Perhaps you could implement the levenshtein algorithm into mysql as a stored function, below is an example, hope it helps:
DELIMITER //
CREATE FUNCTION levenshtein( s1 VARCHAR(255), s2 VARCHAR(255) )
RETURNS INT
DETERMINISTIC
BEGIN
DECLARE s1_len, s2_len, i, j, c, c_temp, cost INT;
DECLARE s1_char CHAR;
-- max strlen=255
DECLARE cv0, cv1 VARBINARY(256);
SET s1_len = CHAR_LENGTH(s1), s2_len = CHAR_LENGTH(s2), cv1 = 0x00, j = 1, i = 1, c = 0;
IF s1 = s2 THEN
RETURN 0;
ELSEIF s1_len = 0 THEN
RETURN s2_len;
ELSEIF s2_len = 0 THEN
RETURN s1_len;
ELSE
WHILE j <= s2_len DO
SET cv1 = CONCAT(cv1, UNHEX(HEX(j))), j = j + 1;
END WHILE;
WHILE i <= s1_len DO
SET s1_char = SUBSTRING(s1, i, 1), c = i, cv0 = UNHEX(HEX(i)), j = 1;
WHILE j <= s2_len DO
SET c = c + 1;
IF s1_char = SUBSTRING(s2, j, 1) THEN
SET cost = 0; ELSE SET cost = 1;
END IF;
SET c_temp = CONV(HEX(SUBSTRING(cv1, j, 1)), 16, 10) + cost;
IF c > c_temp THEN SET c = c_temp; END IF;
SET c_temp = CONV(HEX(SUBSTRING(cv1, j+1, 1)), 16, 10) + 1;
IF c > c_temp THEN
SET c = c_temp;
END IF;
SET cv0 = CONCAT(cv0, UNHEX(HEX(c))), j = j + 1;
END WHILE;
SET cv1 = cv0, i = i + 1;
END WHILE;
END IF;
RETURN c;
END;
Source http://www.artfulsoftware.com/infotree/queries.php#552 (Fixed by adding DELIMITER //)
Test example script
<?php
//I inserted these test words into a test database
$words = 'back, lack, pack, rack, sack, tack, yak, black, knack, quack, slack, smack, snack, stack, track, whack, attack,bale, fail, hail, mail, male, nail, pail, tale, rail, sail, stale, scale, snail, whale, detail, email,air, bare, care, chair, dare, fair, hair, pair, rare, wear, chair, flare, stare, scare, share, spare, square, there, where, aware, beware, compare, declare, despair, prepare, repair, unfair,ache, bake, fake, lake, make, rake, take, brake, break, flake, quake, snake, steak, awake, mistake,all, ball, call, doll, hall, fall, tall, crawl, small, baseball, football,an, can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van, plan, scan, span, began,and, band, hand, land, sand, bland, command, demand, expand, stand, understand,cap, gap, map, nap, tap, zap, chap, clap, flap, slap, snap, strap, trap, wrap,are, bar, car, far, jar, tar, star, scar, afar, guitar,at, bat, fat, mat, pat, rat, sat, flat, that, splat, combat,ate, date, fate, mate, late, gate, rate, wait, crate, great, plate, skate, slate, state, straight, trait, weight, create,bed, dead, fed, head, led, read, red, said, bread, fled, spread, thread, tread, instead,bell, fell, sell, well, yell, shell, smell, spell, farewell, hotel, motel,den, hen, men, pen, ten, glen, then, when, wren, again,bet, get, jet, let, met, pet, set, vet, wet, yet, threat, barrette, reset, upset,bin, chin, in, pin, tin, grin, thin, twin, skin, begin, within,king, ring, sing, wing, zing, bring, cling, fling, sling, spring, sting, string, swing, thing,bit, fit, hit, it, kit, lit, pit, sit, flit, knit, quit, skit, slit, spit, split, admit, commit, permit,bite, kite, bright, fight, fright, knight, night, might, right, tight, white, write, delight, tonight,go, hoe, low, mow, row, sew, toe, blow, crow, dough, flow, know, glow, grow, know, show, slow, snow, stow, though, throw, ago, although, below,cot, dot, got, hot, lot, not, pot, rot, tot, bought, fought, knot, taught, shot, spot, squat, forgot,crowned, found, ground, hound, mound, pound, round, sound, wound, around, surround,bows, hose, nose, rose, toes, blows, flows, froze, grows, those,cub, rub, sub, tub, club, stub, scrub, shrub ,bun, fun, gun, one, run, son, sun, ton, won, done, none, begun, outdone, undone';
//A Class for db connection
Class DB{
private $db;
function __construct($host,$dbname,$user,$pass){
$this->dbhost = $host;
$this->dbname = $dbname;
$this->dbuser = $user;
$this->dbpass = $pass;
}
private function connect(){
if (!$this->db instanceof PDO){
$this->db = new PDO('mysql:dbname='.$this->dbname.';host='.$this->dbhost, $this->dbuser, $this->dbpass);
$this->db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
}
}
//A Model method for the levenshtein_query.
public function levenshtein_query($word,$dist){
$this->connect();
$sql = "SELECT `word` FROM `words` WHERE levenshtein( :word ,`word` ) BETWEEN 0 AND $dist";
$statement = $this->db->prepare($sql);
$statement->bindParam(':word', $word, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$statement->execute();
return $statement->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
}
}
//ini the model class
$model = new DB('localhost','test_db','root','');
//The Word posted
$word = 'eet';
$result = $model->levenshtein_query($word,1);
print_r($result);
/*
//The Result
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[word] => bet
)
[1] => Array
(
[word] => get
)
[2] => Array
(
[word] => jet
)
[3] => Array
(
[word] => let
)
[4] => Array
(
[word] => met
)
[5] => Array
(
[word] => pet
)
[6] => Array
(
[word] => set
)
[7] => Array
(
[word] => vet
)
[8] => Array
(
[word] => wet
)
[9] => Array
(
[word] => yet
)
[10] => Array
(
[word] => meet
)
)
*/
Perhaps its of some interest...
