# Ghana Address Bidirectional Processing

This document demonstrates the complete bidirectional flow for Ghana address processing in PyAddress, leveraging the GitHub integration for templates and defining both the formatting and parsing processes.

## Bidirectional Processing Overview

PyAddress supports two complementary processes for Ghana addresses:

1. **Forward Process (Formatting)**: Converting structured address components into a properly formatted address string
2. **Reverse Process (Parsing)**: Extracting structured components from a formatted address string

Both processes leverage the GitHub integration and templates for country-specific formatting rules.

## Demo Results

Our demonstrations successfully showed bidirectional processing of Ghana addresses:

### Forward Processing Example (Components → Formatted String)

**Input Components:**
```python
{
    "name": "Ghana Technology Hub",
    "house_number": "21",
    "road": "Independence Avenue",
    "suburb": "Ridge",
    "city": "Accra",
    "postcode": "GA-059-0782",
    "country_code": "GH"
}
```

**Output Formatted Address:**
```
Ghana Technology Hub
21 Independence Avenue
Ridge
Accra, GA-059-0782
Ghana
```

### Reverse Processing Example (Formatted String → Components)

**Input Formatted Address:**
```
Ghana Technology Hub
21 Independence Avenue
Ridge
Accra, GA-059-0782
Ghana
```

**Output Components:**
```python
{
    "name": "Ghana Technology Hub",
    "house_number": "21",
    "road": "Independence Avenue",
    "suburb": "Ridge", 
    "city": "Accra",
    "postcode": "GA-059-0782",
    "country": "Ghana",
    "country_code": "GH"
}
```

## Forward Process (Formatting) Flow

1. **Input Data Preparation**:
   - User provides a dictionary of address components for a Ghana location
   - Country code "GH" identifies this as a Ghana address

2. **Template Selection via GitHub Integration**:
   - System identifies "GH" country code
   - Retrieves appropriate template from processed GitHub repository data
   - Ghana template defines component order and formatting rules

3. **Address Normalization**:
   - Standardizes component names (e.g., "postal_code" → "postcode")
   - Applies country-specific normalization rules

4. **Template Application**:
   - Applies Ghana-specific template pattern
   - Arranges components in the proper order:
     ```
     {name}
     {house_number} {road}
     {suburb}
     {city}, {postcode}
     {country}
     ```

5. **Output Generation**:
   - Returns properly formatted Ghana address string
   - Format follows Ghana addressing conventions

## Reverse Process (Parsing) Flow

1. **Input Formatted Address**:
   - User provides a formatted address string for a Ghana location

2. **Address Parsing**:
   - Either using ML-based parsing (if available) or basic parsing
   - Splits address into lines and extracts components

3. **Component Extraction**:
   - Identifies country ("Ghana") to determine country-specific parsing rules
   - Extracts house number and road from street line
   - Identifies city and postcode from city line
   - Extracts other components based on line position and format

4. **Component Normalization**:
   - Sets country_code to "GH" based on country name "Ghana"
   - Standardizes component names for consistency

5. **Validation via Reformatting**:
   - Reformats extracted components to verify correctness
   - Uses the GitHub templates to ensure proper formatting

## How the GitHub Integration Supports Bidirectional Processing

The GitHub integration supports both directions of the process:

1. **For Formatting (Forward Process)**:
   - Provides templates that define the correct format for Ghana addresses
   - Determines component order and formatting rules

2. **For Parsing (Reverse Process)**:
   - Supports validation of parsed components
   - Guides the parsing logic based on known patterns
   - Helps identify country-specific address structures

## Implementation Challenges and Solutions

### Formatting Challenges

1. **Template Selection**: 
   - Must correctly identify Ghana from country code "GH"
   - Solution: Map country codes to templates using GitHub repository data

2. **Component Order**:
   - Must follow Ghana-specific ordering conventions
   - Solution: GitHub templates define the proper order

### Parsing Challenges

1. **Line Interpretation**:
   - Must determine what each line represents
   - Solution: Use position-based and pattern-based parsing for Ghana addresses

2. **Separating Components**:
   - Must split combined fields (like house_number and road)
   - Solution: Pattern recognition based on Ghana addressing conventions

3. **Handling Missing Data**:
   - Must gracefully handle partial addresses
   - Solution: Flexible parser with fallbacks for missing components

## Conclusion

The bidirectional processing of Ghana addresses demonstrates the power of the PyAddress system, particularly the GitHub integration:

1. **Standardization**: GitHub templates ensure addresses follow Ghana conventions
2. **Consistency**: The same templates validate both formatting and parsing
3. **Maintainability**: Updates to the GitHub repository automatically improve both directions
4. **Extensibility**: The approach works not just for Ghana but for all countries

By implementing both directions of address processing, PyAddress provides a complete solution for address management, leveraging the GitHub integration as the source of truth for country-specific formatting rules. 