uniquely MATLAB

Contents

Which Index to Return

If you look at the help for unique

helptext = help('unique');
helptext = helptext(1:650)

helptext =
 UNIQUE Set unique.
    B = UNIQUE(A) for the array A returns the same values as in A but
    with no repetitions. B will also be sorted. A can be a cell array of 
    strings.
 
    UNIQUE(A,'rows') for the matrix A returns the unique rows of A.
 
    [B,I,J] = UNIQUE(...) also returns index vectors I and J such
    that B = A(I) and A = B(J) (or B = A(I,:) and A = B(J,:)).
    
    [B,I,J] = UNIQUE(...,'first') returns the vector I to index the
    first occurrence of each unique value in A.  UNIQUE(...,'last'),
    the default, returns the vector I to index the last occurrence.
 
    See also UNION, INTERSECT, SETDIFF, SETXOR, ISMEMBER.

 

you will see that you can get the index value returned. By default, unique returns the last index, but you are also request the first one. Additionally, you can look for unique rows, something especially useful for character data.

unique in Action

Here's a quick demonstration of unique acting on a vector of birthdates in my extended family (just the day of the month) and the unique values.

birthdates = [11 12 22 1 14 4 25 28 1 7 19 12]
bds = unique(birthdates)

birthdates =
    11    12    22     1    14     4    25    28     1     7    19    12
bds =
     1     4     7    11    12    14    19    22    25    28

Now, here are the indices back into the original birthdates.

[bds, bdlast] = unique(birthdates);
bdlast

bdlast =
     9     6    10     1    12     5    11     3     7     8

And the first occurrences.

[bds, bdfirst] = unique(birthdates,'first');
bdfirst

bdfirst =
     4     6    10     1     2     5    11     3     7     8

What I Don't Know

What I can't think of is why I care about the index. I am sure there are applications where it matters because there is related data that needs to come along. But what does the occurrence order have to do with anything?

Your Examples

Would you please share your code examples in which it mattered to you which instance of a non-unique element you captured? Let me know here.

Get the MATLAB code

Published with MATLAB® 7.5