SOUNDEX: Comparing Character Strings Phonetically

How to:

The SOUNDEX function analyzes a character string phonetically, without regard to spelling. It converts character strings to four character codes. The first character must be the first character in the string. The last three characters represent the next three significant sounds in the source string.


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Syntax: How to Compare Character Strings Phonetically
SOUNDEX(length, source_string, output)

where:

length

Alphanumeric

Is the number of characters in source_string. The number must be from 01 to 99, expressed with two digits (for example '01'); a number larger than 99 causes the function to return asterisks (*) as output.

source_string

Alphanumeric

Is the string to analyze.

output

Alphanumeric



Example: Comparing Character Strings Phonetically

SOUNDEX analyzes LAST_NAME phonetically and stores the result in a column with the format A4.

SOUNDEX('15', LAST_NAME, 'A4')

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