Ben
Mon May 02 14:56:17 CDT 2005
Hi Patrice,
I have heard of Levenshtein Distance algorithm. I'll look to see how I can
use it.
Thanks for the positive help.
Ben
"Patrice" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:O$IgIFyTFHA.2556@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> This is the "Levenshtein Distance" also called sometimes the "Edit
> Distance".
>
> Try :
>
http://www.merriampark.com/ld.htm
>
> Patrice
>
> --
>
> "Patrice" <nobody@nowhere.com> a écrit dans le message de
> news:%23EuilCyTFHA.3980@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> I saw once someone who used an algorithm that computes the minimal amount
> of
>> elementary changes (ie. letter deletion or letter addition and perhaps
>> swaps) to match a particular target word. It gives a kind of "proximity"
>> level between two words...
>>
>> If I remember I suggested to divide this result by the length of the word
> to
>> have a similar range regardless of the length word (to have a number of
>> changes per letter rather than just a number of changes).
>>
>> Unfortunately I don't remember how it's named but you should hopefully
> find
>> it from its description
>>
>> Patrice
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> "Ben Fidge" <ben.fidge@btopenworld.com> a écrit dans le message de
>> news:uwh$9DxTFHA.4056@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> > Hi Kevin,
>> >
>> > I appreciate your comments but I'm still left with the task of
>> > providing
>> > this functionality to our end-users. As you are probably aware, the
>> average
>> > web-user gets distracted or bored very easily, so the easier and more
>> > intuitive I can make an interface the better. The aim here is to guide
>> their
>> > selection of hotel from a list using the most efficient and time-saving
>> > means possible. As programmers, we need to be aware that 99% of the
>> > time
>> our
>> > users are not techies, but just want to buy products quickly and
>> > easily.
>> >
>> > This is not an uncommon scenario, and i'm sure there's many developers
> out
>> > there who may offer some insight into how they've tackled similar
> problems
>> > in the past, be it a propritry solution or some third-party library we
> can
>> > buy in.
>> >
>> > Kind regards
>> >
>> > Ben
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Kevin Spencer" <kevin@DIESPAMMERSDIEtakempis.com> wrote in message
>> > news:e35K27wTFHA.2756@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>> > > Hi Ben,
>> > >
>> > > A little while ago, just before Google went public, Microsoft tried
>> > > to
>> buy
>> > > them. Why? Because they have the best search engine in the world.
>> > > But,
>> you
>> > > might ask, why would Microsoft, a software company that employs
>> thousands
>> > > of programmers need to buy a search engine, when they can write their
>> own?
>> > > The answer is simple: Google does almost nothing but search software.
>> And
>> > > it is not easy to write. In fact, Google has thousands of computers
>> > > to
>> > > share the load. Their search routines, while secret, must be
> humongous.
>> > >
>> > > So, in answer to your question:
>> > >
>> > >> Taking all these scenarios and requirements into hand can anyone
>> suggest
>> > >> a fool-proof yet easy to use mechanism for providing this sort of
>> search
>> > >> capability on a web-page?
>> > >
>> > > The answer is "no." Not fool-proof, and by no stretch of the
> imagination
>> > > easy!
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > HTH,
>> > >
>> > > Kevin Spencer
>> > > Microsoft MVP
>> > > .Net Developer
>> > > What You Seek Is What You Get.
>> > >
>> > > "Ben Fidge" <ben.fidge@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
>> > > news:%23yGgfZwTFHA.3636@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> > >> Hi
>> > >>
>> > >> I'm working on a site which requires the users to specify a hotel at
>> > >> which they're staying in London. The complete list of hotels comes
>> > >> to
>> > >> something like 1600 records. Each record consists of Hotel Name,
> Street
>> > >> Address and Postcode.
>> > >>
>> > >> We need to make it as simple as possible for users to pick their
> hotel,
>> > >> but I don't want to put 1600 hotel names in a drop-down list, and we
>> have
>> > >> to consider the fact that not every user is going to know the full
> name
>> > >> and address of their hotel. Furthermore, we have to assume that
>> > >> misspellings will be common and also the shortening of address
>> elements.
>> > >> For example,
>> > >>
>> > >> "Road" could be entered as "Rd", "Rd." or "Road"
>> > >> "Street" could be "St", "St." or "Street"
>> > >> "Lane" could be "Ln", "Lne" or "Lane" etc
>> > >>
>> > >> Taking all these scenarios and requirements into hand can anyone
>> suggest
>> > >> a fool-proof yet easy to use mechanism for providing this sort of
>> search
>> > >> capability on a web-page?
>> > >>
>> > >> I'm using ADO.NET to interface to Sql Server 2000 db. Would
>> > >> Full-text
>> > >> indexing on this table be of any use?
>> > >>
>> > >> I'm intersted to know how people would go about this themselves.
>> > >>
>> > >> Thanks
>> > >>
>> > >> Ben
>> > >>
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>