Checking for similar duplicates

[knappster]

Hi,

I have a web site where users enter company names to use in the rest of the app. However, recently I've noticed that similar duplicates are appearing, e.g. someone will enter EastTec Solicitors another will enter EastTec Solicitors Ltd someone else will enter EastTec Solictors (missed the i out in Solicitors), when there should only be one entry of EastTec Solicitors. What is the best way of checking the database for entries similar to what they have entered? How would you about checking for spelling mistakes as well like the Solicitors one?

Cheers.

 

[henryminute]

There is a method of comparing words that sound alike, which can often pick up slight misspellings, called Soundex.

CodeProject: Soundex Implementation in C# and VB.NET. Free source code and programming help has an implementation and you might find others with a bit of Googling/Binging.

If your database is SqlServer, I believe that it has a Soundex Function (T-SQL)
and here is a link to an article about using it.

As far as I am aware Access does not implement a Soundex.

Hope this helps.

 

[knappster]

Cheers for that, could be just what I'm looking for, I'm using SQL 2005 so will have to explore the SOUNDEX() function...