Top 7 What does “Soundex” mean and how do I use it?
• Soundex is a system which converts each word to a numerical “sound” equivalent by looking at its sequence of consonants. The initial letter is retained and three digits are added, depending on the following letters. The result is seldom unique so a number of equivalent words will result from a Soundex search. This can often find a suitable match when wildcards have failed. In What’s in a Name we have implemented the Metaphone system where equivalent sounds are given the same coding, e.g. kr and chr. • Read Soundex for a detailed explanation. • The way to use it is to put a tilde sign [~] in front of the name you are searching for. • NB You cannot use Soundex at the same time as Wild Card [*] searching or Browsing.
