Re: Function definition within a module (about variable renaming)
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg79681] Re: Function definition within a module (about variable renaming)
- From: Jean-Marc Gulliet <jeanmarc.gulliet at gmail.com>
- Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 05:15:34 -0400 (EDT)
- Organization: The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
- References: <f8n20f$khj$1@smc.vnet.net>
Zeng.Shixin at gmail.com wrote: > I have following code: > > fun[] := Module[{a}, > a = {3x}; > f1[x_] = a[[1]]; (*change this line to f1[x_] = 3x, it works > fine (no variable renaming) *) > ]; > > Then I try to find out the definition about f1, I got: > > ?f1 > Global`f1 > f1[x$_] = 3 x > > I think It should be "f1[x_] = 3 x" instead. I just can't understand > why the variable x in f1 was renamed to x$. I went to the help system, > but I didn't find any useful information. > > Thanks in advance. I believe you have found a bug for the symbol x has no reason to be localized in the code you provided. Even though the localization has to be done for whatever mysterious reason, x$ is not a correct name for a local symbol that is automatically generated by Mathematica. Local symbols are constructed according to the following pattern: name_of_the_symbol + $ + a_sequence_number, i.e. a$38, x$39 are valid local symbols [1]. Here, the spurious half-baked localization creates in the Global context a lasting temporary symbol named x$. In[1]:= Clear[fun, f1, x] fun[] := Module[{a}, a = {3*x}; f1[x_] = (x = 3; a[[1]]); f1[2]]; fun[] Out[3]= 3*x In[4]:= Information["f1", LongForm -> False] f1 f1[x$_] = 3*x In[5]:= Information["x$", LongForm -> False] x$ Attributes[x$] = {Temporary} x$ = 3 Regards, Jean-Marc [1] http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/tutorial/HowModulesWork.html