help strdist
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title

    strdist -- Calculate the Levenshtein distance, or edit distance, between
        strings.


Syntax

        strdist {varname1|"string1"} {varname2|"string2"} [if] [in] [,
                 generate(newvar) ]


Description

    strdist calculates the distance between strings and/or string variables
    using the Levenshtein distance metric. Levenshtein distance, or edit
    distance, is the smallest number of edits required to make one string
    match a second string. An edit may be an insertion, deletion, or
    substitution of any single letter.

    strdist accepts two arguments, which may be string variables or string
    scalars in any combination. String scalars must be enclosed in quotes.

    Edit distances are returned in a scalar or a new variable, depending on
    the type of arguments supplied. If the arguments contain one or two
    string variables, edit distances are returned in a new variable with
    default name strdist. If both arguments are string scalars, edit distance
    is returned in r(d).


Options

        +------+
    ----+ Main +-------------------------------------------------------------

    generate(newvar) Create a new variable named newvar containing edit
        distance(s). If the arguments include a string variable without the
        generate() option, a new variable will be created with default name
        strdist.


Examples

    . strdist "cat" "hat"

    . sysuse census

    . strdist state "west virginia" , gen(wvdist)


Saved results

    strdist saves the following in r():


    Scalars   
      r(d)           edit distance if arguments are both string scalars

    Macros    
      r(strdist)     name of new edit distance variable if created


Author

    Michael Barker
    Georgetown University
    mdb96@georgetown.edu


Also see

    soundex, strgroup