identify specific unique columns in a cell array

Hello, I have the following cell array as an example:

Stations=

'CID' 'C17E' 'C17E' 200 "2016/9/12" "14:46:6" 0

'CID' 'BC54' 'BC54' 200 "2016/9/13" "6:26:2" 0

'SGC' 'BAR2' 'BAR2' 200 "2016/9/13" "8:12:15" 0

'SGC' 'CBARI' 'BAR2' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 1

'SGC' 'CBET2' 'BET' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 1

'SGC' 'CBUIS' 'CBUIS' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 0

'SGC' 'CBET2' 'BET' 200 "2018/7/22" "7:50:30" 1

'CID' 'C17E' 'C17E' 200 "2014/2/2" "14:46:6" 0

'SGC' 'CBUIS' 'CBUIS' 200 "2017/7/1" "1:50:31" 0

I would like to identify unique values considering the first, second, third and fourth column and obtain the following matrix

Reduced_stations=

'CID' 'C17E' 'C17E' 200 "2016/9/12" "14:46:6" 0

'CID' 'BC54' 'BC54' 200 "2016/9/13" "6:26:2" 0

'SGC' 'BAR2' 'BAR2' 200 "2016/9/13" "8:12:15" 0

'SGC' 'CBARI' 'BAR2' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 1

'SGC' 'CBET2' 'BET' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 1

'SGC' 'CBUIS' 'CBUIS' 200 "2016/9/14" "1:58:31" 0

I would appreciate the help. By the way, the cell array (Stations) does not have the same data type.

Answer 1

[Dyuman Joshi]

Here's one approach -

%Input
Stations = {'CID'	'C17E'	'C17E'	200	"2016/9/12"	"14:46:6"	0
            'CID'	'BC54'	'BC54'	200	"2016/9/13"	"6:26:2"	0
            'SGC'	'BAR2'	'BAR2'	200	"2016/9/13"	"8:12:15"	0
            'SGC'	'CBARI'	'BAR2'	200	"2016/9/14"	"1:58:31"	1
            'SGC'	'CBET2'	'BET'	200	"2016/9/14"	"1:58:31"	1
            'SGC'	'CBUIS'	'CBUIS'	200	"2016/9/14"	"1:58:31"	0
            'SGC'	'CBET2'	'BET'	200	"2018/7/22"	"7:50:30"	1
            'CID'	'C17E'	'C17E'	200	"2014/2/2"	"14:46:6"	0
            'SGC'	'CBUIS'	'CBUIS'	200	"2017/7/1"	"1:50:31"	0};


%Convert to table, as the function unique() can be used for a table
t = cell2table(Stations);

%Columns of interest
col = 1:4;

%Get the indices of the unique combinations of the columns of interest
%in the same order as they occur in the input
[~,idx]=unique(t(:,col),'stable');


%Get the output in terms of table
outtable = t(idx,:)

t = 6×7 table
    Stations1    Stations2    Stations3    Stations4     Stations5     Stations6    Stations7
    _________    _________    _________    _________    ___________    _________    _________

     {'CID'}     {'C17E' }    {'C17E' }       200       "2016/9/12"    "14:46:6"        0    
     {'CID'}     {'BC54' }    {'BC54' }       200       "2016/9/13"    "6:26:2"         0    
     {'SGC'}     {'BAR2' }    {'BAR2' }       200       "2016/9/13"    "8:12:15"        0    
     {'SGC'}     {'CBARI'}    {'BAR2' }       200       "2016/9/14"    "1:58:31"        1    
     {'SGC'}     {'CBET2'}    {'BET'  }       200       "2016/9/14"    "1:58:31"        1    
     {'SGC'}     {'CBUIS'}    {'CBUIS'}       200       "2016/9/14"    "1:58:31"        0    

%or
%Get the output in terms of cell array
outcell = Stations(idx,:)

Stations = 6×7 cell array
    {'CID'}    {'C17E' }    {'C17E' }    {[200]}    {["2016/9/12"]}    {["14:46:6"]}    {[0]}
    {'CID'}    {'BC54' }    {'BC54' }    {[200]}    {["2016/9/13"]}    {["6:26:2" ]}    {[0]}
    {'SGC'}    {'BAR2' }    {'BAR2' }    {[200]}    {["2016/9/13"]}    {["8:12:15"]}    {[0]}
    {'SGC'}    {'CBARI'}    {'BAR2' }    {[200]}    {["2016/9/14"]}    {["1:58:31"]}    {[1]}
    {'SGC'}    {'CBET2'}    {'BET'  }    {[200]}    {["2016/9/14"]}    {["1:58:31"]}    {[1]}
    {'SGC'}    {'CBUIS'}    {'CBUIS'}    {[200]}    {["2016/9/14"]}    {["1:58:31"]}    {[0]}

[Jorge Luis Paredes Estacio]

Thank you very much. It works perfectly.