on passing arguments to a function, how to break a list into separate items during a call?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg103701] on passing arguments to a function, how to break a list into separate items during a call?
- From: "Nasser Abbasi" <nma at 12000.org>
- Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 09:01:20 -0400 (EDT)
- Reply-to: "Nasser Abbasi" <nma at 12000.org>
Suppose there is a function foo[] which returns back 2 items, say 'i' and 'j'. They must be returned as a list ofcourse, so we have this foo[] := Module[{i, j}, i = 3; j = 7; {i, j} ] Now I have another function goo[] which accepts 2 items as input, and does something with them, as in goo[i_, j_] := Module[{}, i + j ] Now I'd like to call foo[], and take its output, and pass it to directly to goo[], but I can NOT do the following: goo[foo[]] because there is no function goo[] which accept a list defined. I could solve this easily by making an intermediate step {i, j} = foo[]; (*first read into local variables*) goo[i, j] (* then call goo[] *) I tried to see if it is possible to eliminate this intermediate step, as it could be unnecessary, and see if there is a function or a trick in Mathematica which takes a list and 'unwrap' it for the purpose of making function calls. Assuming such a function or method, lets call it 'W' for now, then I would just type goo[ W[foo[]] ] Where W[] would take output from a function, and if it is a list, would break it down to its sublists, so that goo[ W[foo[]] ] would be converted to goo[ i,j ]. This W[] function would only ofcourse work in the context of function calls, as it does not make sense to write W[{1,2}] and expect to get just "1,2" like this, without these being grouped in a List[]. So this function W is means only to work in argument passing. I can also solve this easily by making goo[] accepts a list, but I wanted to avoid having to type this: goo[arg_List] := Module[{}, arg[[1]] + arg[[2]] ] I think writing "i+j" is more clear than writing " arg[[1]] + arg[[2]]", that is why I am asking this question. I wish Mathematica has named arguments? or structs, so I could write goo[arg_Struct] := Module[{}, arg.i + arg.j ] Any ideas? Thank you, --Nasser __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4476 (20091002) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: on passing arguments to a function, how to break a
- From: DrMajorBob <btreat1@austin.rr.com>
- Re: on passing arguments to a function, how to break a
- From: Leonid Shifrin <lshifr@gmail.com>
- Re: on passing arguments to a function, how to break a