> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://boxlang.ortusbooks.com/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/objecttoset.md). # ObjectToSet Convert a collection into a Set, deduplicating automatically. Accepts an Array, a list-delimited String, an existing Set, a QueryColumn, an XML node, a bounded Range, or any value castable to a Set. When the value is already of the requested variant it is returned as-is; otherwise a new Set of the specified variant is created and populated. ## Method Signature ``` ObjectToSet(value=[any], type=[string], delimiter=[string]) ``` ### Arguments | Argument | Type | Required | Description | Default | | ----------- | -------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | `value` | `any` | `true` | The value to convert. Accepts Array, Set, list-delimited String, QueryColumn, XML, Range, etc. | | | `type` | `string` | `false` |

The backing variant: "default" / "hash" (HashSet), "linked" / "ordered" (LinkedHashSet),
or "sorted" / "tree" (TreeSet). When omitted, the caster defaults to LINKED for ordered
collections like Arrays.

| | | `delimiter` | `string` | `false` | When {@code value} is a String, the list delimiter to split on. Defaults to {@code ","}. | `,` | ## Examples ### Convert an Array to a Set Calling `.toSet()` on an Array deduplicates its elements and returns a BoxSet. ```java s = [ 1, 2, 2, 3 ].toSet(); writeOutput( s.size() ); ``` Result: 3 ### Convert an Array to a linked (insertion-ordered) Set Pass a type argument to control the backing implementation. ```java s = [ "c", "a", "b", "a" ].toSet( "linked" ); writeOutput( s.toArray().toString() ); ``` Result: \[c, a, b] ### Convert an Array to a sorted Set ```java s = [ 9, 1, 5, 3 ].toSet( "sorted" ); writeOutput( s.toArray().toString() ); ``` Result: \[1, 3, 5, 9] ### Split a comma-delimited string into a Set `listToSet()` splits the string on the default delimiter and deduplicates. ```java s = "a,b,c,a".listToSet(); writeOutput( s.size() ); ``` Result: 3 ### Split a string with a custom delimiter ```java s = "a|b|c|b".listToSet( delimiter="|" ); writeOutput( s.size() ); ``` Result: 3 ### Split with a custom delimiter and preserve insertion order ```java s = "a|b|c|b".listToSet( delimiter="|", type="linked" ); writeOutput( s.toArray().toString() ); ``` Result: \[a, b, c] ### Convert a Query to a Set of row structs Each row becomes a Struct element in the Set. ```java q = queryNew( "name,age", "varchar,integer", [ [ "Alice", 30 ], [ "Bob", 25 ] ] ); s = q.toSet(); writeOutput( s.size() ); ``` Result: 2 ### Get distinct column values as a Set Use `.columnData()` to extract a column as an Array first, then call `.toSet()` to deduplicate. ```java q = queryNew( "name", "varchar", [ [ "Alice" ], [ "Bob" ], [ "Alice" ] ] ); s = q.columnData( "name" ).toSet(); writeOutput( s.size() ); ``` Result: 2 ## Related * [BoxSetAdd](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetadd.md) * [BoxSetAddAll](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetaddall.md) * [BoxSetClear](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetclear.md) * [BoxSetContains](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetcontains.md) * [BoxSetContainsAll](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetcontainsall.md) * [BoxSetDifference](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetdifference.md) * [BoxSetEach](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxseteach.md) * [BoxSetEquals](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetequals.md) * [BoxSetEvery](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetevery.md) * [BoxSetFilter](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetfilter.md) * [BoxSetFind](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetfind.md) * [BoxSetIntersection](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetintersection.md) * [BoxSetIsDisjointFrom](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetisdisjointfrom.md) * [BoxSetIsEmpty](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetisempty.md) * [BoxSetIsSubsetOf](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetissubsetof.md) * [BoxSetIsSupersetOf](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetissupersetof.md) * [BoxSetMap](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetmap.md) * [BoxSetNone](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetnone.md) * [BoxSetReduce](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetreduce.md) * [BoxSetReject](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetreject.md) * [BoxSetRemove](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetremove.md) * [BoxSetRemoveAll](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetremoveall.md) * [BoxSetRetainAll](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetretainall.md) * [BoxSetSome](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetsome.md) * [BoxSetSymmetricDifference](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetsymmetricdifference.md) * [BoxSetToArray](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsettoarray.md) * [BoxSetToList](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsettolist.md) * [BoxSetUnion](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/boxsetunion.md) * [SetNew](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/setnew.md) * [SetOf](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/setof.md) * [StructKeySet](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/structkeyset.md) * [StructValueSet](/boxlang-language/reference/built-in-functions/set/structvalueset.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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