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Internationalization with datefixR

Source: vignettes/internationalization.Rmd
internationalization.Rmd

Introduction

One of the most powerful features of datefixR is its comprehensive internationalization support. The package can automatically recognize and parse dates in multiple languages without requiring users to specify the language beforehand. This makes it particularly valuable for processing datasets collected across different countries or containing mixed-language date entries.

This vignette provides detailed examples and best practices for working with international date formats in datefixR.

Supported Languages and Formats

datefixR currently supports date parsing in 7 languages, with both abbreviated and full month names:

Fully Supported Languages

  • English: Default language, supports both US (MDY) and international (DMY) formats
  • French (Français): Comprehensive support including cultural formatting patterns
  • German (Deutsch): Full month names and common German date conventions
  • Spanish (Español): Including regional variations and prepositions
  • Portuguese: Brazilian and European Portuguese month names
  • Russian (Русский): Cyrillic month names and formatting
  • Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia): Indonesian month names

Language Detection Features

  • Automatic Recognition: No need to specify language in advance
  • Mixed Language Support: Process datasets with multiple languages simultaneously
  • Cultural Awareness: Recognizes language-specific formatting conventions
  • Flexible Parsing: Handles variations in capitalization and spacing
  • User messages: User-facing messages have been translated for the above languages in addition to Czech and Slovak.

Language-Specific Examples

English

English dates support various formats including ordinal numbers and different separator styles:

# Standard formats
fix_date_char("15 January 2020")
#> [1] "2020-01-15"
fix_date_char("July 4th, 1776")
#> [1] "1776-07-04"
fix_date_char("December 25th, 2023")
#> [1] "2023-12-25"

# Different separators
english_dates <- c( # US format with slashes
  "15-Jan-2020", # Day-month-year with hyphens
  "2020.01.15", # Year-first with dots
  "15th January 2020" # Full format with ordinal
)
fix_date_char(english_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15"

French (Français)

French dates often include cultural elements like articles (“le”, “du”) and prepositions (“de”):

# Various French formats
french_dates <- c(
  "15 janvier 2020", # Standard format
  "le 3 mars 2013", # With article
  "1er avril 2022", # First of the month
  "25 déc. 2023", # Abbreviated December
  "3 mai 1968" # Historical date
)
fix_date_char(french_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2013-03-03" "2022-04-01" "2023-12-25" "1968-05-03"

# Mixed separators in French
french_mixed <- c(
  "15-janvier-2020",
  "03/mars/2013",
  "2020.05.15"
)
fix_date_char(french_mixed)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2013-03-03" "2020-05-15"

German (Deutsch)

German dates commonly use dots as separators and may include ordinal indicators:

# German date formats
german_dates <- c(
  "15. Januar 2020", # With ordinal dot
  "3. Dezember 1999", # December
  "1. Mai 2023", # May Day
  "24. Dez 2023", # Abbreviated December
  "15 Jan 2020" # Without ordinal
)
fix_date_char(german_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "1999-12-03" "2023-05-01" "2023-12-24" "2020-01-15"

# German with different separators
german_separators <- c(
  "15.01.2020",
  "15-Januar-2020",
  "15/01/20"
)
fix_date_char(german_separators)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15"

Spanish (Español)

Spanish dates frequently include prepositions like “de” and “del”:

# Spanish date variations
spanish_dates <- c(
  "15 de enero de 2020", # Full format with prepositions
  "7 de septiembre del 2014", # With "del" contraction
  "1 ene 2023", # Abbreviated January
  "25 dic 2023", # Abbreviated December
  "15 enero 2020" # Without prepositions
)
fix_date_char(spanish_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2014-09-07" "2023-01-01" "2023-12-25" "2020-01-15"

# Regional variations
spanish_regional <- c(
  "15-ene-2020",
  "15/enero/2020",
  "2020-01-15"
)
fix_date_char(spanish_regional)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15"

Portuguese

Portuguese dates, like Spanish, use prepositions and have both Brazilian and European variations:

# Portuguese date formats
portuguese_dates <- c(
  "15 de janeiro de 2020", # Full format
  "3 de dezembro de 1999", # December
  "1º jan 2023", # First with ordinal
  "25 dez 2023", # Abbreviated
  "15 janeiro 2020" # Without prepositions
)
fix_date_char(portuguese_dates)
#> Warning in .checkoutput(day, month, year): NAs introduced by coercion
#> Warning: NA imputed (date: 1º 01 2023)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "1999-12-03" NA           "2023-12-25" "2020-01-15"

Russian (Русский)

Russian uses Cyrillic script for month names:

# Russian date examples
russian_dates <- c(
  "15 января 2020", # January
  "3 декабря 1999", # December
  "1 мая 2023", # May
  "25 дек 2023" # Abbreviated December
)
fix_date_char(russian_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "1999-12-03" "2023-05-01" "2023-12-25"

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) 

# Indonesian date examples
indonesian_dates <- c(
  "15 Januari 2020", # January
  "3 Desember 1999", # December
  "1 Mei 2023" # May
)
fix_date_char(indonesian_dates)
#> Warning in .checkoutput(day, month, year): NAs introduced by coercion
#> Warning: NA imputed (date: 15 01i 2020)
#> [1] NA           "1999-12-03" "2023-05-01"

Handling Mixed Languages

The package automatically detects the language of month names without requiring explicit specification:

mixed_dates <- c(
  "15 January 2020", # English
  "15 janvier 2020", # French
  "15 Januar 2020", # German
  "15 enero 2020", # Spanish
  "15 de janeiro de 2020" # Portuguese
)
fix_date_char(mixed_dates)
#> [1] "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15" "2020-01-15"

Format Detection

datefixR intelligently handles different date formats and separators across languages:

international_formats <- c(
  "02/05/92", # US/UK ambiguous
  "2020-mai-01", # French with hyphen
  "1996.05.01", # German with dots
  "02 04 96" # Space separator
)
fix_date_char(international_formats)
#> [1] "1992-05-02" "2020-05-01" "1996-05-01" "1996-04-02"

Roman Numeral Support (Experimental)

The package includes experimental support for Roman numeral months:

roman_dates <- c("15.VII.2023", "3.XII.1999", "1.I.2000")
fix_date_char(roman_dates, roman.numeral = TRUE)
#> [1] "2023-07-15" "1999-12-03" "2000-01-01"

Best Practices

  1. No Language Specification Required: The package automatically detects the language
  2. Mixed Language Support: You can process datasets with multiple languages
  3. Format Flexibility: Various separators and formats are supported
  4. Consistent Output: All dates are converted to standardized R Date class

Adding New Languages

Translations of months can be updated via the R/months.R file. However, changes to the logic to cover new formats may require more extensive modifications to the source code.

If you need support for additional languages, please consider contributing to the package or filing an issue on GitHub.