### Soundex (string)

Basic and Crystal syntax.

##### Arguments

string is one of two or more strings that sound alike.

##### Returns

Text String

##### Action

Soundex (string) evaluates a text string and returns a four character value that symbolizes the way string sounds.

##### Typical uses

Use this function whenever you want to locate records based on two or more field values that are spelled differently yet sound alike.

This function can also be used to find customer names that have been misspelled.

##### Examples

The following examples are applicable to Crystal syntax:

If Soundex{customer.LAST NAME} = Soundex ("Snider") Then
{customer.LAST NAME}
Else
""

Runs a Soundex on each value in the Last Name field and prints only those values that have a Soundex value equal to the Soundex value of the name Snider. This formula returns the names Sneider, Schneider, Snyder, and Snider if they are all in the database.

##### Comments

- The value string must be in quotes.
- Soundex works only with values that begin with the same letter: For example, Soundex will return the same value for Chris and Cris (C620) but not for Kris (K620)
- Soundex creates a code based on the first character in the string plus three characters based on the following:
  - Non-alpha characters (i.e. numbers and punctuation) become -1.
  - The characters a, e, i, o, u, y, h, and w are ignored (except when they are the first character in the original string).
  - The characters b, f, p, and v become 1.
  - The characters c, g, j, k, q, s, x, and z become 2.
  - The characters d and t become 3.
  - The character l becomes 4.
  - The characters m and n become 5.
  - The character r becomes 6.
- If the resulting code is only 2 or 3 characters long, Soundex uses zeros to fill out the code to four characters. For example, in the name Lauren, only the L, r, and n are translated (Lrn), so the resulting Soundex code becomes L650.
- If the resulting code is more than four characters long, all characters after the fourth character are ignored. For example, in the name Patrick, the P, t, r, c, and k can be translated (Ptrck), but the resulting Soundex code will only be four characters: P362.

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