ParseFullNameToList ( FullName, TitleList, SuffixList )

Produces List from Full Name

Average rating: 4.0 (34 votes) Log in to vote

John Shanks - Show more from this author
Sunset Knoll Consulting
http://homepage.mac.com/sk_consulting/

Sample input:

ParseFullNameToList ("Dr. Evin Wilson III", TitleList, SuffixList)

Sample output:

Dr.
Evin

Wilson
III

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/* Returns a list (separated by RETURNs) of Title, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Suffix from the Full Name. The parameters are:

       FullName - Middle name can be left out, hyphenated names accepted
                         FullName may also given as LastName Suffix , (comma) Title FirstName MiddleName
       TitleList - List of words that can be titles (Mr., Mrs, Dr., Miss, etc.)
       SuffixList - List of words that can be suffixes ( Jr., Sr., II, III,  etc.)

       Empty values for title, middle name, or suffix produce a null value in the list. That is, First Name is always in position 2, Middle Name in position 3, etc. 

       If there is a title in FullName, the TitleList that includes that title must be provided. Similarly, if there is a suffix in the name, the SuffixList must be provided

       This function takes considerably from the GetFirstName, GetLastNameFunctions by David Baker
*/



Let ( [pComma = Position ( FullName ; "," ; 1 ; 1 ); lenFN = Length (FullName);
         FN = If (pComma > 0; 
                        Trim (Right ( FullName; lenFN - pComma ))  & " " & Left (FullName; pComma - 1 ); FullName );
         name= Substitute ( FN; "-" ; "00" ); // Needed because FM treats lots of characters as separators 
         fw= LeftWords ( name ; 1 );
         title = Case ( Position ( TitleList ; fw ; 1 ; 1 ) > 0; fw; "");
         ntitle = WordCount(title);
         start= Case( ntitle ≤ 0; 1; 2); // Skip title if necessary;
        
         nword= WordCount( name ); 
         rw= RightWords ( name ; 1 );
         suffix =  Case ( Position ( SuffixList ; rw ; 1 ; 1 ) > 0; rw; "");
         nsuffix = WordCount(suffix) ];

               title & "¶" & 
                Substitute( MiddleWords ( name ; start ; 1 ); "00"; "-") & "¶" & 
                Substitute (Case ( nword - ntitle - nsuffix > 2; MiddleWords ( name ; start + 1 ; 1 )); "00"; "-") & "¶" & 
                Substitute( Case( nsuffix > 0; MiddleWords ( name ; nword -1; 1 ); 
                                                  MiddleWords( name; nword; 1 ) ); "00"; "-") & "¶" & suffix
     )

This function accepts a person's full name, including title, first, middle and last names, and suffix and produces a list with:

Value 1 = title
Value 2 = first name
Value 3 = middle name
value 4 = last name
value 5 = suffix

Title, middle name and suffix are optional. If, for example, the middle name is not given, Value 3 will just be a RETURN character in the list (as seen in the example data case).

The TitleList is a list of words likely to be used as title (Mr., Miss, etc.) Similarly, the SuffixList is a list of likely suffixes (II, Jr, Sr, etc.)

The function now accepts a full name that has has last name first, followed by a comma, and then first name.
This function borrows heavily from the GetFirstName, GetLastName functions by Steve Bush

Comments

		Denise, Boston May 16, 2013
This works great. Thanks! How would I edit it to allow for hyphenated suffixes? I deal with medical suffixes such as PA-C (certified physician's assistant). Adding them to the suffix list doesn't do it. And how do I account for multiple suffixes such as "MD, MPH"? Or for that matter, multiple commas? The worst is multiple suffixes with multiple hyphens!

		Eric, SJSU Oct 31, 2014
This seems to work well for my data except for the situation where there is only a first name, it comes up with that one name for both the first and last name. I made a quick tweak to look at the number of words and if there is only one to assume it is the first name.

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

ParseFullNameToList ( FullName, TitleList, SuffixList )

Comments

Support this website.

Support this website.