age2int {HMDHFDplus}

age2int() convert the Age column from standard HMD or HFD tables to integer

Description

Long the bane of many an HMD/HFD user is that the age column must be read into R as a factor or character vector, yet we'd like to use it as integer or numeric. This function strips symbols that are used to indicate the open age groups ("12-","55+","110+"), and coerces to integer format. This function is called by HFDparse() and HMDparse(), and so forth.

Usage

age2int(Age)

Arguments

Age

a vector of the Age column from and HMD or HFD data object that has been read directly into R. This may be a factor or character vector.

Details

This function is written for the sake of various parse functions.

Value

the same age vector as a clean integer.

Note

original function submitted by Josh Goldstein, modified by Tim Riffe.

Examples

AgeTest <- c("12-","13","14","55+")
(AgeNew  <- age2int(AgeTest))
AgeNew + .5 # sort of mid-interval

# also handles abrdiged ages properly:
AgeAbridged <- c("0","1-4","5-9","10-14")
age2int(AgeAbridged)