R/create_init_csv.r

In undidR: Difference-in-Differences with Unpoolable Data

#' Creates the `init.csv`
#'
#' The `create_init_csv()` function generates a CSV file with information
#' on each silo's start times, end times, and treatment times.
#' If parameters are left empty, generates a blank CSV with only the headers.
#'
#' @details Ensure dates are entered consistently in the same date format.
#' Call [undid_date_formats()] to view valid date formats. Control silos
#' should be marked as `"control"` in the `treatment_times` vector. If
#' `covariates` is `FALSE`, no covariate column will be included in the CSV.
#'
#' @param silo_names A character vector of silo names.
#' @param start_times A character vector of start times.
#' @param end_times A character vector of end times.
#' @param treatment_times A character vector of treatment times.
#' @param covariates A character vector of covariates, or, `FALSE` (default).
#' @param filename A character filename for the created initializing CSV file.
#'  Defaults to `"init.csv"`.
#' @param filepath Filepath to save the CSV file. Defaults to `tempdir()`.
#'
#' @returns A data frame containing the contents written to the CSV file.
#'  The CSV file is saved in the specified directory (or in a temporary
#'  directory by default) with the default filename `init.csv`.
#'
#' @examples
#' create_init_csv(
#'   silo_names = c("73", "46", "54", "23", "86", "32",
#'                  "71", "58", "64", "59", "85", "57"),
#'   start_times = "1989",
#'   end_times = "2000",
#'   treatment_times = c(rep("control", 6),
#'                       "1991", "1993", "1996", "1997", "1997", "1998"),
#'   covariates = c("asian", "black", "male")
#' )
#' unlink(file.path(tempdir(), "init.csv"))
#' @export
create_init_csv <- function(silo_names = character(), start_times = character(),
                            end_times = character(),
                            treatment_times = character(),
                            covariates = character(), filename = "init.csv",
                            filepath = tempdir()) {

  # Run filepath and filename checks
  filepath <- .filename_filepath_check(filename, filepath)

  # Return character() for covariates if covariates is null,
  # FALSE, or whitespace
  covariates <- .init_covariates_check(covariates)

  # Check if each argument is of type 'character'
  args <- list(silo_names = silo_names, start_times = start_times,
               end_times = end_times, treatment_times = treatment_times,
               covariates = covariates)
  for (arg_name in names(args)) {
    if (!is.character(args[[arg_name]])) {
      stop(paste(sQuote(arg_name), "must be of type character."))
    }
  }

  # Remove whitespace typos from start_times, end_times, and treatment_times
  start_times <- gsub("\\s+", "", start_times)
  end_times <- gsub("\\s+", "", end_times)
  treatment_times <- gsub("\\s+", "", treatment_times)

  # If only a single value is entered for start or end times, adjust to vector
  if (length(start_times) == 1) {
    start_times <- rep(start_times, length(silo_names))
  }
  if (length(end_times) == 1) {
    end_times <- rep(end_times, length(silo_names))
  }

  # First ensure that silo_names and treatment times have the same length
  vector_lengths <- vapply(list(silo_names, start_times, end_times,
                                treatment_times), length, integer(1))
  if (length(unique(vector_lengths)) != 1) {
    stop("`silo_names` and `treatment_times` must both have
     the same length, and `start_times` and `end_times` must either have
     a length of 1 or the same length as `silo_names` and `treatment_times`.")
  }

  # Parse covariates
  if (length(covariates) > 0) {
    covariates_combined <- paste(covariates, collapse = ";")
    covariates_repeated <- rep(covariates_combined, length(silo_names))
  } else {
    covariates_repeated <- NULL
  }

  # Create init dataframe
  if (!is.null(covariates_repeated)) {
    init <- data.frame(silo_name = silo_names, start_time = start_times,
                       end_time = end_times, treatment_time = treatment_times,
                       covariates = covariates_repeated)
  } else {
    init <- data.frame(silo_name = silo_names, start_time = start_times,
                       end_time = end_times, treatment_time = treatment_times)
  }

  # Force control entries to lowercase
  if (nrow(init) > 0) {
    init$treatment_time <- tolower(init$treatment_time)
  }

  # Run init logic checks
  .init_checks(init)

  full_path <- file.path(filepath, filename)
  # Save as csv, print filepath, return dataframe
  write.csv(init, full_path, row.names = FALSE, quote = FALSE,
            fileEncoding = "UTF-8")
  message(filename, " saved to: ", full_path)
  return(init)
}