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Algorithm for finding record with most matching attributes

I'm looking for some algorithm that for a given record with n properties with n possible values each (int, string etc) searches a number of existing records and gives back the one that matches the most properties.

Example:

A = 1
B = 1
C = 1
D = f

A   | B   | C   | D
----+-----+-----+----
1   | 1   | 9   | f    <
2   | 3   | 1   | g
3   | 4   | 2   | h
2   | 5   | 8   | j
3   | 6   | 5   | h

The first row would be the one I'm looking for, as it has the most matching values. I think it doesn't need to calculate any closeness to the values, because then row 2 might be more matching.

Solution

  • Loop through each row, add one to the row score of a field matches (field one has a score of 2) and when that's done, you have a resultset of scores which you can sort.