A string similarity function using the Jaro-Winkler distance metric.
npm install jaro-winklerA string similarity function using the Jaro-Winkler distance metric. Returns a
number between 0 and 1. A 0 being no similarity and a 1 being an exact match.
Read more about it on Wikipedia.
Install in your Node project using npm as usual; npm install jaro-winkler. It
also works in the browser, just include the source within index.js in your
project however you prefer. Note that the distance function will be added to
the global scope if it's not included with a tool like Browserify.
``
var distance = require('jaro-winkler');
distance('MARTHA', 'MARHTA');
// 0.961
distance('DWAYNE', 'DUANE');
// 0.84
distance('DIXON', 'DICKSONX');
// 0.814
// Case Insensitive
distance('MARTHA', 'MARTHA');
// 1
distance('mArThA', 'MaRtHa', { caseSensitive: false });
// 1
`
Here's contrived sample of how you might utilize a distance metric in your own
app. This shows how you might offer a helpful message when a user fat-fingers a
command.
`
#!/usr/bin/env node
'use strict';
var distance = require('jaro-winkler');
var commands = ['open', 'close', 'save', 'revert', 'select', 'copy', 'duplicate', 'add', 'subtract'];
var rated = [];
var args = process.argv.slice(2);
commands.forEach(function(command) {
rated.push({
command: command,
distance: distance(args[0], command)
});
});
rated.sort(function(a, b) {
if (a.distance < b.distance) {
return 1;
} else if (a.distance > b.distance) {
return -1;
} else {
return 0;
}
});
if (rated[0].distance === 1) {
console.log("Running " + rated[0].command + "!");
} else {
console.log("Did you mean " + rated[0].command + "?");
}
process.exit(0);
``