Searching a String

bigc79

Hi there ppl...

I am looking for a way to search through a string and verify if it is the same as or like a string that I already hold. I know that I can do a compare_to or soundex but that doesn't work very well...

if I have a name
"something 1"
and want to check that it is like
"something like number one" how can I check this... see the work something is in both and the value 1 is held in both but in different formats...

does anyone have any snazzy ways of sorting this out... I was thinking of putting all the characters into an array and then generating a regular expression but I am going to have to check the NEW STRING against approx 1000 OTHER STRINGS and I think the compuational power needed maybe lacking (time constraints and all)

If that didn't make sence, let me know... if it did... anyone help me? lol

Thanks

Clve

[deleted]

What you want to do is very complex. You want to compare words by what they mean, not by how they are spelled.

That means creating a list of thousands upon thousands of words and their alternative meanings.

I suggest you lower your ambitions a lot :-)

bigc79

ummm not exactly what I meant... if the word is spelt completely differently then I expect a missmatch... but I am looking at taking an input and then seeing if (say for instance) 80% of the characters are in the same order in another string...

this can be done with a regulare expression... I can do that no problem... but the input maybe 100 characters long and that would mean doing alot of variations on an reg ex...

does that make more sence?

Hope so

Clive