52. In a computer system, an algorithm for solving the problem of identifying from a set of character strings a particular character string that most closely resembles an input character string, said algorithm comprising the steps of decomposing said original problem into smaller subproblems in which smaller subdirectories, consisting of characters from said original directory, are searched to identify character strings closely resembling character strings obtained by removing characters from said input character string, and selecting from any said identified character strings, said particular character string.
52. In a computer system, an algorithm for solving the problem of identifying from a set of character strings a particular character string that most closely resembles an input character string, said algorithm comprising the steps of decomposing said original problem into smaller subproblems in which smaller subdirectories, consisting of characters from said original directory, are searched to identify character strings closely resembling character strings obtained by removing characters from said input character string, and selecting from any said identified character strings, said particular character string. 54. The invention set forth in claim 52 wherein three classes of subproblems are defined based on the following possibilities, (a) that the first character of each input string is correct, (b) that the first character of each input string is an extraneous character which should be discarded, and (c) that each input string is missing a character that should be inserted before the first character of that input string.