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Parse Dates in a Data Frame

Source: R/autoparse_dates.R
autoparse_dates.Rd

This function parses date columns in a data frame using various date formats. It standardizes the output to a specified format and provides verbose feedback on parsing results.

Usage

autoparse_dates(
  data,
  date_cols,
  output_format = "%Y-%m-%d",
  additional_format = NULL,
  verbose = TRUE
)

Arguments

data

A data frame containing columns with date values to parse.

date_cols

A character vector specifying the names of columns with date values.

output_format

A character string specifying the desired output format for the parsed dates. Default is "%Y-%m-%d".

additional_format

A character string specifying any additional formats that are not included in the default formats (see available_date_formats). Default is NULL.

verbose

Logical. If TRUE, prints messages about parsing success or failure for each column. Default is TRUE.

Value

Returns the original data frame with the specified date columns parsed and formatted.

Details

This function supports a wide range of date formats, including:

  • Basic formats: "dmY", "mdY", "Ymd", "Ydm", "dmy", "mdy", "ymd", "ydm"

  • Formats with time: "dmY HMS", "mdY HMS", "Ymd HMS", "Ydm HMS", "dmy HMS", "mdy HMS", "ymd HMS", "ydm HMS"

  • Additional formats: "Y-m-d", "Y-m-d H:M:S", "Y-m-d H:M", "d-m-Y H:M:S", "d.m.Y H:M:S", "d.m.Y H:M", "d-m-Y H:M", "d.m.Y"

  • ISO 8601 format: e.g., "2021-03-20T00:01:00.513+01:00"

Examples

# Define a sample data frame
df <- data.frame(
  `dmY` = c("03-10-2023", "11-09-2022", "25-12-2021", "15-08-2020"),
  `mdY` = c("10-03-2023", "09-11-2022", "12-25-2021", "08-15-2020"),
  `Ymd` = c("2023-10-03", "2022-09-11", "2021-12-25", "2020-08-15"),
  `Ydm` = c("2023-03-10", "2022-11-09", "2021-25-12", "2020-15-08"),
  `dmy` = c("03-10-23", "11-09-22", "25-12-21", "15-08-20"),
  `mdy` = c("10-03-23", "09-11-22", "12-25-21", "08-15-20"),
  `ymd` = c("23-10-03", "22-09-11", "21-12-25", "20-08-15"),
  `ydm` = c("23-03-10", "22-11-09", "21-25-12", "20-15-08"),
  `dmY_HMS` = c(
    "03-10-2023 14:30:00", "11-09-2022 05:45:12",
    "25-12-2021 23:59:59", "15-08-2020 00:00:00"
  ),
  `mdY_HMS` = c(
    "10-03-2023 14:30:00", "09-11-2022 05:45:12",
    "12-25-2021 23:59:59", "08-15-2020 00:00:00"
  ),
  `Ymd_HMS` = c(
    "2023-10-03 14:30:00", "2022-09-11 05:45:12",
    "2021-12-25 23:59:59", "2020-08-15 00:00:00"
  ),
  `Ydm_HMS` = c(
    "2023-03-10 14:30:00", "2022-11-09 05:45:12",
    "2021-25-12 23:59:59", "2020-15-08 00:00:00"
  ),
  `dmy_HMS` = c(
    "03-10-23 14:30:00", "11-09-22 05:45:12",
    "25-12-21 23:59:59", "15-08-20 00:00:00"
  ),
  `mdy_HMS` = c(
    "10-03-23 14:30:00", "09-11-22 05:45:12",
    "12-25-21 23:59:59", "08-15-20 00:00:00"
  ),
  `ymd_HMS` = c(
    "23-10-03 14:30:00", "22-09-11 05:45:12",
    "21-12-25 23:59:59", "20-08-15 00:00:00"
  ),
  `ydm_HMS` = c(
    "23-03-10 14:30:00", "22-11-09 05:45:12",
    "21-25-12 23:59:59", "20-15-08 00:00:00"
  ),
  `Y-m-d` = c("2023-10-03", "2022-09-11", "2021-12-25", "2020-08-15"),
  `Y-m-d_HMS` = c(
    "2023-10-03 14:30:00", "2022-09-11 05:45:12",
    "2021-12-25 23:59:59", "2020-08-15 00:00:00"
  ),
  `Y-m-d_HM` = c(
    "2023-10-03 14:30", "2022-09-11 05:45",
    "2021-12-25 23:59", "2020-08-15 00:00"
  ),
  `d-m-Y_HMS` = c(
    "03-10-2023 14:30:00", "11-09-2022 05:45:12",
    "25-12-2021 23:59:59", "15-08-2020 00:00:00"
  ),
  `d.m.Y_HMS` = c(
    "03.10.2023 14:30:00", "11.09.2022 05:45:12",
    "25.12.2021 23:59:59", "15.08.2020 00:00:00"
  ),
  `d.m.Y_HM` = c(
    "03.10.2023 14:30", "11.09.2022 05:45",
    "25.12.2021 23:59", "15.08.2020 00:00"
  ),
  `d-m-Y_HM` = c(
    "03-10-2023 14:30", "11-09-2022 05:45",
    "25-12-2021 23:59", "15-08-2020 00:00"
  ),
  `d.m.Y` = c("03.10.2023", "11.09.2022", "25.12.2021", "15.08.2020"),
  `iso8601` = c(
    "2021-03-20T00:01:00.513+01:00",
    "2022-11-05T23:15:59.123+01:00",
    "2023-06-15T12:30:45.789Z",
    "2020-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00"
  ),
  `mixed_formats` = c(
    "2023-10-03", "11.09.2022",
    "25-12-21 23:59", "2020-08-15T00:00:00Z"
  ),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)

# Parse the date columns
parsed_df <- autoparse_dates(df,
  date_cols = colnames(df),
  output_format = "%Y-%m-%d"
)
#> ✔ All columns have been successfully parsed to the given format