I have a function which gives Levenshtein Distance used for fuzzy search of a field.
Option Compare Database
' Levenshtein3 tweaked for UTLIMATE speed and CORRECT results
' Solution based on Longs
' Intermediate arrays holding Asc()make difference
' even Fixed length Arrays have impact on speed (small indeed)
' Levenshtein version 3 will return correct percentage
'
Function Levenshtein(ByVal string1 As String, ByVal string2 As String) As Long
1
Dim i As Long, j As Long, string1_length As Long, string2_length As Long
Dim distance(0 To 60, 0 To 50) As Long, smStr1(1 To 60) As Long, smStr2(1 To 50) As Long
Dim min1 As Long, min2 As Long, min3 As Long, minmin As Long, MaxL As Long
string1_length = Len(string1): string2_length = Len(string2)
distance(0, 0) = 0
For i = 1 To string1_length: distance(i, 0) = i: smStr1(i) = Asc(LCase(Mid$(string1, i, 1))): Next
For j = 1 To string2_length: distance(0, j) = j: smStr2(j) = Asc(LCase(Mid$(string2, j, 1))): Next
For i = 1 To string1_length
For j = 1 To string2_length
If smStr1(i) = smStr2(j) Then
distance(i, j) = distance(i - 1, j - 1)
Else
min1 = distance(i - 1, j) + 1
min2 = distance(i, j - 1) + 1
min3 = distance(i - 1, j - 1) + 1
If min2 < min1 Then
If min2 < min3 Then minmin = min2 Else minmin = min3
Else
If min1 < min3 Then minmin = min1 Else minmin = min3
End If
distance(i, j) = minmin
End If
Next
Next
' Levenshtein3 will properly return a percent match (100%=exact) based on similarities and Lengths etc...
MaxL = string1_length: If string2_length > MaxL Then MaxL = string2_length
Levenshtein = 100 - CLng((distance(string1_length, string2_length) * 100) / MaxL)
End Function
When I try to write a SQL statement like the one below, I get a datatype mismatch error:
strSQL_1 = "SELECT * FROM Location_Table ORDER BY (Levenshtein([Short_Desc],'Search String')) DESC;"
Set rs = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(strSQL_1)
Where Short_Desc is a column in the Location_Table with Short Text datatype.
Using Debug.Print strSQL_1, this is what's shown in the immediate window:
SELECT * FROM Location_Table ORDER BY Levenshtein(Short_Desc,'Search String') DESC;
