Jim Menard wrote:
>  Chris,
>  
>  On Tuesday, August 26, 2003, at 12:01  PM, Chris Muller wrote:
>  
> > Jim Menard wrote:
> >
> >> How about using the Soundex algorithm? A quick Google search found this
> >> brief explanation <http://www.frontiernet.net/~rjacob/soundex.htm>
> >
> >
> > Ohhh!  Thank you Jim!  What a simple, well-explained method for a 
> > sounds-like
> > index.  This would be a great new index type for MagmaCollections..
> >
> > Do you know whether it works for other keywords?  Or just Surnames?  I 
> > would
> > think it would, since some people's surname are regular words anyway..
>  
>  
>  It works for any words because it is based on how they sound. I have 
>  read about one problem with the algorithm, though: you need different 
>  sets of characters and weightings for different languages. For example, 
>  I think you would want "j" and "h" to map to the same sound in Mexican 
>  Spanish. (Forgive me if that's a bad example. The only Spanish I've ever 
>  learned was "May I have another beer, please?" and "Where is the 
>  bathroom?")
>  
>  Jim

The other problem with it, as I recall, is that you the first letter 
needs to be the same.  So a name/word that starts with 'ph' won't ever 
match a word that starts with 'f', for example, even if they sound the 
same.  Other than that, though, it works great: we used it for a sales 
system and it allowed users to stop asking people to spell their names 
over the phone.  I've tried typing in every convoluted spelling of my 
name I can think of and it always finds me :)

Julian