Re: Converting names & street names

Al,

DR2

At 09:48 PM 8/30/2006 -0400, you wrote:

If it helps anyone, many years ago (in RPG II - later converted to RPG
III), I wrote an application that would parse a free form multiple line
name and address fields, to extract out any zip code (5 digit, 9 digit with
or without a dash), state (no matter how it is spelled, abbreviated or
mis-abbreviated [years ago there was time when Kansas was abbreviated as
KANS]).

Keep in mind that I wrote this code in the late 70's, and then spruced it
up in the mid 80's.  As I remember, the code was very complicated, and
mostly written before DO's, so many GOTO's.  I do recall that there were a
few very complicated sections where I actually keyed the flowcharts into
the source as C* specs.  Where I documented tag names, etc.

I know I have the code someplace, but my systems are all down for backup at
the moment, so I can't check for it.

Al

Al Barsa, Jr.
Barsa Consulting Group, LLC

400>390

"i" comes before "p", "x" and "z"
e gads

Our system's had more names than Elizabeth Taylor!

914-251-1234
914-251-9406 fax

http://www.barsaconsulting.com
http://www.taatool.com
http://www.as400connection.com




             Booth Martin
             <booth@xxxxxxxxxx
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             08/30/2006 05:39                                      Subject
             PM                        Re: Converting names & street names


             Please respond to
             Midrange Systems
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             <midrange-l@midra
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Some where along the line some one enters the name.  Going forward, it
could be entered correctly at the time of entry.  The idea of an
auxiliary file for properly cased name and address seems like an
on-going burden.  It would seem reasonable at some point to make a
decision to proper-case names & addresses. including street, city, &
state.  There are a lot of reasons for making a change-over, and very
few that I can think of to stay with the constraints of a 132-hammer
printer.

I say this because of always finding that in the end, solving it
programatically never really solved the headache.  Some day the boss's
wife's mother's best friend is going to be insulted, and that is not
going to ever be a good day.



Alan Shore wrote:
> Unfortunately Booth - it is NOT a one time deal. Our customer base grows
in
> leaps and bounds day by day.
>
>
>
> Alan Shore
>
> NBTY, Inc
> (631) 244-2000 ext. 5019
> AShore@xxxxxxxx
>
> midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 08/30/2006 04:41:19 PM:
>
>> How many total names in the file, and is this a one-time change-over?
>>
>> It is amazing how fast a good operator can go through a thousand names,
>> if you present them for her/him to read & change easily on the screen.
>>
>> If its a one time deal, a brute force solution may be a lot cheaper and
>> quicker in the end.
>>
>>
>>
>> Scott Klement wrote:
>>>> Thanks for your reply Tommy, but the main problem I am going to have
> is
>>>> with the names like O'Donnell McGuyver etc where the name contains
> more
>>>> than one upper case character.
>>> Even worse is something  like "Herman Van der Staey".  In that case the
>
>>> last name is 3 words, and one of them isn't capitalized, but the others
>
>>> are.  I can't think of an algorithm that would understand how to
> properly
>>> capitalize all names.
>>>
>>> The truth is, names don't follow a set pattern for capitalization. You
>>> have to deall with them on a case-by-case basis.  So you'd almost need
> a
>>> database of every possible name and how it's capitalized....  or at
> least
>>> a database of the ones that don't follow the rule of "first letter of
>>> every word."   This wouldn't be a minor undertaking.
>>>
>>> I suggest looking for a commercial package unless a "close enough"
> routine
>>> is acceptable.
>> --
>> -----------------------------
>> Booth Martin
>> www.martinvt.com
>> -----------------------------
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--
-----------------------------
Booth Martin
www.martinvt.com
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