Compare Text And Count Differences Based On Characters

Compare Text and count differences based on characters A typing test program, where typed text is matched with a parent text Rate Topic:

#1 nadiya_hafis

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Post icon Posted 15 February 2009 - 09:21 PM

I have two multiline textboxes, and I want to compare and count the text differences between them. The algorithm appears very complex.. To be exact, I need to check for the spelling mistakes (spaces and newlines can be ignored..)Can anyone please help me with this??

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#2 MrWobbles

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Posted 16 February 2009 - 06:39 AM

I should not give you any code, because you did not post any, but I can help you by referring you to Google, or Yahoo or some other similar search engine - surely this has been done before. Try something like this:

http://www.google.co...amp;btnG=Search

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#3 nadiya_hafis

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Posted 19 February 2009 - 12:58 AM

Well, I did try , but couldn't come up with what I wanted..I need to compare two text files and count the character differences between them..like in a typing test program.The code I came up with just checks if a word exists in the parent file, (irrespective of the position). Please suggest the changes, I need to make to my current code..

Here's the code:

	  Dim sr As StreamReader
		Dim strFile1, strFile2 As String
		Dim strFile1Lines(), strFile2Lines() As String
		Dim strFile1NotFile2 As String = ""
		Dim strFile2NotFile1 As String = ""


		' Open File1 
		sr = New StreamReader(file1)
		strFile1 = sr.ReadToEnd()
		sr.Close()

		'Open File2 
		sr = New StreamReader(file2)
		strFile2 = sr.ReadToEnd()
		sr.Close()

		'delimiter for splitting strings
		Dim delim() As String = {" ", vbCrLf} 

		' Seperate the contents of File1 and File2 into words 
 strFile1Lines = strFile1.Split(delim, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
 strFile2Lines = strFile2.Split(delim, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)

		' Going through each word in File 1 
		For Each strFile1Line As String In strFile1Lines
			Dim bLineInFile2 As Boolean = False

			' Compare the current word in File1 against all lines in File2 
			For Each strFile2Line As String In strFile2Lines
				If strFile1Line = strFile2Line Then bLineInFile2 = True
			Next

			' If the word is in not in File2 add it to the variable strFile1NotFile2 
			If Not bLineInFile2 Then strFile1NotFile2 = strFile1NotFile2 & strFile1Line & vbCrLf
		Next

	'display the unmatched words in a richtextbox
		RichTextBox1.Text = strFile1NotFile2

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#4 n8wxs

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Posted 19 February 2009 - 03:01 AM

You might try removing the whitespaces and newlines from the strings you create by reading the files, rather than splitting them. See String.Replace Method

,,,
strFile1  = strFile1.Replace(" "c, "") //' remove all spaces
...
strFile2  = strFile2.Replace(" "c, "") //' remove all spaces
...
if strFile2 <> strFile1 then
	//' complain
end if
...
For i As Integer = 0 To strFile1.Length - 1
	If strFile1(i) <> strFile2(i) Then
		MessageBox.Show(strFile1(i) & " <> " & strFile2(i))
	End If
Next
...

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#5 nadiya_hafis

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Posted 19 February 2009 - 03:39 AM

Thanks, but that isn't helping me..
Your code compares characters at equal positions..Ex:

Original Text: I have a doll
Typed Text: I have doll

The number of typing mistakes : 1, but using u'r code, we get total no. of typing mistakes as 4. And mine shows Mistakes=0(because there is no spelling mistakes in the typed words )
I'm trying to develop something similar to the 'Compare Document' function of MS Word, where two text are compared on character level.
Is this possible??