Re: How to perform fuzzy search on varchar columns?

frank_ratzlow_at_hotmail.com wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I would like to perform queries on a varchar column that finds not
> only exactly spelled words but also words that sound similar and
> tolerates minor typos.
> E.g. I have a column "surname" and search for "Meyer" I also want to
> have returned "Meier", "Maier" and so on.
> I have read a bit about Oracle Text, but this seems to big for what we
> require. Especially we don't need searching within uploaded files!
> Could anyone be so kind to give me a hint, whether we have to install
> an additional package or if Oracle delivers it out of the box. What
> would a sample query look like?
>
> TIA
>
> Frank
> frank_ratzlow_at_nojunk.hotmail.com
> P.S. Oracle 9iR2

Soundex, as Frank suggests is one method. But there are others built into the database too.

Take a look at the UTL_MATCH built-in package: Morgan's Library at www.psoug.org
It contains 4 built-in functions that might be very useful.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace x with u to respond)
Puget Sound Oracle Users Group
www.psoug.org