objective c - NSArray: Remove objects with duplicate properties

Question

I have an NSMutableArray that contains a few custom objects. Two of the objects have the same properties such as title and author. I want to remove the duplicate object and leave the other.

Asset *asset;
NSMutableArray *items = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];

// First
asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
asset.title = @"Developer";
asset.author = @"John Smith";
[items addObject:asset];
[asset release];

// Second
asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
asset.title = @"Writer";
asset.author = @"Steve Johnson";
[items addObject:asset];
[asset release];

// Third
asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
asset.title = @"Developer";
asset.author = @"John Smith";
[items addObject:asset];
[asset release];

Since they are NOT the same object, but only having duplicate properties, how can I remove the duplicate?

Answer 1

You could create a HashSet and as you loop, you could add "title+author" concatenated set to the HashSet (NSMutableSet). As you arrive at each item, if the HashSet contains your key, either remove it or don't copy (either deleting or creating a copy without duplicates).

That makes it order n (1 loop)

Here's the NSMutableSet class:

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSMutableSet_Class/Reference/NSMutableSet.html#//apple_ref/occ/cl/NSMutableSet

EDIT with code:

The meat of the code is the one loop.

void print(NSMutableArray *assets)
{
    for (Asset *asset in assets)
    {
        NSLog(@"%@/%@", [asset title], [asset author]);
    }
}

int main (int argc, const char * argv[])
{

    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

    //
    // Create the initial data set
    //
    Asset *asset;
    NSMutableArray *items = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];

    // First
    asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
    asset.title = @"Developer";
    asset.author = @"John Smith";
    [items addObject:asset];
    [asset release];

    // Second
    asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
    asset.title = @"Writer";
    asset.author = @"Steve Johnson";
    [items addObject:asset];
    [asset release];

    // Third
    asset = [[Asset alloc] init];
    asset.title = @"Developer";
    asset.author = @"John Smith";
    [items addObject:asset];
    [asset release];

    NSLog(@"****Original****");
    print(items);

    //
    // filter the data set in one pass
    //
    NSMutableSet *lookup = [[NSMutableSet alloc] init];
    for (int index = 0; index < [items count]; index++)
    {
        Asset *curr = [items objectAtIndex:index];
        NSString *identifier = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@", [curr title], [curr author]];

        // this is very fast constant time lookup in a hash table
        if ([lookup containsObject:identifier])
        {
            NSLog(@"item already exists.  removing: %@ at index %d", identifier, index);
            [items removeObjectAtIndex:index];
        }
        else
        {
            NSLog(@"distinct item.  keeping %@ at index %d", identifier, index);
            [lookup addObject:identifier];
        }
    }

    NSLog(@"****Filtered****");
    print(items);

    [pool drain];
    return 0;
}

Here's the output:

Craplet[11991:707] ****Original****
Craplet[11991:707] Developer/John Smith
Craplet[11991:707] Writer/Steve Johnson
Craplet[11991:707] Developer/John Smith
Craplet[11991:707] distinct item.  keeping Developer/John Smith at index 0
Craplet[11991:707] distinct item.  keeping Writer/Steve Johnson at index 1
Craplet[11991:707] item already exists.  removing: Developer/John Smith at index 2
Craplet[11991:707] ****Filtered****
Craplet[11991:707] Developer/John Smith
Craplet[11991:707] Writer/Steve Johnson