OvertypeMistakes ( text ; fixList )

Text-input word corrector for upper/lower case typos

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Edward L. Scott - Show more from this author
Scott Resources
https://scott-resources.com

Sample input:

apple has sold ipads in the ussr and nyc after designing components with autocad.

Sample output:

Apple has sold iPads in the USSR and NYC after designing components with AutoCAD.

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/* © Scott Resoources, 2014
   Ed Scott author: 512-371-1435 (leave message, unknown numbers not answered) | escott@scott-resources.com | www.scott-resources.com

This is a recursive function to correct case-related typos in textual data-entry fields. It was requested by a developer whose customer wanted to automatically clean up data entries sloppily typed in by Instant Web Publishing users. Parsing is accomplished word-by-word rather than character-by-character.

The correctly typed "fixList" parameter may be easily maintained as a return-delimited-list field in a Preferences table.  The function can be invoked by defining the "text" input field as an auto-calculation that recalculates the field upon field exit.  The function is implemented as a recursive loop limited by the number of Words in the text parameter, and a nested loop within that loop limited by the number of words-to-fix in the fixList parameter.  When every individual word in the text input has been compared to every individual word in the fixList parameter (and fixed as-needed using a Substitute function), the function exits via the second Let statement which first nulls out the global variables (i.e., $$...) and then returns the "fixed-text" local variable.  */


Let( [ // Begin Let "A"

WrdCount = WordCount( text ) ; 
FixCount = ValueCount( fixList ) ; 
$$IncrW = If( $$IncrF = 1 ; $$IncrW + 1 ; $$IncrW ) ;
$$IncrF = If( $$IncrF = FixCount ; 1 ; $$IncrF + 1 ) ;
Word = MiddleWords( text ; $$IncrW ; 1 ) ;
Fix = GetValue( fixList ; $$IncrF ) ;
$$fixed_text = Case( // Begin Case "A"
				$$fixed_text = "" and Word ≠ Fix ; text ;
				$$fixed_text = "" and Word = Fix ; Substitute( text ; Word ; Fix ) ;
				$$fixed_text ≠ "" and Word ≠ Fix ; $$fixed_text ;
				$$fixed_text ≠ "" and Word = Fix ; Substitute( $$fixed_text ; Word ; Fix )
				) ; // End Case "A"

fixed_text = $$fixed_text ] ; // End Let "A" declaration section (establishes local and global variables and updates them each recursion)

If( // If "A" (recusion test, either recurse or exit via Let statement "B")

Wrdcount > 0 and $$IncrW ≤ Wrdcount ; OvertypeMistakes( $$fixed_text ; fixList ) ; 

Let( [ // Let "B" (function exit only)

$$IncrW = "" ;
$$IncrF = "" ;
$$fixed_text = "" ] ;  // End Let "B" declaration section (terminates global variables)

fixed_text // Final result as returned by this function

) // End Let "B"
) // End If "A"
) // End Let "A"

Written as a triggered script originally, then customer needed it to work in Instant Web Publishing, so I re-wrote it as a recursive custom function.

This is a recursive function to correct case-related typos in textual data-entry fields. It was requested by a fellow developer whose customer wanted a way to automatically clean up data entries sloppily typed in by Instant Web Publishing users. Parsing is accomplished word-by-word rather than character-by-character.

The correctly typed "fixList" parameter may be easily maintained as a return-delimited-list global field in a Preferences table. The function can (should) be invoked by defining the "text" input field as an auto-calculation that recalculates itself upon field exit. The function is implemented as a recursive loop as limited by the number of words in the calling "text" parameter, and a nested loop within that loop as limited by the number of words-to-fix in the "fixList" parameter. When every individual word in the "text" input has been compared to every individual word in the "fixList" parameter (and modified as-needed using a Substitute function), the function then exits via the second Let statement which first nulls out (destroys) the global variables (i.e., $$...) and then returns the "fixed-text" local (i.e., exists only within the custom function) variable.

Comments

		Hans Nagelgast, None May 25, 2014
Could you give an example of the Fixlist, I am not able to reproduce your results

		Hans Nagelgast, None May 25, 2014
OK, well I have figured it out. The Fixlist only contains the correctly spelled words and the input text simply replaces these values. Thanks, nice function.

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

OvertypeMistakes ( text ; fixList )

Comments

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