On 01-May-05 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Using head and tail recently, it occurred to me that it > would be very handy to have the unix convention more > fully, namely to allow negative values for "n" to > signify omission of lines rather than inclusion. > > Thus head(X, -1) would mean "all but the last line" and > tail(X, -1) would mean "all but the first line". > > Private correspondence has made me aware that this idea > is not new, and that there is no organised opposition to > it. Moreover the code changes needed are trivial (and > I am happy to supply them if people want...) and no > presently working code would be broken. > > Has the time for this admittedly minor but harmless > convenience feature come at last?
I would agree that this seems desirable! As well as the "trivial code changes needed", it also needs a probably trivial switch of viewpoint from "n: size for the resulting object" to "n: <whatever best encapsulates the above>" Best wishes, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 01-May-05 Time: 07:57:58 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------ ______________________________________________ R-devel@stat.math.ethz.ch mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
