Step 02 - Remove dates

Filers often add the dates a person held a position to the title. remove_dates() detects them, sets a DATE.X flag, and strips the date. The words left behind (THRU, UNTIL, SINCE) are read as status qualifiers in step 06.

Before and after

before (step 01)	after (TitleTxt2)	DATE.X
BOARD MEMBER (THRU 6/2023)	BOARD MEMBER THRU	1
TREASURER UNTIL JAN 2023	TREASURER UNTIL	1
TRUSTEE (THROUGH 12/2022)	TRUSTEE THROUGH	1
DIRECTOR TO 5/22	DIRECTOR TO	1
PRESIDENT 2021-2023	PRESIDENT	1
SECRETARY (RESIGNED 3/16/23)	SECRETARY RESIGNED	1
1ST VICE PRESIDENT	FIRST VICE PRESIDENT	0
2ND VICE CHAIR	SECOND VICE CHAIR	0
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR	0

What it does

remove_dates()
|
+- convert_ordinal()  1ST/2ND/3RD -> FIRST/SECOND/THIRD
+- has_date()         does the string contain a date?        -> DATE.X
+- remove_date()      strip 'YY, YY-YY, mm/dd/yyyy, month names, trailing numbers

Ordinals are spelled out first, so “1ST VICE PRESIDENT” is not read as a date. The ordinal itself (FIRST, SECOND) is removed later, in step 06.

Assets

Asset	Type	Used for	Load it with
date.words	word list (package data)	month names and abbreviations that mark a date	data(date.words)

data(date.words)
head(date.words, 15)
#>  [1] "JANUARY"  "JAN"      "FEBRUARY" "FEB"      "MARCH"    "MAR"     
#>  [7] "APRIL"    "APR"      "MAY"      "JUNE"     "JUN"      "JULY"    
#> [13] "JUL"      "AUGUST"   "AUG"

Try it

x <- c("TREASURER (ENDED 3/16/23)", "DIRECTOR THRU 12/23",
       "SECRETARY UNTIL JAN 2023", "PRESIDENT")
data.frame(title = x, has_date = has_date(x), cleaned = remove_date(x))
#>                       title has_date         cleaned
#> 1 TREASURER (ENDED 3/16/23)     TRUE TREASURER ENDED
#> 2       DIRECTOR THRU 12/23     TRUE   DIRECTOR THRU
#> 3  SECRETARY UNTIL JAN 2023     TRUE SECRETARY UNTIL
#> 4                 PRESIDENT    FALSE       PRESIDENT

convert_ordinal(c("1ST VICE PRESIDENT", "2ND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR"))
#> [1] "FIRST VICE PRESIDENT"       "SECOND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR"

Input: the cleaned title from step 01. Output: TitleTxt2, the title without dates, and the DATE.X flag. Continue with step 03.