Segment text using fullstops

Question

Hi

I need to segment text using fullstops using PHP/Javascript.The problem is if I use "." to split text then abbreviations , date formatting (12.03.2010 ) or urls as well split-ed , which I need to prevent.There are many such possibilities , I might not be able to imagine. How to recognize that the "." is used as fullstop and nothing else ?

When I googled I found about SRX http://www.lisa.org/fileadmin/standards/srx20.html , is any opensource PHP project segment text using these rules ?

I can do with any Linux based command line utility as well unless it is not paid.

This issue deals with cases where segment is breaking with a dot (.) as it is considered as Fullstop.We need to distinguish between a dot(.) and a Fullstop

Cases where . are not fullstops :

1. http://www.yahoo.com'>it is a good link. i liked it

   - only one valid fullstop

2. This is a test case. Lets try it no valid fullstop

   http://www.yahoo.com'>Testing is done by amold12@…. - no valid fullstop

3. Mr. Abc is in town today - no valid fullstop

4. S. Khan had done it - no valid fullstop
5. The U.S. is emerging from a recession. - no valid fullstop

As for as code is concerned - I am using javascript text.split(".") method

Thanks

Answer 1

Human language is quirky. Whatever rules you come up with some corner case is likely to defeat you. How important is it that you are 100% accurate? Would missing the occasional full stop really matter? Or would being a tad too aggressive really matter. If your objective is (for example) to come up with some statistical anlysis of sentance length in published material, then I doubt that some over or under counting would be crucial.

My suggestion would be to look for patterns such as

full-stop space(s) Capital letter
full-stop quote
full-stop new line

Run that across your sample text and see what anomalies remain.

Your's sincerely, David J. N. Artus. (not a complete sentance yet because I didn't use a . in that way, and that previous . isn't one either. But that last . was.