renvironments

Return elements of list as independent objects in global environment


I have a list, and would like to break the elements of the list into seperate objects in the global environment.

For example, I would like the list:

obj <- list(a=1:5, b=2:10, c=-5:5)

to be three seperate objects a, b, and c.

I tried to achieve this with:

lapply(obj, FUN = function(x) names(x)[1] <<- x[1])

But it failed, with Error in names(x)[1] <<- x[1] : object 'x' not found.

How might I achieve my aim?


Solution

  • There is special function for mapping list to environment:

    > obj <- list(a=1:5, b=2:10, c=-5:5)
    > ls()
    [1] "obj"
    > list2env(obj,globalenv())
    <environment: R_GlobalEnv>
    > ls()
    [1] "a"   "b"   "c"   "obj"
    

    P. S. It is my comment provided as an answer