Why can you just not write
myvar =: 1 2 3
?
Why would you be able to remember to write myvar assign 1 2 3 but not myvar
=: 1 2 3 ? Can you elaborate on the problem?
In any case, a cute but silly way to acheive your end is:
assign =: 1 : '({. u`[) =: y'
which, unlike Raul's suggestion, does not require the name to be quoted:
myvar
|value error: myvar
V =: 3 : 'myvar assign 1 2 3'
V 0
1 2 3
myvar
1 2 3
but DOES require that the name be previously undefined. Running the example
again produces:
V 0
|domain error: V
| ({. u`[)=:y
or, worse:
innocent_bystander =: 'some important data'
myvar =: {.;:'innocent_bystander'
V 0
1 2 3
myvar
+------------------+
|innocent_bystander|
+------------------+
innocent_bystander
1 2 3
(actually, the requirement is that the name is stacked by name instead of by
value, so myvar could previously have been undefined or a [non-special]
proverb.)
So quoting the name, as in Raul's solution, is more robust and general.
However, you can still run into trouble with locatives.
So the quesiton is truly: Why can you just not write myvar =: 1 2 3 ? What
specific problem are you trying to solve?
-Dan
PS: If you're trying to write a cover to =: so that you can use an APL-style
arrow, the only solution is string substitution in the program text. A name
can nave have the same class (part of speech) as =: (which makes sense,
because =: needs a higher precedence than a name, or name=: ... couldn't
work).
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