Variables inside the function are not getting stored in the global environment in R programming

Question

The variables from inside the function are not getting stored in the global variables in R programming. Look at the code snippet:

install.packages('HMM')
library('HMM')

hmm_source <- function(){

  lamba_1 <- initHMM(c("s1","s2"), c("a","b","c"), c(1,0), matrix(c(.1,.6,.9,.4),nrow = 2,ncol = 2),matrix(c(.1,.4,.3,.2,.6,.4),nrow = 2,ncol = 3))

  lamba_2 <- initHMM(c("s1","s2"), c("a","b","c"), c(1,0), matrix(c(.4,.8,.6,.2),nrow = 2,ncol = 2),matrix(c(.5,.2,.4,.1,.1,.7),nrow = 2,ncol = 3))

  return(list(m1=lamba_1,m2=lamba_2))
}
source1_2 <- hmm_source()install.packages('HMM')
library('HMM')

hmm_source <- function(){

  lamba_1 <- initHMM(c("s1","s2"), c("a","b","c"), c(1,0), matrix(c(.1,.6,.9,.4),nrow = 2,ncol = 2),matrix(c(.1,.4,.3,.2,.6,.4),nrow = 2,ncol = 3))

  lamba_2 <- initHMM(c("s1","s2"), c("a","b","c"), c(1,0), matrix(c(.4,.8,.6,.2),nrow = 2,ncol = 2),matrix(c(.5,.2,.4,.1,.1,.7),nrow = 2,ncol = 3))

  return(list(m1=lamba_1,m2=lamba_2))
}
source1_2 <- hmm_source()

here my function returns the two hmm models but the variables lamba_1 and lamba_2 are not getting saved in global environment in R. I am working in RStudio, though i tried running the code in R shell too.. But it always give me the error : object lamba_1 not found. Any help ?

Objects are stored as you assign them. So when you do `source1_2 — Gregor Thomas, Feb 23 '17 at 20:53
they are getting saved as `source1_2$m1` and `source1_2$m2`. I would not advise using the `< — Chris, Feb 23 '17 at 20:57
@count that's not what they meant - don't do this in general — Chris, Feb 23 '17 at 20:59
@Chris I also wouldn`t recommend doing that but isn´t that what op was asking for? — count, Feb 23 '17 at 21:00
It is generally frowned upon to write to a different environment from a function. Just output the data you want (in a list or some other handy structure - R's got plenty of them!) and process them once outside the function. This way you can make your function(s) more predictable and thus safe. — Roman Luštrik, Feb 23 '17 at 23:26

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '17 at 20:56

Objects created within functions are not stored to the global environment (by default, anyway). If you're returning lambda_1 and lambda_2, they will be elements of the returned object. They won't exist separately, but from the way you call the function, they should exist as source1_2$m1 and source1_2$m2.

Variables inside the function are not getting stored in the global environment in R programming

1 Answers1