA |
| Metro area types based on 1990 census |
| MSA |
OMB |
261 |
^^^ |
NEY |
|
| Primary metropolitan statistical area (PMSA) |
OMB |
76 |
^^^ |
ANN |
Ann Arbor, MI PMSA |
| Consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA) |
OMB |
21 |
CM^^^ |
CMDAL |
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CMSA |
| New England county metropolitan area (NECMA) |
OMB |
13 |
^^^ |
BAN |
Bangor, ME NECMA |
| Smaller areas |
| County within state |
|
4,100 |
aannn |
PA001 |
Adams County, PA |
| City (borough, CDP, town, township, village) |
|
44,000 |
aannnnn |
PA46792 |
Malvern Borough, PA |
| ZIP Code area |
USPS |
47,000 |
Z^^^^^ |
Z19380 |
|
| Permit-issuing place |
BOC |
22,000 |
aannnPnnnnnn |
AK013P297000 |
|
Table 2. Specialized U.S. geo types. These are defined by individual sources and are used by one or a few releases. The "CPI city size class" geos represent groups of cities, rather than specific geographic territories.
| Geography level |
Authority |
Count |
Pattern |
| United States |
| Army Corps of Engineers ports and waterways |
ACE |
169 |
IUSA_AC^^^ |
| Port |
|
651 |
P^^^^ |
| Customs district |
|
1 |
C^^^ |
| BEA area |
BEA |
|
B^^^ |
| Special BLS area |
BLS |
7 |
IUSA_B^^^ |
| Special BLS area |
BLS |
|
B^^^ |
| CPI city size A, B, C, D |
BLS |
|
^CTY |
| FDIC area |
FDIC |
|
FD^^ |
| Fair market rent (FMR) area |
HUD |
|
H^^^ |
| HUD area |
HUD |
|
HD^^ |
| OECD metro region |
OECD |
|
IUSA_OCR_^^^ |
| OECD small region |
OECD |
|
IUSA_OCR_^^^ |
| OECD small region |
OECD |
|
IUSA_OCR_^^ |
| OECD small region |
OECD |
|
IUSA_OCR_^ |
| OTS district |
OTS |
|
D^^^ |
| USGS area |
USGS |
|
^^_^ |
| Federal Reserve district |
|
|
^^^ |
Table 3. Major generic international geo code patterns. Individual countries have unique subnational structures, and various geo codes. Please consult the "subnational summary" and "metro areas" articles.
| Geography level |
Authority |
Count |
Pattern |
| International |
| Supranational region |
|
904 |
I^^^^ |
| Supranational region |
|
54 |
I^^^^^ |
| Country or jurisdiction |
|
665 |
I^^^ |
| Moody's Analytics global metro area |
varied |
1,239 |
I^^^_M^^^ |
| Airport |
IATA |
2,200 |
I^^^_AP^^^ |
| Europe |
| European Union (fixed composition) |
|
|
IEU^^ |
| Euro zone (fixed composition) |
|
|
IEZ^^ |
| Euro zone (changing composition) |
|
|
IEZCC |
| NUTS 1 area |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_^^^^ |
| NUTS 2 area |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_^^ |
| NUTS 3 area |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_^^^ |
| Total territory at NUTS level 1 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_TOTL |
| Total territory at NUTS level 2 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_TT |
| Total territory at NUTS level 3 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_TOT |
| Not regionalized at NUTS level 1 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_NREG |
| Not regionalized at NUTS level 2 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_NR |
| Not regionalized at NUTS level 3 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_NRG |
| Extra-regio at NUTS level 1 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_XREG |
| Extra-regio at NUTS level 2 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_XR |
| Extra-regio at NUTS level 3 |
Eurostat |
|
I^^^_XRG |
| Netherlands |
| Landsdelen |
CBS |
4 |
INLD_LDnn |
| Provincies |
CBS |
12 |
INLD_PVnn |
| COROP-gebieden |
CBS |
40 |
INLD_CRnn |
| Gemeenten |
CBS |
346 |
INLD_GMnnnn |
| Canada |
| Region (aggregate of province(s) etc.) |
|
|
ICAN_^^^^ |
| Province or territory |
|
|
ICAN_aa |
| Census metropolitan area (CMA) |
StatCan |
|
ICAN_Maaa |
| Census agglomeration (CA) |
StatCan |
|
ICAN_aaa |
| Census division within a province |
StatCan |
|
ICAN_aaa |
| Sum of all CMAs and CAs |
|
|
ICAN_SCACMA |
| Sum of all CMAs |
|
|
ICAN_SCMA |
| Sum of all CAs |
|
|
ICAN_SCA |
| Australia |
| State or territory |
ABS |
|
IAUS_aa |
| Capital area |
ABS |
|
IAUS_Maaa |
| Greater capital area |
ABS |
|
IAUS_GRaa |
| Rest-of-state area |
ABS |
|
IAUS_MGaa |
| Statistical area level 4 (SA4) |
ABS |
|
IAUS_nnn |
Caveats
Geo wildcards function in baskets, and only to retrieve series. They cannot be used in:
- Catalog search
- Basket formulas
- View, Chart, or Map modules
- Moody's Analytics Power Tools for Microsoft Excel
The "view expanded list" function of the basket grid editor applies only to geo wildcards, not concept wildcards.
Alternately
Data Buffet has only two wildcard characters (^ and ?, which are more limiting than SQL character classes, POSIX-style regular expressions, or the PICTURE clause in COBOL), some geo types don't have unique patterns, and wildcard expressions don't guarantee a particular order. As a complementary mechanism, we provide geo lists which guarantee a particular order of geo codes in basket output. We have prefabbed many geo lists (counties, MSAs plus metro divisions, areas in our forecast model, etc.) and you can create and store your own. They are located under menu:Tools » Geography Lists.
See also
Updates to this article
- Jul 2010 - Initial version.
- Nov 2012
- May 2015 - Added Table 3, with global, Europe, and Canada codes. Removed Pattern column.
- Oct 2017 - "US" is invalidated. Codes for NUTS levels now have uniform lengths.
- 8 Mar 2024 - Updated counts, added Netherlands CBS-based geo codes, added Australia.