def closest_match(match, specs, depth=0):
    """
    Recursively iterates over type, group, label and overlay key,
    finding the closest matching spec.
    """
    new_specs = []
    match_lengths = []
    for i, spec in specs:
        if spec[0] == match[0]:
            new_specs.append((i, spec[1:]))
        else:
            if all(isinstance(s[0], basestring) for s in [spec, match]):
                match_length = max(i for i in range(len(match[0]))
                                   if match[0].startswith(spec[0][:i]))
            elif is_number(match[0]) and is_number(spec[0]):
                match_length = -abs(match[0]-spec[0])
            else:
                match_length = 0
            match_lengths.append((i, match_length, spec[0]))

    if len(new_specs) == 1:
        return new_specs[0][0]
    elif new_specs:
        depth = depth+1
        return closest_match(match[1:], new_specs, depth)
    else:
        if depth == 0 or not match_lengths:
            return None
        else:
            return sorted(match_lengths, key=lambda x: -x[1])[0][0]
Recursively iterates over type, group, label and overlay key,
    finding the closest matching spec.