The R Project SVN R

\name{list}
\title{Lists -- Generic and Dotted Pairs}
\usage{
list(\dots)
pairlist(\dots)

as.list(x, \dots)
%as.list.default(x, \dots)
as.pairlist(x)

is.list(x)
is.pairlist(x)

alist(\dots)
}
\alias{list}
\alias{pairlist}
\alias{alist}
\alias{as.list}
\alias{as.list.default}
\alias{as.list.data.frame}
\alias{as.pairlist}
\alias{is.list}
\alias{is.pairlist}
\description{
  Functions to construct, coerce and check for all kinds of \R lists.
}
\arguments{
  \item{\dots}{objects.}
  \item{x}{object to be coerced or tested.}
}
\details{
  Most lists in \R internally are \emph{Generic
    Vectors}, whereas traditional \emph{dotted pair} lists (as in LISP)
  are still available.

  The arguments to \code{list} or \code{pairlist} are of the form
  \code{value} or \code{tag=value}.
  The functions return a list composed of its arguments
  with each value either tagged or untagged,
  depending on how the argument was specified.

  \code{alist} is like \code{list}, except in the handling of tagged
  arguments with no value. These are handled as if they described
  function arguments with no default (cf. \code{\link{formals}}), whereas
  \code{list} simply ignores them.

  \code{as.list} attempts to coerce its argument to list type.
  For functions, this returns the concatenation of the list of formals
  arguments and the function body. For expressions, the list of
  constituent calls is returned.

  \code{is.list} returns \code{TRUE} iff its argument
  is a \code{list} \emph{or} a \code{pairlist} of \code{length}\eqn{> 0},
  whereas \code{is.pairlist} only returns \code{TRUE} in the latter case.

  \code{is.list} and \code{is.pairlist} are generic: you can write
  methods to handle specific classes of objects, see \link{InternalMethods}.

  An empty pairlist, \code{pairlist()} is the same as \code{NULL}.  This
  is different from \code{list()}.
}
\references{
  Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988)
  \emph{The New S Language}.
  Wadsworth \& Brooks/Cole.
}
\seealso{
\code{\link{vector}(., mode="list")}, \code{\link{c}}, for concatenation;
\code{\link{formals}}.
}
\examples{
data(cars)
# create a plotting structure
pts <- list(x=cars[,1], y=cars[,2])
plot(pts)

# Argument lists
f <- function()x
# Note the specification of a "..." argument:
formals(f) <- al <- alist(x=, y=2, \dots=)
f
al
}
\keyword{list}
\keyword{manip}