detect_header: Detect the header row of a raw, unparsed table

In rolescry: Name-Blind Variable-Role Detection by Data Signature

Detect the header row of a raw, unparsed table

Description

Given a raw table read with no header (every cell character), scores each of the first rows with a 7-signal weighted heuristic (alphabetic ratio, non-numeric ratio, uniqueness, normalized Shannon entropy, median string length, alpha-vs-next-row transition, fill completeness) and returns the most header-like row plus repaired, unique column names. Empty cells are upward-filled (merged-cell repair) and any still-empty name becomes col_<j>. Base + stats only; no file-format dependencies.

Usage

detect_header(raw, verbose = FALSE)

Arguments

raw	A data.frame or matrix of the raw sheet, read with header = FALSE so the header row appears as data.
verbose	Logical; emit the chosen row via message() if TRUE.

Value

A list with header_row (integer), score (numeric), names (repaired character vector, length == ncol(raw)), and all_scores.

See Also

read_data()

Examples

raw <- data.frame(
  V1 = c("age", "34", "51"),
  V2 = c("sex", "M", "F"),
  V3 = c("score", "8.1", "7.4"),
  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
)
detect_header(raw)$names

rolescry documentation built on Oct. 21, 2026, 5:14 p.m.