Parse a StatCan PDF frequency data dictionary — parse_pdf_freq

Extracts variable names, variable labels, value labels and per-code frequencies from the data-dictionary appendix of a StatCan PUMF user guide (GSS cycles, SGVP, PALS, SFS). Each variable appears as a “Variable Name:/Position:” block followed by a frequency table whose rows are <code> <label> <FREQ> <WTD>.

Usage

parse_pdf_freq_codebook(eng_pdf, fra_pdf = NULL)

Arguments

eng_pdf: Path to the English user guide / codebook PDF.
fra_pdf: Optional path to the French counterpart.

Value

Named list with elements variables (plus block, position, length), codes, layout (always NULL), freqs (name/val/freq/block) and ranges (name/lo/hi/freq/block, for continuous variables), or NULL if no variable blocks were found.

Details

Unlike the other metadata parsers this one also returns the frequencies, which pumf_parse_metadata uses to validate the parse against the actual microdata before allowing any label to be repaired from it.

Every returned table carries a block id – the index of the guide block it came from. A guide covering several linked modules documents a shared key once per module, so name alone is not unique; the block id plus the position/length columns on variables are what .pumf_pdf_select_blocks uses to pick the block belonging to the module being parsed. Positions are used only for that disambiguation – layout always comes from the command file.