revDAVE wrote:
> Newbie - is there a function similar to the sql 'like' comparison operator?
> 
> I would like to be able to compare 2 strings:
> 
> If $this ---*like or similar to*--- $that
> 
> That type of thing...
> 
> 
> I know of this page:
> 
> http://us3.php.net/manual/sl/language.operators.comparison.php
> 
> 
> But I don't see something 'like' or 'similar' to something else
> 
> 
> --
> Thanks - RevDave
> Cool @ hosting4days . com
> [db-lists]
> 
> 
> 
Probably the most similar that allows some wildcards (pattern matching) 
is ereg().  You have more power in that you can control what must match 
and how much.

In MySQL  'a' = ' a ' is true but 'a' LIKE ' a ' is false.  So you need 
to use the wildcard % to match anything  ' xxaxx ' LIKE '%a%' is true or 
_ to match one character ' a ' LIKE '_a_' is true.

The problem with similar_text() is that it gives you a percentage of 
similarity which may be misleading unless you also figure in the return 
of how many chars match.  For example similar_text('CAT', 'CA', &$p) $p 
would be 66.6%, is that like or not?

-Shawn