assign                 package:base                 R Documentation

_A_s_s_i_g_n _a _V_a_l_u_e _t_o _a _N_a_m_e

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     Assign a value to a name in an environment.

_U_s_a_g_e:

     assign(x, value, pos = -1, envir = as.environment(pos),
            inherits = FALSE, immediate = TRUE)

_A_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s:

       x: a variable name (given as a quoted string in the function
          call).

   value: a value to be assigned to 'x'.

     pos: where to do the assignment.  By default, assigns into the
          current environment.  See the details for other
          possibilities.

   envir: the 'environment' to use. See the details section.

inherits: should the enclosing frames of the environment be inspected?

immediate: an ignored compatibility feature.

_D_e_t_a_i_l_s:

     The 'pos' argument can specify the  environment in which to assign
     the object in any of several ways: as an integer (the position in
     the 'search' list); as the character string name of an element in
     the search list; or as an 'environment' (including using
     'sys.frame' to access the currently active function calls). The
     'envir' argument is an alternative way to specify an environment,
     but is primarily there for back compatibility.

     'assign' does not dispatch assignment methods, so it cannot be
     used to set elements of vectors, names, attributes, etc.

     Note that assignment to an attached list or data frame changes the
     attached copy and not the original object: see 'attach'.

_V_a_l_u_e:

     This function is invoked for its side effect, which is assigning
     'value' to the variable 'x'.  If no 'envir' is specified, then the
     assignment takes place in the currently active environment.

     If 'inherits' is 'TRUE', enclosing environments of the supplied
     environment are searched until the variable 'x' is encountered.
     The value is then assigned in the environment in which the
     variable is encountered (provided that the binding is not locked:
     see 'lockBinding': if it is, an error is signaled).  If the symbol
     is not encountered then assignment takes place in the user's
     workspace (the global environment).

     If 'inherits' is 'FALSE', assignment takes place in the initial
     frame of 'envir', unless an existing binding is locked or there is
     no existing binding and the environment is locked.

_N_o_t_e:

     Prior to R 2.4.0 the base environment was ignored in the search
     for a binding by 'inherits = TRUE'.

_R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s:

     Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) _The New S
     Language_. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

_S_e_e _A_l_s_o:

     '<-', 'get', 'exists', 'environment'.

_E_x_a_m_p_l_e_s:

     for(i in 1:6) { #-- Create objects  'r.1', 'r.2', ... 'r.6' --
      nam <- paste("r",i, sep=".")
      assign(nam, 1:i)
     }
     ls(pat="^r..$")

     ##-- Global assignment within a function:
     myf <- function(x) {
      innerf <- function(x) assign("Global.res", x^2, env = .GlobalEnv)
      innerf(x+1)
     }
     myf(3)
     Global.res # 16

     a <- 1:4
     assign("a[1]", 2)
     a[1] == 2          #FALSE
     get("a[1]") == 2   #TRUE

