🔍 Code Extractor

Retrieves a department code by looking up a department's full name in a DEPARTMENTS dictionary, returning the original name if not found.

Purpose

This function serves as a lookup utility to convert department full names into their corresponding codes. It provides a safe fallback mechanism by returning the input name if no matching code exists in the DEPARTMENTS dictionary. This is useful for standardizing department identifiers across a system or for display purposes where codes are preferred over full names.

Source Code

def get_department_code(name):
    """Get department code from full name."""
    return DEPARTMENTS.get(name, name)

Parameters

Parameter Details

name: The full name of the department to look up. Expected to be a string that matches a key in the DEPARTMENTS dictionary. If the name doesn't exist in the dictionary, this value will be returned unchanged.

Return Value

Returns a string representing the department code if the name exists in the DEPARTMENTS dictionary, otherwise returns the original input name unchanged. The return type is implicitly a string, matching the type of values stored in DEPARTMENTS or the input parameter.

Usage Example

# First, define the DEPARTMENTS dictionary in your module
DEPARTMENTS = {
    'Human Resources': 'HR',
    'Information Technology': 'IT',
    'Sales': 'SALES'
}

# Then use the function
code = get_department_code('Human Resources')
print(code)  # Output: 'HR'

# If department not found, returns the input
code = get_department_code('Unknown Department')
print(code)  # Output: 'Unknown Department'

Best Practices

• Ensure the DEPARTMENTS dictionary is properly initialized before calling this function
• Consider validating that the input name is a string to avoid unexpected behavior
• The function returns the original name as a fallback, so check if the return value equals the input to detect missing mappings
• For case-insensitive lookups, consider normalizing the input name (e.g., using .lower() or .upper()) before lookup
• Document the expected structure and contents of the DEPARTMENTS dictionary for maintainability

Tags

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