Summary
Returns the Levenshtein Edit Distance between two words
Prototype
n = utils.edit_distance (word1, word2)
Description
This returns the Levenshtein Edit Distance between the two words. This is the same behaviour as the world.EditDistance function.
This could be used in a spell checker to work out how close a misspelt word is to a correctly spelt one.
eg.
print (utils.edit_distance ("food", "fodder")) --> 3
The Levenshtein distance between two strings is defined as the minimum number of edits needed to transform one string into the other, with the allowable edit operations being insertion, deletion, or substitution of a single character.
For example, the Levenshtein distance between "kitten" and "sitting" is 3, since the following three edits change one into the other, and there is no way to do it with fewer than three edits:
1. kitten --> sitten (substitution of 's' for 'k')
2. sitten --> sittin (substitution of 'i' for 'e')
3. sittin --> sitting (insert 'g' at the end).
See Also ...
Lua functions
utils.activatenotepad - Actvitates the specified notepad window
utils.appendtonotepad - Appends text to the specified notepad window
utils.base64decode - Decode a string which was base-64 encoded
utils.base64encode - Encode a string with base-64 encoding
utils.callbackslist - Returns a table of plugin callback function names
utils.choose - Display a combo box with choices in it
utils.colourcube - Changes the colour cube used by 256-colour ANSI codes
utils.compress - Compress a string
utils.decompress - Decompress a string
utils.directorypicker - Invokes the Windows standard "directory picker" dialog box
utils.editbox - Display a large message box and get free-format reply
utils.filepicker - Invokes the Windows standard "file picker" dialog box
utils.filterpicker - Display a dialog box which filters its contents as you type
utils.fontpicker - Invokes the Windows standard "font picker" dialog box
utils.fromhex - Convert a string from hex
utils.functionlist - Returns a table of MUSHclient world function names
utils.getfontfamilies - Returns all fonts available to Windows
utils.glyph_available - Returns the glyph index of a glyph (character) in a font
utils.hash - Hash a string, returning the hex codes
utils.info - Information about directories, locale, etc.
utils.infotypes - Returns a table of all GetInfo type selectors
utils.inputbox - Display a message box and get free-format reply
utils.listbox - Display a dialog box with choices in it in a single selection list box
utils.md5 - Hash a string using the 128-bit MD5 algorithm
utils.menufontsize - Alters the size of the font used in menus
utils.metaphone - Returns metaphones (sound-alike codes) for the supplied word
utils.msgbox - Display a message box and get a response
utils.multilistbox - Display a dialog box with choices in it in a multiple selection list box
utils.readdir - Read a disk directory into a table
utils.reload_global_prefs - Forces global preferences file to be reloaded
utils.sendtofront - Bring a window to the front
utils.sha256 - Hash a string using a 256-bit hash
utils.shellexecute - Executes a Windows "shell" command
utils.spellcheckdialog - Spell-checker dialog
utils.split - Split a delimited string into a table
utils.timer - Returns the high-resolution timer output
utils.tohex - Convert a string into hex
utils.umsgbox - Display a message box and get a response (Unicode)
utils.utf8convert - Encodes a string into a UTF-8 string
utils.utf8decode - Encodes a series of Unicode codes into a UTF-8 string
utils.utf8encode - Encodes a series of Unicode codes into a UTF-8 string
utils.utf8sub - Returns a substring of a UTF-8 string
utils.utf8valid - Checks if a UTF-8 string is valid
utils.xmlread - Parses an XML string into a nested table
Topics
Lua base functions
Lua bc (big number) functions
Lua bit manipulation functions
Lua coroutine functions
Lua debug functions
Lua io functions
Lua LPEG library
Lua math functions
Lua os functions
Lua package functions
Lua PCRE regular expression functions
Lua script extensions
Lua string functions
Lua syntax
Lua table functions
Lua utilities
Scripting
Scripting callbacks - plugins
(Help topic: lua=utils.edit_distance)