search and return like last names 1

[aspnetuser]

Is it possible to search a field in crystal 8.5 prof. and group all name fields that are similar. Not just by the first character but by the name in total.

for example i have one name field delimited by spaces:
Rob Doe
Bob Doe
Bobby Doe

They are all the same person yet have different customer numbers. Any thoughts on how to approach this?

 

[GMcNamara]

I think the closest you will come to accomplishing what you want is the Soundex function. Check it out in your Crystal help.

 

[aspnetuser]

Can you provide a little more detail on this?

 

[aspnetuser]

On business objects their are only two documents on the search for Soundex function.

I have never heard of it. My database is a non standard unix.

 

[synapsevampire]

I would approach this by tightening up data entry quality control.

Garbage in, garbage out.

You can use various means to try to resolve this, but the name field can vary so radically that it's a horrible means to identify unique people in general.

Try using a phone number or address if possible.

As for dealing with mistyped names, and similar names, you're better served to use a database cleanup than attempting to filter out bad data in the presentation layer.

Also note that the soundex would be hard pressed to resolve
Rob and Bobby as the same person.

I used to do list cleanup many years ago, and had a series of Fox programs to assist in this, and the the final pass was manually performed by data entry people looking for similarities.

-k

 

[Madawc]

I did something similar as well. What you need to do is extract the last name and sort on the basis of this name. Tek Tips' SEARCH function should let you find examples of how to extract the last name from a string, if you don't know already. Surname followed by address, but people do write the same address in different ways:
Rosebud, 16 Arcadia Avenue;
Sixteen, Arcadia Avenue
etc.

Date of birth and gender are good supliments, if you have those details (helps distinguish different members of a family).



Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK)

 

[Madawc]

PS. In the UK, postcodes are also very useful, when you have them as distinct data items.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK)