MT-Newswatcher Filtering question

In article ,
Megadave wrote:

> I want to filter out on a given combination of letters - regardless of
> how those specific letter appear from an author.
>
> For example: FOOBAR and FBRAOO should both generate a hit.
>
> Any thoughts? I personally don't think this is possible but I figured
> I'd ask.

I don't think so, either, other than listing all the permutations:

FOOBAR|OFOBAR|OOFBAR|OOBFAR|OOBAFR|OOBARF|FOBOAR|OFBOAR|...

There might be some way to simplify this, but it will still be really
long.

What are you trying to achieve with this? Maybe there's a better way to
approach it.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar RemoveThis @alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***
 >> Stay informed about: MT-Newswatcher Filtering question 

In article ,
Megadave wrote:

> I want to filter out on a given combination of letters - regardless of
> how those specific letter appear from an author.
>
> For example: FOOBAR and FBRAOO should both generate a hit.
>
> Any thoughts? I personally don't think this is possible but I figured
> I'd ask.

With MT-NewsWatcher, the initial or obvious solution is to use regular
expressions. Unfortunately, and regular expressions is not the right
tool for the job of matching a list of characters in any order.

You'd need to create a rather complex and lengthy regular expression.
Basically, you need to list every possible combination of characters in
the regular expression string. For instance, here's a regular expression
that matches every string containing all of 'a', 'b', and 'c' in any
order:

([^aA][aA][^bB][bB][^cC][cC])|([^aA][aA][^cC][cC][^bB][bB])|([^bB][bB][^a
A][aA][^cC][cC])|([^bB][bB][^cC][cC][^aA][aA])|([^cC][cC][^aA][aA][^bB][b
B])|([^cC][cC][^bB][bB][^aA][aA])

As you can see, this will get exponentially more complex the more
characters you want to match. So it is possible, but it's not easy, and
may not be worth the trouble.

If you can explain more about what you are trying to do, we may be able
to help you think of a better solution.

--
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JR
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In article
,
Jolly Roger wrote:

> In article ,
> Megadave wrote:
>
> > I want to filter out on a given combination of letters - regardless of
> > how those specific letter appear from an author.
> >
> > For example: FOOBAR and FBRAOO should both generate a hit.
> >
> > Any thoughts? I personally don't think this is possible but I figured
> > I'd ask.
>
> With MT-NewsWatcher, the initial or obvious solution is to use regular
> expressions. Unfortunately, and regular expressions is not the right
> tool for the job of matching a list of characters in any order.
>
> You'd need to create a rather complex and lengthy regular expression.
> Basically, you need to list every possible combination of characters in
> the regular expression string. For instance, here's a regular expression
> that matches every string containing all of 'a', 'b', and 'c' in any
> order:
>
> ([^aA][aA][^bB][bB][^cC][cC])|([^aA][aA][^cC][cC][^bB][bB])|([^bB][bB][^a
> A][aA][^cC][cC])|([^bB][bB][^cC][cC][^aA][aA])|([^cC][cC][^aA][aA][^bB][b
> B])|([^cC][cC][^bB][bB][^aA][aA])

You could use this regular expression though:

[ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR]

It will catch any combination of those letters but in any number, not
limited to the one or two of FOOBAR. It may be enough, depending.

--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
 >> Stay informed about: MT-Newswatcher Filtering question 

In article ,
Megadave wrote:

> In article
> ,
> Jolly Roger wrote:
>
> > If you can explain more about what you are trying to do, we may be able
> > to help you think of a better solution.
>
> Oh it's just a couple of the more useless twats over in c.s.m.advocacy
> post using scrambled variations on their handles.

These easiest way to deal with them is to simply unsubscribe from that
group and kill all posts with the group in the headers. ; ) Works
fantastic!

--
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must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to
this address so that your email doesn't get eaten by my SPAM filter.

JR
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In article ,
Megadave wrote:

> Oh it's just a couple of the more useless twats over in c.s.m.advocacy
> post using scrambled variations on their handles.. Of course I use a
> 'mental bitbucket' but I started to wonder if it was even possible to do
> such a filter.

A majority of the jackasses in CSMA are Windows users who post with
Windows news readers (X-NewsReader and User-Agent headers), and you can
further narrow things down by filtering the Message-ID and From headers.
You just need to get a little creative with scoring to get it working
just right. ; )

--
Note: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you
must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to
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JR
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In article ,
Clark Martin wrote:

> In article
> ,
> Jolly Roger wrote:
>
> > In article ,
> > Megadave wrote:
> >
> > > I want to filter out on a given combination of letters - regardless of
> > > how those specific letter appear from an author.
> > >
> > > For example: FOOBAR and FBRAOO should both generate a hit.
> > >
> > > Any thoughts? I personally don't think this is possible but I figured
> > > I'd ask.
> >
> > With MT-NewsWatcher, the initial or obvious solution is to use regular
> > expressions. Unfortunately, and regular expressions is not the right
> > tool for the job of matching a list of characters in any order.
> >
> > You'd need to create a rather complex and lengthy regular expression.
> > Basically, you need to list every possible combination of characters in
> > the regular expression string. For instance, here's a regular expression
> > that matches every string containing all of 'a', 'b', and 'c' in any
> > order:
> >
> > ([^aA][aA][^bB][bB][^cC][cC])|([^aA][aA][^cC][cC][^bB][bB])|([^bB][bB][^a
> > A][aA][^cC][cC])|([^bB][bB][^cC][cC][^aA][aA])|([^cC][cC][^aA][aA][^bB][b
> > B])|([^cC][cC][^bB][bB][^aA][aA])
>
> You could use this regular expression though:
>
> [ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR]
>
> It will catch any combination of those letters but in any number, not
> limited to the one or two of FOOBAR. It may be enough, depending.

That's a nice alternative, actually. Good work.

--
Note: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you
must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to
this address so that your email doesn't get eaten by my SPAM filter.

JR
 >> Stay informed about: MT-Newswatcher Filtering question 

In article ,
Clark Martin wrote:

> You could use this regular expression though:
>
> [ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR]
>
> It will catch any combination of those letters but in any number, not
> limited to the one or two of FOOBAR. It may be enough, depending.

Cute. What about

[ABFOR]{6}
--
W. Oates
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In article ,
Warren Oates wrote:

> In article ,
> Clark Martin wrote:
>
> > You could use this regular expression though:
> >
> > [ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR][ABFOR]
> >
> > It will catch any combination of those letters but in any number, not
> > limited to the one or two of FOOBAR. It may be enough, depending.
>
> Cute. What about
>
> [ABFOR]{6}

And we have a winner! : )

--
Note: Please send all responses to the relevant news group. If you
must contact me through e-mail, let me know when you send email to
this address so that your email doesn't get eaten by my SPAM filter.

JR
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In article ,
Warren Oates wrote:

> Cute. What about
>
> [ABFOR]{6}

From very nasty to nicely concise! Very good.

--
While its true that "you can't fix stupid", apparently you
can package it up and sell it. -- fnorgby on TMBO
 >> Stay informed about: MT-Newswatcher Filtering question