Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.0 Reference

Approximate Index

Approximate indexes work with the English language only to provide efficient “sounds-like” searches. For example, the approximate index is useful for searching partial names or misspelled names. Directory Server uses a variation of the metaphone phonetic algorithm to perform searches on an approximate index. Because the algorithm is based loosely on syllables, it is not effective for attributes that contain numbers, such as telephone numbers.