RE: [PHP] Array newbie

David, I know understand your problem however I'm still not sure what type of SQL statement you are using. There doesn't seem to be any clear relation between spam name, spam address and spam city. However the least you can do is SELECT reference FROM spam_name WHERE (some condition, eq. WHERE s_last = 'Bob') If you are worried about matching too many matched. You may also try SELECT COUNT(*) FROM spam_name WHERE (some condition) This will give you the number of rows that match your condition and you may then decided wheter or not to proceed with that particular approach. Also I believe there is a php function which will give you the number of rows affected by your query. I may be telling you things you already know. One thing to keep in mind, SQL is a very powerfull and simple language that will shif the searching burden onto the database instead of your script. Remember the dabatase is optimized and will return your result much quicker they you would in a simple script. Mike. -----Original Message----- From: David VanHorn [mailto:dvanhorn@cedar.net] Sent: Friday, August 04, 2000 12:29 PM To: Krznaric Michael Subject: RE: [PHP] Array newbie At 12:05 PM 8/4/00 -0400, Krznaric Michael wrote: >David, > > I'm not sure how familiar you are with SQL, but I suspect that your >problem can be adressed with an sql statement. Can you maybe elaborate on >what your desired end result is after you have these references and as to >how they're organized in the database? Ok, I have a database of people who have abused ISPs by various methods, including spamming. top_spam_report contains various admin information. Tied to reference are: spam_name {reference, first, mi, last, mf, s_first, s_last} spam_address {reference, number, street, phone, unit, s_street} spam_city {reference, city, state, zip, country, s_city} The "s_" records are soundexed versions, to limit my search results. At this point, I look for names by pulling all that match s_first and s_last, then look through returned list for literal matches to first and last. On address, I pull all with s_street, then look for literals on street Same with city, state, and zip. The problem with all this, is that I'm not matching up someone who wants to be matched up. They may lie about parts of this information, so I'm working to find the most efficient way to derive partial matches, and to express my confidence in those matches. Obviously a full literal match is good, but "bob" may sign on as "robert" next time. Soundex gets that, and if address and CSZ match, then it's a highly likely hit. If address matches, but city and state don't then it's not so likely.. -- Where's dave? http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc6ete-9