error check for unique values of data set and pick one over the other if duplicated in matlab

One way to error check for unique values in a dataset, and pick one over the other if duplicated in MATLAB is by using the unique function and keeping only the first occurrence of any duplicated value.

Here's an example code snippet that illustrates this approach:

main.m
% Example dataset
data = [1 2 3 4 5 6 4 3 2 1];

% Find unique values and indices of first occurrence
[unique_data, first_idx, ~] = unique(data, 'first');

% Indices of duplicated values
duplicated_idx = setdiff(1:numel(data), first_idx);

% Display original dataset and modified dataset with first occurrence only
disp(['Original data: ' num2str(data)]);
disp(['Modified data: ' num2str(unique_data)]);

% Pick first occurrence value for all duplicated values
data_clean = unique_data;
data_clean(duplicated_idx) = [];

% Display cleaned dataset
disp(['Cleaned data: ' num2str(data_clean)]);
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In this example, the unique function returns the unique values of the input dataset (data), the indices of their first occurrence (first_idx), and the indices of all duplicates. The setdiff function is then used to extract only the indices of duplicates. Finally, the cleaned dataset (data_clean) is obtained by keeping only the first occurrence of all duplicated values, and can be displayed for verification.

Note that this approach assumes that the first occurrence of a duplicated value is preferred over any subsequent occurrences. If you want to pick the last occurrence instead, you can use the 'last' option instead of 'first' in the unique function.