ListDeduplicate ( inputList )

Deduplicates a pilcrow delimited list using the While() function

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David A Sullivan - Show more from this author
Mandelbrot LLC
http://mandelbrotllc.com

Sample input:

ListDeduplicate ( "apple¶apple¶orange" )

Sample output:

"apple¶orange"

Function definition: (Copy & paste into FileMaker's Edit Custom Function window)

/*
  __  __                 _      _ _               _     _     _     ____ 
 |  \/  | __ _ _ __   __| | ___| | |__  _ __ ___ | |_  | |   | |   / ___|
 | |\/| |/ _` | '_ \ / _` |/ _ \ | '_ \| '__/ _ \| __| | |   | |  | |    
 | |  | | (_| | | | | (_| |  __/ | |_) | | | (_) | |_  | |___| |__| |___ 
 |_|  |_|\__,_|_| |_|\__,_|\___|_|_.__/|_|  \___/ \__| |_____|_____\____|

*/

While (

 [
   i = 1 ;
   input = inputList ;
   output = GetValue ( input ; 1 ) ;
   thisValue = "" ;
   isDupe = 0 
 ] ;

 i < ValueCount ( input ) ;

 [
   i = i + 1 ;
   thisValue = GetValue ( input ; i ) ; 
   isDupe = If ( PatternCount ( output ; thisValue ) > 0 ; 1 ; 0 ) ;
   output = If ( isDupe = 1 ; output ; output & "¶" & thisValue )
 ] ;

 output

)

Version 1, 2023-03-31
A modern take on older custom functions that use tail recursion.
This one uses the While() function instead, so it requires FileMaker 18 or later.

Comments

		Michael Horak, *COMMENT Visual Realisation Apr 11, 2023
Version 18 also has the UniqueValues() funtion, so it's not clear why this would be needed. Not to mention that this will return incorrect results with an input like "speak¶pea", for example.

		David A Sullivan, Mandelbrot LLC Apr 13, 2023
Sure, NOW you tell me there's a native function that's better. Glad I didn't waste a whole afternoon writing this one, I guess.

Note: these functions are not guaranteed or supported by BrianDunning.com. Please contact the individual developer with any questions or problems.

ListDeduplicate ( inputList )

Comments

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