Getting index of unique elements in a vector - c++

Question

Is there any STL/Boost function in C++ that allows me to find the indices of all unique elements in a vector?
I have seen many solutons to find unique elements, but I need their index.
vector<int> v = { 1,1,1, 2,2,2,2, 3, 3, ,4,5,5,5,5,5,5 };// already sorted
Either I need first index of unique elemnt
vector<int> unique_index={0,3,7,9,10};
or I need last index of unique elements
vector<int> unique_index={2,6,8,9,15};

Answer 1

A simple way (aside from just keeping track of what the last element was) is to use a std::set to test if the current element is unique in the elements of the vector -- seen so far, and populate your unique indexes as you go. This provides a single pass through to collect the indexes where the first unique element is seen, e.g.
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <set>
int main (void) {
std::vector<int> v = { 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 },
uniqueidx{};
std::set<int> s{};
for (size_t i = 0; i < v.size(); i++)
if (s.insert(v[i]).second)
uniqueidx.push_back(i);
for (const auto i : uniqueidx)
std::cout << i << '\n';
}
Example Use/Output
$ ./bin/set_index_of_unique_in_vector
0
3
7
10
11
(note: the last two values are 10 and 11, not 9 and 10 -- you are missing a value in your vector initialization, e.g. 3, ,4)
If you just wanted a simple-old loop to do the same thing, you could use:
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
int main (void) {
std::vector<int> v = { 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 },
uniqueidx{};
for (size_t i = 0; i < v.size(); i++)
if (!i || v[i-1] != v[i])
uniqueidx.push_back(i);
for (const auto i : uniqueidx)
std::cout << i << '\n';
}
(same output)
The benefit of the approach with std::set is you leave the determination of uniqueness up to std::set, with the simple loop -- it's up to you....
Look things over and let me know if you have questions.

Answer 2

Similar to David's answer of using std::set, you could also use std::map with its member function try_emplace(key, value):
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <map>
int main (void) {
std::vector<int> v = { 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 };
std::map<int, int> m;
for (size_t i = 0; i < v.size(); i++)
{
// `i` is only entered if the `m[v[i]]` isn't filled yet.
m.try_emplace(v[i], i);
}
for (auto [valueFromV, indexFromV] : m)
{
std::cout << indexFromV << '\n';
}
}

Answer 3

you can change this code and using int instead of a string.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <map>
#include <iterator>
#include <algorithm>
std::map<std::string, int> get_unique_indices(const std::vector<std::string>& products) {
std::vector<std::string> tempProducts(products);
std::map<std::string, int> result;
std::sort(std::begin(tempProducts), std::end(tempProducts));
for (auto it1 = std::begin(tempProducts), it2 = it1; it1 != std::end(tempProducts); it1 = it2) {
int duplication = 0;
for (; it2 != std::end(tempProducts) && (*it2 == *it1); ++it2) {
duplication++;
}
if (duplication == 1) {
result.insert({ *it1, std::find(std::begin(products), std::end(products), *it1) - std::begin(products) });
}
}
return result;
}
int main()
{
using namespace std;
vector<string> products = { "apple", "orange", "lemon", "apple", "kivi", "orange", "kivi", "melon"};
auto result = get_unique_indices(products);
for (const auto& [key, value] : result) {
std::cout << key << " " << value << std::endl;
}
return 0;
}
At first, I create another vector to save the original data. (Cause the position of the item will change in the sort method).
then I use two iterators to find duplicate items and count them. the result will be saved in a map instance.
this code must compile with c++17 onwards.