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DecodeSoundexWord

Function DecodeSoundexWord( AValue : Word) : string

Example​

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: variant);
var
  Encoded: Word;
begin
  Encoded := SoundexWord('Robert');
  Value := DecodeSoundexWord(Encoded);
end;

Usage​

DecodeSoundexWord decodes a Word produced by SoundexWord into its four-character Soundex code.

Parameters

NameTypeDescription
AValueWordUnsigned 16-bit representation created by Velox SoundexWord.

Returns

The decoded four-component Soundex string for a valid matching encoding.

Behaviour

Values produced by SoundexWord are intended to round-trip to its normalised four-character Soundex code. Multiple source words can yield the same result; the code is suitable for candidate matching, not identity proof.

Errors

There is no dedicated invalid-encoding exception. Out-of-contract Word values can return meaningless characters rather than failing, so validate provenance at the data boundary.

Usage notes

Use the Word form only when a compact four-character Soundex key is required. Store or log the decoded string as well when operational diagnosis needs a human-readable value.

Additional Technical Info​

DecodeSoundexWord reconstructs the four-character Soundex code stored in the Word returned by SoundexWord. The result is a phonetic code, not the original word.

The example is source-reviewed and is not executed by the documentation workflow.

Implementation

Velox binds directly to System.StrUtils.DecodeSoundexWord. Current Delphi source recovers two trailing Soundex digits with base-7 remainder/division operations, recovers the preceding component in base 26, and maps the remaining quotient to the first letter from A.

Unlike the integer form, the Word representation carries no variable length and the decoder always constructs four components.

Edge cases and quirks

  • The function accepts every Word value and performs no validity check. Type range alone does not prove the value came from SoundexWord.
  • Arbitrary values can create a component outside the expected single Soundex digit or an initial character outside A through Z; string construction still proceeds.
  • The decoder cannot recover the source word, case or punctuation removed by Soundex processing.
  • The integer and Word encodings are different layouts. Do not decode a truncated or cast SoundexInt value with this function.
  • This representation is coupled to the Delphi RTL algorithm. Treat persisted values as versioned implementation data rather than a universal Soundex interchange format.

Side effects

None. Only a result string is allocated.

Performance and concurrency

The decoder performs a fixed number of arithmetic and string operations. It is constant-time and uses no shared mutable state.

Related entries

  • SoundexWord creates the matching encoded value.
  • DecodeSoundexInt handles the variable-length integer representation and has different edge cases.
  • SoundexInt creates that variable-length representation.

External references

Created 2026-07-15