find_equivalent_codes: Find equivalent sets of codes in a Klass classification

In klassR: Classifications for Statistics Norway

Find equivalent sets of codes in a Klass classification

Description

Find which codes should be combined to reconstruct older or newer codes across multiple dates. Creates groups dynamically to fit the provided date range, with flexible labelling functionality.

Usage

find_equivalent_codes(
  classification,
  dates,
  labels = TRUE,
  graph = klass_graph(classification),
  date_format = "%Y"
)

find_equivalents(
  classification,
  dates,
  labels = TRUE,
  graph = klass_graph(classification),
  date_format = "%Y"
)

Arguments

classification	The Klass classification to be used
dates	The dates that equivalent sets of codes should be found for.
labels	TRUE, FALSE or a named list of functions. This parameter controls whether or not to add group labels to groups of equivalent sets. If TRUE, labels are constructed using the codes valid at the latest provided date, and comma separated like in the example below. By default, labels will be placed in a column named label. "1508 Ålesund, 1580 Haram" If FALSE, no labels will be applied. This parameter also accepts a named list of labelling functions. The resulting dataset will contain a label column for each of the supplied functions. The names of the label columns are specified using the names of the list of functions. The functions provided in this parameter can accept any of the following parameters: date, code, name, validFrom and validTo, representing the corresponding values of each code in a group. The functions must also provide a ... parameter, unless using all of the above. The functions can expect that the input variables have the same length of 1 or longer. The functions should return a character vector of length one or the same length as the input variables. The following list, when supplied to this parameter, creates two label columns: one containing the codes and names (label1), and another with only the codes label2. In this example, label1 creates the same labels as the default labelling used when labels == TRUE. list( label1 = function(code, name, date, ...) { label_codes <- date == max(date) paste(code[label_codes], name[label_codes], collapse = ", ") }, label2 = function(code, date, ...) { label_codes <- date == max(date) paste(code[label_codes], collapse = ", ") } )
graph	Optional. Generating the graph using klass_graph manually beforehand and providing it in this parameter can save time if running find_equivalent_codes multiple times in sequence.
date_format	Optional. Passed directly to format, this is used to specify the output format for the date column. The default keeps just the year ("YYYY"). To get the full date in "YYYY-MM-DD" format, use "%Y-%m-%d". See strptime for complete functionality.

Details

This function provides a solution to the problem of split or combined codes in Klass classifications. When using update_klass to ask "what is this code in this version of the classification in this other version of the classification?", the answer is sometimes that the code has been split into two or more codes (or combined from two or more codes, if trying to back-date a code), and therefore that the code cannot be updated.

The solution provided by find_equivalent_codes is answering the question: "in these versions of the classification, which codes were equivalent to this code in this other version of the classification?".

Consider the following example of two codes combining into one. Here, "a" and "b" are valid at t1, and are combined into "c" at t2.

t1      t2
a ---|
b ---+-> c

update_klass would inform us that "a" can be updated to "c" at t2, unless we specified combine = FALSE, in which case the result would be NA. find_equivalent_codes() would inform us that the equivalent of the codes "a" and "b" in t1 at t2 is "c".

We can also consider a code splitting into two. In this example, "a" is valid at t1, and splits into "b" and "c" at t2.

t1     t2
a
|-----> b
|-----> c

update_klass is unable to provide an updated code due to the split, and would return NA. find_equivalent_codes would inform us that the equivalent codes of "a" at t1 is "b" and "c" at t2.

find_equivalent_codes can handle more than two dates. In the following example, "a" splits into "b" and "c" at t2, and "b" and "c" combine into "d" at t3. find_equivalent_codes can inform us that "a" is equivalent to "b" and "c" at t2, and "d" at t3.

t1     t2     t3
a
|-----> b |
|-----> c +-> d

find_equivalent_codes will only search in the time range we specify. As a consequence, generating sets of equivalent codes over longer time spans will generally create larger sets than using shorter time spans.

To illustrate this behavior, we can add a new code "e" to the previous example, and have "d" and "e" combine into "f" at t4.

t1     t2     t3     t4
a
|-----> b |
|-----> c |-> d |
e---------------+--> f

Finding the equivalents of "a" in t1 at t2 and t3 returns the same sets as before:

• t1: "a"

• t2: "b" and "c"

• t3: "d"

However, if we also wanted to know the equivalent set for t4, the result would be:

• t1: "a" and "e"

• t2: "b", "c" and "e"

• t3: "d" and "e"

• t4: "f"

find_equivalents is a legacy alias for find_equivalent_codes.

Value

A data.frame with columns:

• date containing the input dates

• code containing the set of equivalent codes in each date

• name containing the names of each code

• validFrom and validTo values for each code returned

• By default, labels, giving a unique group label for each group of equivalent sets.

klassR documentation built on Aug. 21, 2026, 5:15 p.m.