Re: Setting parts of matrices
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg2980] Re: Setting parts of matrices
- From: crstover at aol.com (CRStover)
- Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 02:57:22 -0500
- Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
> Can somebody tell me how to set a submatrix of a larger matrix?
> Assume a is a larger matrix than b. I would like to do something
> like
>
> a[[Range[i1,i2],Range[j1,j2]]]=b;
>
> ...
>
> Jens Olav Nygaard
Dear Mr. Nygaard,
Here is one solution to your problem. Evaluating
setSubmatrix[a, b, {i1, j1}]
will reset the appropriate submatrix of a with upper left corner
{i1, j1} to b, where the function
setSubmatrix is defined as follows:
SetAttributes[setSubmatrix, HoldFirst];
setSubmatrix[mat_?MatrixQ, newSubmat_?MatrixQ,
{imin_Integer, jmin_Integer}] :=
ReleaseHold[
Hold[Set][
Table[
Hold[mat[[##]] ]&[i, j],
{i, imin, -1 + imin + Dimensions[newSubmat][[1]] },
{j, jmin, -1 + jmin + Dimensions[newSubmat][[2]] } ],
Hold[newSubmat]
]
];
For example, if you enter
a = {{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}};
setSubmatrix[a, {{"P"}, {"Q"}}, {1, 2}]
then the new value of a is
{{1, "P", 3}, {4, "Q", 6}}.
What the function setSubmatrix does in this case is to form
and execute the expression
{{a[[2, 1]]}, {a[[2, 2]]}} = {{"P"}, {"Q"}}
Mathematica knows how interpret a statement like
a[[2, 1]] = "P"
as a request to change part 2, 1 of the value of a; and
also how, in effect, to thread Set commands over Lists, in
a way that is more efficient than a user-written loop.
Another way to solve your problem would be to use Join,
Take, Drop and Transpose statements to write a function
replaceSubmatrix that *returns* the result of replacing the
appropriate submatrix of a with b. You could then type
a = replaceSubmatrix[a, b, {i1, j1}]
to change the value of a.
Sincerely,
Chris Stover
crstover at aol.com
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