note
dvergin
You don't say which database you are using. But MySQL and other databases provide a <a
href="http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Fulltext_Search.html">Full-text Search</a> capability which provides weighted results to text queries of just the kind you are describing. You can access this through DBI just like any other SQL query you might submit.
<p />
There is some overhead involved for the database engine to maintain the full-text index, but I have found that to be small in comparison to the savings, flexibility, and convenience in searching -- especially when the data is relatively stable in comparison to the frequency of the searches.
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<br>
<font size="-1">"<i>Perl is a mess
and that's good because the
<br />problem space is also a mess.</i>" - Larry Wall</font>
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