README

A Laravel package that attempts to reverse engineer how NIDA (National Identification Authority) numbers are generated and extract basic information from National Identification Numbers (NIN) without using the official NIDA API.

This is a fork of the Python implementation: reverse_nida

⚠️ Disclaimer

This project is for educational and research purposes only. It attempts to understand the structure and patterns in NIDA numbers through reverse engineering. The accuracy of extracted information is not guaranteed, and this should not be used for official verification purposes.

🚀 Installation

Requirements

PHP >= 8.2
Composer
Laravel 11.x or 12.x

Install via Composer

composer require ngarak-dev/nida-parse

Publish Configuration and Assets

Publish the configuration file:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=nida-parse-config

Publish the CSV location files to storage:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=nida-parse-csv

Or publish both at once:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="NidaParse\NidaParseServiceProvider"

📖 Usage

Using the Helper Function

// The helper function is autoloaded globally
// Analyze a NIDA number (supports both dashed and compact formats)
$ninDashed = "19990504-35710-00001-28";
$ninCompact = "19990504357100000128";

// Get basic information
$info = get_basic_info($ninDashed, null, false);
print_r($info);
// Output: [
//   'BIRTHDATE' => '1999-05-04',
//   'GENDER' => 'FEMALE',
//   'REGIONCODE' => '35',
//   'REGION' => 'MOROGORO',
//   'DISTRICT' => 'MOROGORO URBAN',
//   'WARDCODE' => '35710',
//   'WARD' => 'Mazimbu',
//   'STREET' => '',
//   'PLACES' => '',
// ]

// Get full information with debug
$info = get_basic_info("19990504-35710-00001-28", null, true);

Using the Service Classes Directly

use NidaParse\Services\NidaService;
use NidaParse\Services\LocationLookup;
use NidaParse\Services\NidaParser;

// Parse NIN
$parsed = NidaParser::parse("19990504-35710-00001-28");

// Lookup location
$lookup = new LocationLookup();
$location = $lookup->getAdministrativeHierarchy("35710");

// Get complete info using dependency injection
$service = app(NidaService::class);
$info = $service->getBasicInfo("19990504-35710-00001-28");

Using Dependency Injection

use NidaParse\Services\NidaService;

class YourController extends Controller
{
    public function __construct(
        protected NidaService $nidaService
    ) {}

    public function parseNin(string $nin)
    {
        $info = $this->nidaService->getBasicInfo($nin);
        return response()->json($info);
    }
}

🔧 Configuration

After publishing the configuration file, you can customize the package behavior in config/nida-parse.php:

return [
    'csv_directory' => storage_path('app/location_files_code'),
    'combined_csv_path' => null, // Set to path of combined CSV if available
];

How Location Lookup Works

The package uses a smart lookup strategy:

Combined File (Preferred): If tanzania_locations_combined.csv exists in storage/app/ (after publishing), it will be used first for faster lookups.
Individual Files (Fallback): If the combined file is not found or doesn't contain the ward code, the package falls back to individual region CSV files (11.csv, 21.csv, etc.).

The combined file is automatically published when you run:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=nida-parse-csv

You can also override the CSV directory or combined file path when instantiating LocationLookup:

// Custom CSV directory
$lookup = new LocationLookup('/custom/path/to/csv/files');

// Custom combined file path
$lookup = new LocationLookup(null, '/path/to/combined.csv');

📝 NIN Format

The package supports two NIN formats:

Dashed format: YYYYMMDD-LLLLL-SSSSS-XX
- Example: 19990504-35710-00001-28
Compact format: YYYYMMDDWWWWWSSSSSXX
- Example: 19990504357100000128

Where:

YYYYMMDD: Birth date (Year, Month, Day)
LLLLL: Ward code (5 digits)
SSSSS: Sequence number (5 digits)
XX: Unknown/check digits (2 digits, first digit indicates gender)

📁 Package Structure

nida-parse/
├── src/
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── LocationLookup.php
│   │   ├── NidaParser.php
│   │   └── NidaService.php
│   ├── Helpers/
│   │   └── nida_helper.php
│   └── NidaParseServiceProvider.php
├── config/
│   └── nida-parse.php
├── resources/
│   ├── location_files_code/
│   │   ├── 11.csv
│   │   ├── 21.csv
│   │   └── ... (other region CSV files)
│   └── tanzania_locations_combined.csv
└── composer.json

🧪 Testing

composer test

ngarak-dev / nida-parse

Maintainers

Details