validate_var_name: Validate That a String Conforms to Naming Standards
In rettopnivek/camrprojects: Portable Functions for R Projects at CAM-MGH

validate_var_name

R Documentation

Validate That a String Conforms to Naming Standards

Description

Validate a string conforms to the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) R data-frame column naming standard. The CAM name standard is GGG.TTT.Optional.Var_name. This function maintains the ability to check if TTT conforms to the standard for R types or for REDCap field types and is vectorized over the input.

Usage

validate_var_name(str, type = "R")

Arguments

`str`	A string vector of names to validate.
`type`	A string of either "REDCap" or "R" to indicate how the type section of the name should be validated.

Details

The CAM Name Standard: GGG.TTT.Optional.Var_name.

GGG is the variable's group, which roughly corresponds to data of a similar nature or type. Examples include: IDS for identification variables, SBJ for subject demographic variables, SSS for important study details, INV for inventory measures, etc.
TTT is the variable's type, which corresponds to either a specific R type or a specific REDCap field type. Find permissible types below:
- Possible R Types:
  - INT: An integer value.
  - DBL: A double or non-integer numeric value.
  - CHR: A character string.
  - DAT: A date-time value. TODO: Decide on exact date-time object.
  - LGC: A boolean value.
- Possible REDCap Types:
  - DAT: Date-time fields.
  - INT: Integer fields.
  - DBL: Decimal/non-integer numeric fields.
  - CHR: All other text or notes box fields.
  - MCQ: Multiple choice drop-down lists and radio buttons.
  - CKB: Checkbox fields.
  - YNQ: Yes/No Questions.
  - FLE: Signature and file-upload fields.
  - VAS: Slider or visual analog scale (VAS) fields.
  - DSC: Descriptive text fields.
Optional: An optional, short, additional grouping identifier. This is most often indicated for inventories, to allow for additional grouping by the questionnaire/inventory itself. Multiple additional group identifier are allowed, so long as they maintain a period separator and contain only an alphanumeric sequence (i.e. no ⁠_⁠). Case should be sensible; this section should either be all caps (e.g. abbreviations) or only the first letter should be capitalized.
Var_name: A short, descriptive name for the field that would be appropriate for figure/table labeling. If the name consists of multiple words, the first word should be capitalized and subsequent words should be separated by ⁠_⁠ and appear in all lower-case. The one exception is if the entire word (e.g. an abbreviation) is capitalized.