-char *normalize7bit_mergekey(char *buf, int skiparticle);
-int extract_years(const char *buf, int *first, int *last);
+char *normalize7bit_mergekey(char *buf);
+char * normalize7bit_generic(char * str, const char * rm_chars);
+int extract7bit_dates(const char *buf, int *first, int *last, int longdate);