6.3 Functions that Operate on Arrays

In this section, we describe the functions that accept all types of arrays.

Function: arrayp object

This function returns t if object is an array (i.e., a vector, a string, a bool-vector or a char-table).

(arrayp [a]) => t (arrayp "asdf") => t (arrayp (syntax-table)) ;; A char-table. => t

Function: aref array index

This function returns the indexth element of array. The first element is at index zero.

(setq primes [2 3 5 7 11 13]) => [2 3 5 7 11 13] (aref primes 4) => 11 (aref "abcdefg" 1) => 98 ; `b' is ASCII code 98.

See also the function elt, in 6.1 Sequences.

Function: aset array index object

This function sets the indexth element of array to be object. It returns object.

(setq w [foo bar baz]) => [foo bar baz] (aset w 0 'fu) => fu w => [fu bar baz] (setq x "asdfasfd") => "asdfasfd" (aset x 3 ?Z) => 90 x => "asdZasfd"

If array is a string and object is not a character, a wrong-type-argument error results. The function converts a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary to insert a character.

Function: fillarray array object

This function fills the array array with object, so that each element of array is object. It returns array.

(setq a [a b c d e f g]) => [a b c d e f g] (fillarray a 0) => [0 0 0 0 0 0 0] a => [0 0 0 0 0 0 0] (setq s "When in the course") => "When in the course" (fillarray s ?-) => "------------------"

If array is a string and object is not a character, a wrong-type-argument error results.

The general sequence functions copy-sequence and length are often useful for objects known to be arrays. See section 6.1 Sequences.