<@DISTINCT>
Syntax
<@DISTINCT ARRAY=arrayVarName
[COLS=compCol [compType]
[, ...]] [SCOPE=scope]>
Description
Returns an array containing the distinct,
or unique, rows in the input array.
The ARRAY attribute specifies the
name of a variable containing an array. The COLS attribute
specifies the column(s) to consider when checking for duplicate rows.
Columns can be specified using either column numbers or names, with an
optional comparison type specifier (compType).
Valid comparison types are SMART
(the default), DICT, ALPHA, and NUM.
DICT compares values alphabetically without considering
case. ALPHA is a case-sensitive comparison. NUM
compares values numerically. SMART checks whether values are
numeric or alphabetic and performs a NUM or DICT
comparison.
If the COLS attribute is omitted,
all columns are considered using the SMART comparison type
when eliminating duplicates.
Multiple columns may be specified,
separated by commas. Each column specification may include a
comparison type specifier. If the comparison type specification is
used, it must follow the name or number of the column to be sorted,
separated by a space. For example, COLS="1 NUM, 2 DICT"
specifies that the first column's values are compared numerically, and
the second column's values are compared alphabetically, not
case-sensitive.
The SCOPE attribute specifies the
scope of the variable specified as the value of the ARRAY
attribute. If the scope is not specified, the default scoping rules
are used.
Meta tags are permitted in any of the
attributes.
Examples
If the local variable test
contains the following array:
| 1 |
a |
| 1 |
a |
| 2 |
a |
| 3 |
b |
| 3 |
b |
| 4 |
c |
| 4 |
c |
| 6 |
d |
| 7 |
e |
| 7.0 |
f |
<@DISTINCT ARRAY="test"
SCOPE="local"> returns:
| 1 |
a |
| 2 |
a |
| 3 |
b |
| 4 |
c |
| 6 |
d |
| 7 |
e |
| 7.0 |
f |
<@DISTINCT ARRAY="test"
COLS="1 NUM" SCOPE="local"> returns:
<@DISTINCT ARRAY="test"
COLS="2" SCOPE="local"> returns
| 1 |
a |
| 3 |
b |
| 4 |
c |
| 6 |
d |
| 7 |
e |
| 7.0 |
f |
:
See Also
<@FILTER>
<@INTERSECT>
<@SORT>
<@UNION>
|