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Horspool Algorithm
Source : Practical fast searching in strings
R. NIGEL HORSPOOL
Advisor: Prof. R. C. T. Lee
Speaker: H. M. Chen

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Definition of String Matching Problem
Given a pattern string P of length m and a text string T
of length n, we would like to know whether there
exists an occurrence of P in T.

Pattern
Text
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Rule 2: Character Matching Rule
For any character X in T, find the nearest X in P which is to
the left of X in T.

T
P
x
x
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For each position of the window, we compare its last
character() with the last character of the pattern.

If they match, we scan the window backwardly against the
pattern until we either find the pattern or fail on a text
character.

Text
Pattern


Suffix search
match
5
Text
Safe shift

no in this part
Then, no matter whether there is a match or not, we shift the
window so that the pattern matches . Note that is the last
character of the previous window.
Text
Pattern


Suffix search
match
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Preprocessing phase
HpBc table
The value bmBc for a particular alphabet is defined as the
rightmost position of that character in the pattern 1.
a A C G *
HpBc[a] 1 6 2 8
Example :
T : GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
P : GCAGAGAG
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
7
Horspool (P = p
1
p
2
p
m
,T = t
1
t
2
t
n
)
Preprocessing
For c Do d[c] m
For j 1m-1 Do d[p
j
] m - j
Searching
pos0
While pos n-m Do
j m
While j > 0 And t
pos+j
= p
j
Do j j-1
If j = 0 Then report an occurrence at pos+1
pos pos +d[t
pos+m
]
End of while


Pseudo code
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Step1:
For c Do d[c] m

c {A C G T}
d[A]=8 , d[C]=8
d[G]=8 , d[T]=8

Preprocessing phase
for example :
T : GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
P : GCAGAGAG
Step2:
For j 1m-1
Do d[p
j
] m j

d[A]=1 , d[C]=6
d[G]=2 , d[T]=8

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 0 + d[t
0+7
] , pos 0 + d[A], pos 1

GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 1 + d[t
1+7
] , pos 1 + d[G], pos 3

GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 3 + d[t
3+7
] , pos 3 + d[G], pos 5


A C G *
1 6 2 8
pos pos +d[t
pos
+
m
]
Example(1/3)
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
While j > 0 And t
pos+j
= p
j
Do j j-1
If j = 0 Then report an occurrence at pos+1
pos 5 + d[t
5+7
] , pos 5 + d[G], pos 7

GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 7 + d[t
7+7
] , pos 7 + d[A], pos 8

GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 8 + d[t
8+7
] , pos 8 + d[T], pos 16
A C G *
1 6 2 8
Example(2/3)
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Example(3/3)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
GCATCGCAGAGAGTATACAGTACG
GCAGAGAG
pos 16 + d[t
16+7
] , pos 16 + d[G], pos 18
pos > n-m // pos >23-7
jump out of while loop

A C G *
1 6 2 8
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Example(1/2)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
AGATACGATATATAC
ATATA
d[A] = 2

AGATACGATATATAC
ATATA
G A, d[G] = 5

for example :
T : AGATACGATATATAC
P : ATATA
a A T *
HoBc[a] 2 1 5
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
AGATACGATATATAC
ATATA
We verify backward the window and find the occurrence. We
then shift by re-using the last character of the window, d[A] = 2

AGATACGATATATAC
ATATA
We find the pattern. We shift by the last character of then
window, d[A] = 2. Then, pos > n-m and the search stops.


A T *
2 1 5
Example(2/2)
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Time complexity
preprocessing phase in O(m+ ) time and O() space
complexity.
searching phase in O(mn) time complexity.
the average number of comparisons for one text character is
between 1/ and 2/(+1).
( is the number of storing characters)
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References
AHO, A.V., 1990, Algorithms for finding patterns in strings. in Handbook of
Theoretical Computer Science, Volume A, Algorithms and complexity, J. van
Leeuwen ed., Chapter 5, pp 255-300, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
BAEZA-YATES, R.A., RGNIER, M., 1992, Average running time of the Boyer-
Moore-Horspool algorithm, Theoretical Computer Science 92(1):19-31.
BEAUQUIER, D., BERSTEL, J., CHRTIENNE, P., 1992, lments
d'algorithmique, Chapter 10, pp 337-377, Masson, Paris.
CROCHEMORE, M., HANCART, C., 1999, Pattern Matching in Strings, in
Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook, M.J. Atallah ed., Chapter 11, pp
11-1--11-28, CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
HANCART, C., 1993. Analyse exacte et en moyenne d'algorithmes de recherche
d'un motif dans un texte, Ph. D. Thesis, University Paris 7, France.
HORSPOOL R.N., 1980, Practical fast searching in strings, Software - Practice &
Experience, 10(6):501-506.
LECROQ, T., 1995, Experimental results on string matching algorithms, Software -
Practice & Experience 25(7):727-765.
STEPHEN, G.A., 1994, String Searching Algorithms, World Scientific.
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