Implementing Fuzzy Search with OData

[starshinata]

Hi everyone,

Our team is currently working on a project where the client requirement is to implement fuzzy search. However, we have noticed that OData does not support fuzzy search out of the box.

We would like to inquire if there is a recommended approach to achieve this functionality using OData.

We are looking at implementing a custom filter option such as: odata/profiles?$filter=fuzzy(FirstName, 'John') where we can provide a custom implementation for this filter, using a third-party library, in a way that integrates with OData.

However, we are open to other suggestions as well.

Could you please advise us on the best way to approach this? Any guidance, examples, or references to relevant documentation would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance.

[julealgon]

I believe the best extension point to add support for this in odata would be to use the built-in $search query. You can implement anything you want behind that operation.

• $compute and $search in ASP.NET Core OData 8

I'd either go with that, or as a fallback I'd write a custom bound action on the entityset.

[starshinata]

Thanks a lot for the help, @julealgon!

[Mhirji]

@starshinata , based on the example you provided in terms of what you are trying to achieve, unless you require a percentage on the probability of the match, you could also use the "contains" operator. This would translate to a like in SQL.

[mikepizzo]

Note that OASIS is considering adding a new search function that could be used in $filter. The only advantage of this over $search is that you could combine the fuzzy search in more ways $search, which is always AND'd with any $filter.

Would such a function, if introduced, be useful to folks?

[marabooy]

@starshinata Do the two workarounds for $search and $filter with contains work for you? Also, please review Mike's post to see if the newly proposed search function suits your case.

[julealgon]

@mikepizzo

Note that OASIS is considering adding a new search function that could be used in $filter. The only advantage of this over $search is that you could combine the fuzzy search in more ways $search, which is always AND'd with any $filter.

Would such a function, if introduced, be useful to folks?

Interesting suggestion. I assume the more specific search function (the one inside $filter) would then also be implementation-dependent, like the external one is today.

I do think it makes sense for the added flexibility it gives.