I think you should clean room implement it (or reuse some old code of

if it is safe to do so). From what I have seen of the algorithm - it isn't huge - and it would make sense to have it re-implemented. As an

- consider taking a look at the MVEL soundex code and rewriting that - and we will see if we can make it upstream.

I would say it is just slightly neglected - its not well known that it lives there. Using the MVEL one

just opportunistic for drools. I didn't know that it could return null, that is bad. I guess if it is

- that would mean that you just do a literal case insensitive compare?

Also - AFAIK - soundex is only for english right?

Is there an equivalent for other languages?

If so, perhaps having it in the drools codebase makes sense and opens the way for people to plug in their own soundex. On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 2:54 AM, Wolfgang Laun <wolfgang.laun(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: > > The implementation of "soundslilke" is broken in more than one respect. > The conversion of a word to a Soundex string is provided by > org.mvel2.util.Soundex. > (.) There are words where Soundex.soundex returns null, so that the > calling code, in Drools, crashes with a NPE. > (.) The algorithm implemented in Soundex is erroneous. I'm not sure which > Soundex algorithm it is supposed to implement, but it just doesn't meet

> basic requirements. > > I have implemented, correctly, the version for the National Archives and > Records Administration (NARA) rule set for the official implementation of > Soundex used by the U.S. Government. > > Do we wait for MVEL to correct this bug, or do we just replace it with a > correct implementation? > > Regards > Wolfgang

great - I guess if it shifts away from "fixed" soundex - probably should try and find out who is using it to ensure there are no surprises. I can't imagine it is widely used.

On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 2:43 PM, Wolfgang Laun <wolfgang.laun(a)gmail.com&gt;wrote: > On 10 October 2010 23:41, Michael Neale <michael.neale(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: > > I think you should clean room implement it (or reuse some old code of > yours > > if it is safe to do so). From what I have seen of the algorithm - it > isn't > > huge - and it would make sense to have it re-implemented. As an > alternative > > - consider taking a look at the MVEL soundex code and rewriting that - > and > > we will see if we can make it upstream. > > I just re-implemented this according to the algorithm I found in > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundex > I've also consulted a CPAN module, to learn what was intended by the > MVEL implementation, but it's undecidable (possibly due to omissions or > bugs). > > > > I would say it is just slightly > > neglected - its not well known that it lives there. Using the MVEL one > was > > just opportunistic for drools. > > I didn't know that it could return null, that is bad. I guess if it is > null > > - that would mean that you just do a literal case insensitive compare? > > A correct implementation never returns null. An empty word might, but for > our purpose "" would be preferable. > > > > Also - AFAIK - soundex is only for english right? > Certainly. > > > > Is there an equivalent for other languages? > Soundex is coarse even for English. I've found the atrocious example that > the Soundex for "Britney Spears" is the same as for > "bewährten Superzicke" (~ "proven super-b*"). NYSIIS<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Identification_and_... supposed > to be better. > > For German, there is an equivalent: "Kölner Phonetik". It might > make sense to provide this for an operator "soundex[de]". (All of > /M[ae][iy]e?r/ sound alike in German, and all exist as proper names.) > > I have also found one link to an implementation adapted for French. > > Soundex is aimed at the pronunciation of proper names. There might be some > leeway for that even in a language like Hungarian, which is pronounced > exactly > as written. > > I think Drools should drop the MVEL version and go for a flexible > approach, > possibly even s.th. better than Soundex/NARA for English. I'll research > this > some more, and report back before I commit anything ;-) > > -W > > > > > If so, perhaps having it in the drools codebase makes sense > > and opens the way for people to plug in their own soundex. > > On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 2:54 AM, Wolfgang Laun <wolfgang.laun(a)gmail.com > > > > wrote: > >> > >> The implementation of "soundslilke" is broken in more than one respect. > >> The conversion of a word to a Soundex string is provided by > >> org.mvel2.util.Soundex. > >> (.) There are words where Soundex.soundex returns null, so that the > >> calling code, in Drools, crashes with a NPE. > >> (.) The algorithm implemented in Soundex is erroneous. I'm not sure > which > >> Soundex algorithm it is supposed to implement, but it just doesn't meet > the > >> basic requirements. > >> > >> I have implemented, correctly, the version for the National Archives > and > >> Records Administration (NARA) rule set for the official implementation > of > >> Soundex used by the U.S. Government. > >> > >> Do we wait for MVEL to correct this bug, or do we just replace it with > a > >> correct implementation? > >> > >> Regards > >> Wolfgang > > > _______________________________________________ > rules-dev mailing list > rules-dev(a)lists.jboss.org > https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-dev > > -- Michael D Neale home: www.michaelneale.net blog: michaelneale.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ rules-dev mailing list rules-dev(a)lists.jboss.org https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-dev