Returning two variables in a function in r

Question

I am writing a program that returns two variables in a list such as:

returnTwo <- function(){
    results <- c(a = A, b = B)
    return(results)
}

list[a, b] <- returnTwo()
x <- list[a]
y <- list[b]

I get:

[1] NA
attr(,"class")
[1] "result"

Any suggestions?

This looks like an attempt at a Pythonic idiom in R. R does not support that sort of multiple assignment. Additionally, list[a, b] is just sort of syntactically nonsense, given what I think you intend. — joran, Apr 16 '15 at 02:58
would it work if I just make it: result <- list(a = A, b = B)? My end result is I want to separate the two variables in the list after running the function — BenLar, Apr 16 '15 at 02:59

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 16 '15 at 03:03

Really not sure if that's what you're after, but this would work:

returnTwo <- function(){
    results <- c(a = 2, b = 4)
    return(results)
}

x <- returnTwo()["a"]
y <- returnTwo()["b"]

Or using a list:

returnTwo <- function(){
    results <- list(a = 2, b = 4)
    return(results)
}

x <- returnTwo()$a
y <- returnTwo()$b

1 Answers1