Update:Author names ignore periods when checking for existing authors #993

server/utils/parsers/parseNameString.js

@@ -91,4 +91,13 @@ module.exports.parse = (nameString) => {
     nameLF: lastFirst, // String of comma separated last, first
     names: namesArray // Array of first last
   }
+}
+
+module.exports.checkNamesAreEqual = (name1, name2) => {
+  if (!name1 || !name2) return false
+
+  // e.g. John H. Smith will be equal to John H Smith
+  name1 = String(name1).toLowerCase().trim().replace(/\./g, '')
+  name2 = String(name2).toLowerCase().trim().replace(/\./g, '')
+  return name1 === name2
 }