Re: Disappearing variables
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg13811] Re: Disappearing variables
- From: immtwg at brahe.gbar.dtu.dk (Torben Winther Graversen)
- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:18:30 -0400
- Organization: UNI-C
- References: <6rr9u0$15b@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
nobody at News.Dal.Ca wrote: : I want to to define a variable inside a function, as follows: f:=x=123; : Whenever I run f, x should be given the value of 123, and if x doesn't : exist, it should be created. However: : In[1]:= f:=x=123; : In[2]:=f : Out[2]:=123 : In[3]:=x : Out[3]:=123 ** x exists : In[4]:=Remove[x]; : In[5]:=f : Out[5]:=123 ** f seems to work : In[6]:=x : Out[6]:=x ** x doesn't exist anymore, even though f worked : It seems like x is created when I initially define f, whereas since f is : SetDelayed, x should be created when I run f. : Does anyone know why x is not created when I run f? Look at f after you Remove[x]: In[7]:= ?f Global`f f := Removed["x"] = 123 So I think what really happens is: In[8]:= Removed["x"] = 123 Set::write: Tag Removed in Removed[x] is Protected. Out[8]= 123 However, the message is not printed when evaluating f. Why not? By the way, when I use Definition to inspect f, the result depends on wether I use StandardForm or OutputForm: In[10]:= Definition[f] // OutputForm Out[10]//OutputForm= f := Removed[x] = 123 In[11]:= Definition[f] // StandardForm Out[11]//StandardForm= f := Global`x = 123 The StandardForm version seems slightly misleading. -- Best regards, Torben Winther Graversen http://www.student.dtu.dk/~immtwg