IBM NameWorks combines the individual IBM InfoSphere Global
Name Recognition components into a single, unified, easy-to-use application
programming interface (API), and also extends this functionality to
Java applications and as a web service.
IBM NameWorks comprises two, distinct API classes:
- Analytics class
- Includes the functions that are necessary for evaluating a single
name, including name parsing, culture classification, genderization,
categorization, variant generation and country of association information.
You can use these linguistic processes individually or together. For
example, the analyze() method performs all linguistic
operations and produces a single, combined result that contains all
analysis information for a name.
- Scoring class
- Includes the functions that are necessary to compare two names
or to search for a name in one or more data lists, along with ancillary
tasks such as date comparison and name categorization that might be
used to refine search results. Preparation for searching (parsing
and culture classification) can be performed separately or included
in a search operation.
You can access IBM NameWorks in three ways, either through the
C++ functions, Java functions or through web services.
The C++ and Java interfaces can be used directly on any of the supported
platforms and the web service interface can be used either locally
or remotely in SOA environments. Any programming environment that
can utilize Web services can take advantage of the name analysis and
comparison tools provided by IBM NameWorks. Similarly, the Java interface
can be used to build custom SOA applications.