DIFFERENCE()

Purpose

Function to return an integer signifying the phonetic difference between two character strings

Syntax

DIFFERENCE(<expC1>,<expC2>)

See Also

SOUNDEX()

Description

The DIFFERENCE() function returns an integer signifying the phonetic difference between two character strings. The DIFFERENCE() converts the specified character expressions, <expC1> and <expC2> into SOUNDEX codes and calculates the phonetic difference between the two. The DIFFERENCE() function returns an integer between 0 and 4. A return value of 4 represents a close match, and 0 is returned when the two character expression have no letters in common. The DIFFERENCE() function returns a 1 when the two expressions have one letter in common.

Example

procedure sound_like
  dialog get sound;
   label "SPELL SEARCH";
   help "Enter a name"
  menu browse name;
     for difference(name,sound) >= 2;
     label "Phonetically Matching Names";
     quit clear
  if not empty(menuitem())
      seek menuitem()
      edit
  endif
return
 
use customer
do sound_like

Products

Recital Database Server, Recital Mirage Server, Recital Terminal Developer