{"id":1228,"date":"2019-02-19T11:27:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T04:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/?page_id=1228"},"modified":"2024-03-03T09:52:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T02:52:38","slug":"sql-server-soundex-function","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/sql-server-string-functions\/sql-server-soundex-function\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL Server SOUNDEX() Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the SQL Server <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function to evaluate the similarity between two strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='sql-server-soundex-function-overview'>SQL Server SOUNDEX() function overview <a href=\"#sql-server-soundex-function-overview\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"sql-server-soundex-function-overview\" title=\"Anchor for SQL Server SOUNDEX() function overview\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In SQL Server, the <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function accepts a string and converts it to a four-character code that represents the phonetic representation of a string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the basic syntax of the <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\">SOUNDEX(character_expression);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this syntax: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>character_expression<\/code> is the string that you want to convert to a Soundex code. The character_expression can be a constant, a column, or a variable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The first character of the <code>SOUNDEX<\/code> code is always the first character of the <code>character_expression<\/code>. The second to fourth characters of the code are the numbers that represent the letters in the <code>character_expression<\/code>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The function ignores the letters A, E, I, O, U, H, W, and Y if they are not the first letters of the input string.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function will add zeros at the end of the result code if necessary to make a four-character code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function can be useful when you deal with data that may have variations in spelling but sound similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"note\">To check the similarity between <code>SOUNDEX<\/code> codes of two strings, you use the <code><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/sql-server-string-functions\/sql-server-difference-function\/\">DIFFERENCE()<\/a><\/code> function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='sql-server-soundex-examples'>SQL Server SOUNDEX() examples <a href=\"#sql-server-soundex-examples\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"sql-server-soundex-examples\" title=\"Anchor for SQL Server SOUNDEX() examples\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s take some examples of using the <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='1-using-sql-server-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-the-same-sound'>1) Using SQL Server SOUNDEX() function for the strings with the same sound <a href=\"#1-using-sql-server-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-the-same-sound\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"1-using-sql-server-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-the-same-sound\" title=\"Anchor for 1) Using SQL Server SOUNDEX() function for the strings with the same sound\">#<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This example uses the <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function to return the <code>SOUNDEX<\/code> code of both string <code>'sea'<\/code> and <code>'see'<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span> \n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SOUNDEX<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'see'<\/span>) see_soundex, \n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SOUNDEX<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'sea'<\/span>) sea_soundex;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Here is the output:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><span><code class=\"hljs\">see_soundex sea_soundex\n----------- -----------\nS000        S000\n\n(1 row affected)<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The SOUNDEX codes are the same because <code>see<\/code> and <code>sea<\/code> have the same sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='2-using-the-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-different-sound'>2) Using the SOUNDEX() function for the strings with different sound <a href=\"#2-using-the-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-different-sound\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"2-using-the-soundex-function-for-the-strings-with-different-sound\" title=\"Anchor for 2) Using the SOUNDEX() function for the strings with different sound\">#<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The following example uses the <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function to get the codes for the string <code>'coffee'<\/code> and <code>'black'<\/code> which have different sounds:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"SQL (Structured Query Language)\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"sql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-sql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SELECT<\/span> \n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SOUNDEX<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'coffee'<\/span>) see_soundex, \n    <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">SOUNDEX<\/span>(<span class=\"hljs-string\">'tea'<\/span>) sea_soundex;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">SQL (Structured Query Language)<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">sql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The output is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><span><code class=\"hljs\">see_soundex sea_soundex\n----------- -----------\nC100        T000\n\n(1 row affected)<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>The Soundex of coffee and tea are different because they have different sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='summary'>Summary <a href=\"#summary\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"summary\" title=\"Anchor for Summary\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use the SQL Server <code>SOUNDEX()<\/code> function to get the <code>SOUNDEX<\/code> code of a string.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful?<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-thumbs\">\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\tdata-post=\"1228\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-url=\"https:\/\/www.sqlservertutorial.net\/sql-server-string-functions\/sql-server-soundex-function\/\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-title=\"SQL Server SOUNDEX() Function\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-response=\"1\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"wth-btn-rounded wth-yes-btn\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<svg\n\t\t\t\t\txmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"\n\t\t\t\t\tviewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"\n\t\t\t\t\tfill=\"none\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke=\"currentColor\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-width=\"2\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linecap=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t\tstroke-linejoin=\"round\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"feather feather-thumbs-up block w-full h-full\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<path\n\t\t\t\t\t\td=\"M14 9V5a3 3 0 0 0-3-3l-4 9v11h11.28a2 2 0 0 0 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