org.apache.commons.codec.language
Class Soundex

java.lang.Object
  org.apache.commons.codec.language.Soundex

All Implemented Interfaces:

Encoder, StringEncoder

public class Soundex
extends Object
implements StringEncoder

Encodes a string into a Soundex value. Soundex is an encoding used to relate similar names, but can also be used as a general purpose scheme to find word with similar phonemes. This class is thread-safe. Although not strictly immutable, the maxLength field is not actually used.

Version:

$Id: Soundex.html 889935 2013-12-11 05:05:13Z ggregory $

US_ENGLISH_MAPPING_STRING

public static final String US_ENGLISH_MAPPING_STRING

This is a default mapping of the 26 letters used in US English. A value of 0 for a letter position means do not encode.

(This constant is provided as both an implementation convenience and to allow Javadoc to pick up the value for the constant values page.)

See Also:

US_ENGLISH_MAPPING, Constant Field Values

US_ENGLISH

public static final Soundex US_ENGLISH

An instance of Soundex using the US_ENGLISH_MAPPING mapping.

See Also:

US_ENGLISH_MAPPING

Soundex

public Soundex()

Creates an instance using US_ENGLISH_MAPPING

See Also:

Soundex(char[]), US_ENGLISH_MAPPING

Soundex

public Soundex(char[] mapping)

Creates a soundex instance using the given mapping. This constructor can be used to provide an internationalized mapping for a non-Western character set. Every letter of the alphabet is "mapped" to a numerical value. This char array holds the values to which each letter is mapped. This implementation contains a default map for US_ENGLISH

Parameters:

mapping - Mapping array to use when finding the corresponding code for a given character

Soundex

public Soundex(String mapping)

Creates a refined soundex instance using a custom mapping. This constructor can be used to customize the mapping, and/or possibly provide an internationalized mapping for a non-Western character set.

Parameters:

mapping - Mapping string to use when finding the corresponding code for a given character

Since:

1.4

difference

public int difference(String s1,
                      String s2)
               throws EncoderException

Encodes the Strings and returns the number of characters in the two encoded Strings that are the same. This return value ranges from 0 through 4: 0 indicates little or no similarity, and 4 indicates strong similarity or identical values.

Parameters:

s1 - A String that will be encoded and compared.

s2 - A String that will be encoded and compared.

Returns:

The number of characters in the two encoded Strings that are the same from 0 to 4.

Throws:

EncoderException - if an error occurs encoding one of the strings

Since:

1.3

See Also:

SoundexUtils.difference(StringEncoder,String,String), MS T-SQL DIFFERENCE

encode

public Object encode(Object obj)
              throws EncoderException

Encodes an Object using the soundex algorithm. This method is provided in order to satisfy the requirements of the Encoder interface, and will throw an EncoderException if the supplied object is not of type java.lang.String.

Specified by:

encode in interface Encoder

Parameters:

obj - Object to encode

Returns:

An object (or type java.lang.String) containing the soundex code which corresponds to the String supplied.

Throws:

EncoderException - if the parameter supplied is not of type java.lang.String

IllegalArgumentException - if a character is not mapped

encode

public String encode(String str)

Encodes a String using the soundex algorithm.

Specified by:

encode in interface StringEncoder

Parameters:

str - A String object to encode

Returns:

A Soundex code corresponding to the String supplied

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if a character is not mapped

getMaxLength

@Deprecated
public int getMaxLength()

Deprecated. This feature is not needed since the encoding size must be constant. Will be removed in 2.0.

Returns the maxLength. Standard Soundex

Returns:

int

setMaxLength

@Deprecated
public void setMaxLength(int maxLength)

Deprecated. This feature is not needed since the encoding size must be constant. Will be removed in 2.0.

Sets the maxLength.

Parameters:

maxLength - The maxLength to set

soundex

public String soundex(String str)

Retrieves the Soundex code for a given String object.

Parameters:

str - String to encode using the Soundex algorithm

Returns:

A soundex code for the String supplied

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if a character is not mapped