thanks, everyone. I should have been clearer (as always). I used the numbers as an example only. I am aware that I can put numbers into vectors and get nice R syntax. my problem is that I usually want to return multiple and/or mixed objects, such as multiple data frames. I should have given as an example something like
f <- function(a,b) list( data.frame(a+rnorm(20), b), loess( a ~ b) ) weidong---yes, nice syntax, but I don't want to invoke f() twice. peter---I don't think your unlist syntax works. I tried it. gabor---#1-#3 work, but aren't what I really want. #4 is exactly what I wanted. can list[] be added into the standard core R as a feature? it would seem like a natural part of the syntax for functions returning multiple values. justin---mea culpa. regards, /iaw ---- Ivo Welch (ivo.we...@gmail.com) On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 5:08 PM, Justin Haynes <jto...@gmail.com> wrote: > You can also take a look at > > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7519790/assign-multiple-new-variables-in-a-single-line-in-r > > which has some additional solutions. > > > > On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 4:49 PM, Peter Ehlers <ehl...@ucalgary.ca> wrote: >> On 2012-03-30 15:40, ivo welch wrote: >>> >>> Dear R wizards: is there a clean way to assign to elements in a list? >>> what I would like to do, in pseudo R+perl notation is >>> >>> f<- function(a,b) list(a+b,a-b) >>> (c,d)<- f(1,2) >>> >>> and have c be assigned 1+2 and d be assigned 1-2. right now, I use the >>> clunky >>> >>> x<- f(1,2 >>> c<- x[[1]] >>> d<- x[[2]] >>> rm(x) >>> >>> which seems awful. is there a nicer syntax? >>> >>> regards, /iaw >>> ---- >>> Ivo Welch (ivo.we...@brown.edu, ivo.we...@gmail.com) >>> >> >> I must be missing something. Why not just assign to a >> vector instead of a list? >> >> f<- function(a,b) c(a+b,a-b) >> >> If it's imperative that f return a list, then you >> could use >> >> (c, d) <- unlist(f(a, b)) >> >> to get vector (c, d). >> >> Peter Ehlers >> >> >> ______________________________________________ >> R-help@r-project.org mailing list >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.