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Implement Phonetic ("Sounds-like") Name Searches with Double Metaphone Part V: .NET Implementation

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19 Mar 20076 min read 276K   5.2K   103  
Presents a C# implementation of Double Metaphone, for use with any of the .NET languages.
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Collections;

using nullpointer.Metaphone;

namespace CSWordLookup
{
	/// <summary>
	/// Summary description for Class1.
	/// </summary>
	class CSWordLookup
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// The main entry point for the application.
		/// </summary>
		[STAThread]
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			//Build a HashTable of ArrayLists.  The hash table is keyed
			//by a Metaphone phonetic key, and the arraylist associated with each key
			//is a list of words having that phonetic key as their primary or alternate
			//double metaphone key
			Hashtable wordsMap = new Hashtable();
			
			FileStream wordsFile = File.OpenRead("..\\..\\..\\MetaphoneTest\\namelist.txt");
			StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(wordsFile);
			
			String word = reader.ReadLine();
			while (word != null) {
				DoubleMetaphone mp = new DoubleMetaphone(word);
				
				//Associate word with primary key
				ArrayList words = (ArrayList)wordsMap[mp.PrimaryKey];
				
				if (words == null) {
					words = new ArrayList();
					wordsMap[mp.PrimaryKey] = words;
				}
				
				words.Add(word);
				
				//Associate with with alternate key also
				if (mp.AlternateKey != null) {
					words = (ArrayList)wordsMap[mp.AlternateKey];
					
					if (words == null) {
						words = new ArrayList();
						wordsMap[mp.AlternateKey] = words;
					}
					
					words.Add(word);
				}
				
				//Read the next word
				word = reader.ReadLine();
			}
			
			//Begin prompting for search words
			while (true) {
				System.Console.Write("\nEnter search term (q to quit): ");
				String searchWord = System.Console.ReadLine().Trim();
				if (searchWord.Length == 0 || searchWord == "q") {
					break;
				}
				
				DoubleMetaphone searchMphone = new DoubleMetaphone(searchWord);
				
				//Search for matches to the primary key
				ArrayList matches = (ArrayList)wordsMap[searchMphone.PrimaryKey];
				foreach (String matchingWord in matches) {
					System.Console.WriteLine("\tFound: {0}", matchingWord);
				}
				
				//Search for matches to the alt, if present
				if (searchMphone.AlternateKey != null) {
					matches = (ArrayList)wordsMap[searchMphone.AlternateKey];
					foreach (String matchingWord in matches) {
						System.Console.WriteLine("\tFound: {0}", matchingWord);
					}
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

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Written By
Web Developer
United States United States
My name is Adam Nelson. I've been a professional programmer since 1996, working on everything from database development, early first-generation web applications, modern n-tier distributed apps, high-performance wireless security tools, to my last job as a Senior Consultant at BearingPoint posted in Baghdad, Iraq training Iraqi developers in the wonders of C# and ASP.NET. I am currently an Engineering Director at Dell.

I have a wide range of skills and interests, including cryptography, image processing, computational linguistics, military history, 3D graphics, database optimization, and mathematics, to name a few.

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