comparison lispref/lists.texi @ 53644:5d6e643eb334

(Sets And Lists): Add delete-dups.

53643:761988ba350d

@cindex sets

  A list can represent an unordered mathematical set---simply consider a
value an element of a set if it appears in the list, and ignore the
order of the list.  To form the union of two sets, use @code{append} (as
long as you don't mind having duplicate elements).  Other useful
functions for sets include @code{memq} and @code{delq}, and their
@code{equal} versions, @code{member} and @code{delete}.

@cindex CL note---lack @code{union}, @code{intersection}
@quotation

This function is like @code{member}, except that @var{object} should
be a string and that it ignores differences in letter-case and text
representation: upper-case and lower-case letters are treated as
equal, and unibyte strings are converted to multibyte prior to
comparison.
@end defun

  See also the function @code{add-to-list}, in @ref{Setting Variables},
for another way to add an element to a list stored in a variable.

53644:5d6e643eb334

@cindex sets

  A list can represent an unordered mathematical set---simply consider a
value an element of a set if it appears in the list, and ignore the
order of the list.  To form the union of two sets, use @code{append} (as
long as you don't mind having duplicate elements).  You can remove
@code{equal} duplicates using @code{delete-dups}.  Other useful
functions for sets include @code{memq} and @code{delq}, and their
@code{equal} versions, @code{member} and @code{delete}.

@cindex CL note---lack @code{union}, @code{intersection}
@quotation

This function is like @code{member}, except that @var{object} should
be a string and that it ignores differences in letter-case and text
representation: upper-case and lower-case letters are treated as
equal, and unibyte strings are converted to multibyte prior to
comparison.
@end defun

@defun delete-dups list
This function destructively removes all @code{equal} duplicates from
@var{list} and returns the result.  Of several @code{equal}
occurrences of an element in @var{list}, @code{delete-dups} keeps the
last one.

The value of @var{list} after a call to this function is undefined.
Usually, we store the return value back in @var{list}:

@example
(setq list (delete-dups list))
@end example
@end defun

  See also the function @code{add-to-list}, in @ref{Setting Variables},
for another way to add an element to a list stored in a variable.