String Matching Under a General Matching Relation

In standard string matching, each symbol matches only itself. In other string matching problems, e.g., the string matching with “don't-cares” problem, a symbol may match several symbols. In general, an arbitrary many-to-many matching relation might hold between symbols. We consider a general string matching problem in which such a matching relation is specified and those text positions are sought at which the pattern matches under this relation.