How to check SOUNDEX in php when php SOUNDEX outputs only 3 digits

Question

I am trying to do a comparison between company names using SOUNDEX, but the php call for soundex only outputs 3 digits so the comparisons aren't quite accurate. Is there a way to get a better soundex output so that the results are more accurate?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 08 '09 at 19:01

4

try using metaphone instead

answered Jan 08 '09 at 19:01

ʞɔıu

47,148
35
106
149

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 09 '09 at 16:05

1

Depending on what you are SOUNDEXing against, it might be cheaper to do run SOUNDEX() at the database level:

$result = $db->query("
    SELECT
        company.id,
        company.name,
        SOUNDEX(company.name) AS soundex
    FROM
        company
    WHERE
        company.name SOUNDS LIKE '$companyName'
");

answered Jan 09 '09 at 16:05

Ry Biesemeyer

1,484
11
10

should I create within the mysql database itself what the soundex index is ahead of time? – AFG Jan 09 '09 at 18:27
In my opinion, the benefits of doing so (marginal performance increase) do not outweigh the pain/expense (keeping the column in sync). I set up a table with 5000 unique names, indexed name column, and ran SOUNDEX on all. Results: 1.8ms average vs 1.5ms for just retrieving the data without SOUNDEX – Ry Biesemeyer Jan 11 '09 at 23:13

How to check SOUNDEX in php when php SOUNDEX outputs only 3 digits

2 Answers2