Implementing Google or AltaVista in Perl for this kind of application is likely overkill, so here's a simple solution. 
my (@names) = ( ... );

sub search
{
        my (@search_keywords) = split (/\s+/, shift);

        my ($match_code) = "sub{".join('&&', map { "/\Q$_\E/" } @searc
+h_keywords)."}";

        my ($match_func) = eval $match_code;

        return grep { &$match_func() } (@names);
}

my (@results) = search ("the fried potato king");

[download]
This will return all records that match all terms. For a version that matches any, switch the '&&' in the join() to be '||' instead.

Essentially, this 'search' function generates a subroutine that tells grep() if the array entry matches or not. You can have a look at the value of $match_code to see what it is doing.

The \Q and \E are used to escape the metacharacters which would interfere with the // regexp. Saves you from having to tr/// them yourself.

In reply to Re: @arrys & Non exact searches. by tadman
in thread @arrys & Non exact searches. by akm2

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