[PHP] How can I check for variances in spelling within form text input fields?
Hi, I would like some ideas on how to perform the following. Any input from the PHP gurus would be appreciated. I have a form where my customer feels out certain information. Part of this information is the company name, address, city and state/province of their customer. I have to assign a unique number to their customer based on the information they typed in. Here is my problem: 1) They may enter the same customer twice but have a slightly different spelling (maybe adding a LTD. to the company name) 2) Two of my customers may have the same customer. They will type it into my form but again with variant spelling. I would like to know if there is an algorithm which allows me to check for small variances in spelling so that I would know if this customer has already been assigned my unique number and therefore not assign a duplicate number. Thanks, Don -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] How can I check for variances in spelling within form text input fields?
Don I am not a 'PHP guru' and I dont know where you can find an algorithm but:- If the only problem is users adding/not using name extensions, then for your company exists already test you could remove known extensions from the input company name - ltd, plc, etc - and replace this with a wildcard for the check. eg. SELECT id FROM table WHERE name LIKE '$input_name_without_extensions%' Debbie - Original Message - From: DonPro [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: php list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 4:27 PM Subject: [PHP] How can I check for variances in spelling within form text input fields? Hi, I would like some ideas on how to perform the following. Any input from the PHP gurus would be appreciated. I have a form where my customer feels out certain information. Part of this information is the company name, address, city and state/province of their customer. I have to assign a unique number to their customer based on the information they typed in. Here is my problem: 1) They may enter the same customer twice but have a slightly different spelling (maybe adding a LTD. to the company name) 2) Two of my customers may have the same customer. They will type it into my form but again with variant spelling. I would like to know if there is an algorithm which allows me to check for small variances in spelling so that I would know if this customer has already been assigned my unique number and therefore not assign a duplicate number. Thanks, Don -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] How can I check for variances in spelling within form text input fields?
Debbie Dyer wrote: company exists already test you could remove known extensions from the input company name - ltd, plc, etc - and replace this with a wildcard for the check. - Original Message - From: DonPro [EMAIL PROTECTED] information is the company name, address, city and state/province of their customer. I have to assign a unique number to their customer based on the information they typed in. Here is my problem: 1) They may enter the same customer twice but have a slightly different spelling (maybe adding a LTD. to the company name) 2) Two of my customers may have the same customer. They will type it into Sorry this post is OT. I think name matching is quite a problem, I've never found a foolproof way around it. Debbie's answer is good for the question you ask, but still many cases fall through. In the UK, British Telecom years ago changed its name to BT but both get used. Post Office changed its name to Consignia and now back again to Post Office. Then one company buys out another e.g. Foo Ltd buys Bar Ltd. I don't think you should go by the name alone. Use the post/zip code too. In the UK, a street number (or name) plus the postcode is unique to a building (though it does not help with several companies/appartments in the same building). The post/zip code matching will not help with companies with more than one site. HTH Chris -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
