SYNOPSIS

use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau;
use warnings;
use strict;
my @targets = ('fuor','xr','fourrrr','fo');
# Initialize Text::Levenshtein::Damerau object with text to compare against
my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('four');
print $tld->dld($targets[0]);
# prints 1
my $tld = $tld->dld({ list => \@targets });
print $tld->{'fuor'};
# prints 1
print $tld->dld_best_match({ list => \@targets });
# prints fuor
print $tld->dld_best_distance({ list => \@targets });
# prints 1
# or even more simply
use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau qw/edistance/;
use warnings;
use strict;

print edistance('Neil','Niel');
# prints 1

DESCRIPTION

Returns the true Damerau Levenshtein edit distance of strings with adjacent transpositions. Useful for fuzzy matching, DNA variation metrics, and fraud detection.

Defaults to using Pure Perl Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::PP, but has an XS addon Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS for massive speed imrovements. Works correctly with utf8 if backend supports it; known to work with "Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::PP" and "Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS".

        use utf8;
        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('XXXX');
        print $tld->dld('XXXX');
        # prints 1

CONSTRUCTOR

new

Creates and returns a "Text::Levenshtein::Damerau" object. Takes a scalar with the text (source) you want to compare against.

        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('Neil');
        # Creates a new Text::Levenshtein::Damerau object $tld

METHODS

$tld->dld

Scalar Argument: Takes a string to compare with.

Returns: an integer representing the edit distance between the source and the passed argument.

Hashref Argument: Takes a hashref containing:

• list => \@array (array ref of strings to compare with)
• OPTIONAL max_distance => $int (only return results with $int distance or less).
• OPTIONAL backend => 'Some::Module::its_function' Any module that will take 2 arguments and returns an int. If the module fails to load, the function doesn't exist, or the function doesn't return a number when passed 2 strings, then "backend" remains unchanged.

          # Override defaults and use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::PP's pp_edistance()
          $tld->dld({ list=> \@list, backend => 'Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::PP::pp_edistance');
          # Override defaults and use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS's xs_edistance()
          use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau;
          requires Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS;
          ...
          $tld->dld({ list=> \@list, backend => 'Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS::xs_edistance');
  

Returns: hashref with each word from the passed list as keys, and their edit distance (if less than max_distance, which is unlimited by default).

        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('Neil');
        print $tld->dld( 'Niel' );
        # prints 1
        #or if you want to check the distance of various items in a list
        my @names_list = ('Niel','Jack');
        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('Neil');
        my $d_ref = $tld->dld({ list=> \@names_list }); # pass a list, returns a hash ref
        print $d_ref->{'Niel'}; #prints 1
        print $d_ref->{'Jack'}; #prints 4

$tld->dld_best_match

Argument: an array reference of strings.

Returns: the string with the smallest edit distance between the source and the array of strings passed.

Takes distance of $tld source against every item in @targets, then returns the string of the best match.

        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('Neil');
        my @name_spellings = ('Niel','Neell','KNiel');
        print $tld->dld_best_match({ list=> \@name_spellings });
        # prints Niel

$tld->dld_best_distance

Arguments: an array reference of strings.

Returns: the smallest edit distance between the source and the array reference of strings passed.

Takes distance of $tld source against every item in the passed array, then returns the smallest edit distance.

        my $tld = Text::Levenshtein::Damerau->new('Neil');
        my @name_spellings = ('Niel','Neell','KNiel');
        print $tld->dld_best_distance({ list => \@name_spellings });
        # prints 1

EXPORTABLE METHODS

edistance

Arguments: source string and target string.

• OPTIONAL 3rd argument int (max distance; only return results with $int distance or less). 0 = unlimited. Default = 0.

Returns: int that represents the edit distance between the two argument. -1 if max distance is set and reached.

Wrapper function to take the edit distance between a source and target string. It will attempt to use, in order:

• Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::XS xs_edistance
• Text::Levenshtein::Damerau::PP pp_edistance

        use Text::Levenshtein::Damerau qw/edistance/;
        print edistance('Neil','Niel');
        # prints 1

AUTHOR

Nick Logan <[email protected]>

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.