Nearest-neighbour algorithm

[alxjohnson]

Does anyone have any knowledge of the nearest-neighbour algorithm in PHP / fuzzy search? I've coded a system that does exact matching (from a database) however I would now like to move it onto the next level with "no matches found but here is a closest match" if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance!

[bretticus]

You might wanna read up on PHP Functions for calculating similiar text or using PHP soundex functions or MySQL SOUNDEX, etc.

[alxjohnson]

I managed to get it working. Using Euclidean Formula. below is a VERY basic version. It works for ANY values entered into the $arr1 and $arr2.

For anyone who might want it....

<?php
  $arr1 = array ( 8,
                  4,
                  6 );

  $arr2 = array ( 10,
				  7,
				  5 );

  $arrsquares = array ();
  $arrroot = array ();
  $arrsmallest = array ();

  echo "- - array of squares - -<br>";

// calculate sum of two arrays when squared
  for ($i = 0; $i < count($arr1); $i++){
    $arrsquares[$i] = ($arr1[$i] - $arr2[$i]) * ($arr1[$i] - $arr2[$i]);
    echo "$arrsquares[$i]<br>";
  }

  echo "- - array of roots - -";

// calculate the square root of the sums
  for ($ii = 0; $ii < count($arrsquares); $ii++){
    $arrroot[$ii] = sqrt($arrsquares[$ii]);
    echo "<br> $arrroot[$ii]";
  }

// output best case ie. smallest number and its location
      $smallest = min($arrroot);
      echo "<br> smallest number is: $smallest<br>";
      $position = array_search($smallest, $arrroot);
      echo "smallest number found at position: $position ";
?>