alias: Create an alias for an expression

In aka: Define Aliases for R Expressions

Create an alias for an expression

Description

⁠alias(name = expr⁠) creates an alias for expr named name. Subsequently, name can (mostly) be used interchangeably with expr.

name := expr is the same as alias(name = expr).

Usage

alias(name = expr, expr_env = parent.frame(), alias_env = parent.frame())

name := expr

Arguments

expr_env	the environment in which to evaluate the expression
alias_env	the environment in which to create the alias
name	the alias name
expr	an arbitrary R expression to be aliased by name; can contain interpolated expressions; see Details

Details

After executing alias(name = expr), name can be used to refer to the value of expr. This is especially useful when expr is a complex expression that is used multiple times in the code. Unlike with regular assignment, expr will be reevaluated every time name is evaluated. This means that the value of name always stays up to date, similar to a “reactive” expression. On the flip side, it also means that accessing name can be very slow if evaluating expr is time-consuming.

expr can contain interpolated expressions using the bquote() syntax (including splicing). These will be substituted at the time of defining the alias. See Examples.

The parameters expr_env and alias_env are used to control the environments in which the expression is evaluated and the alias is created, respectively. Note that specifying the correct expr_env is particularly important when assigning to an alias: an expression can be evaluated inside a parent environment without having to specify expr_env; however, during assignment this would cause the assignee object to be copied into the calling environment. See Examples for a concrete example of this.

Value

alias() is called for its side-effect and does not return a value.

Examples

x = 'hello'
alias(ax = x)  # same as: ax := x
ax    # prints 'hello'

x = 'world'
ax    # prints 'world'

ax = 'goodbye'
x     # prints 'goodbye'

# Aliases can be created for complex expressions:
mercedes := mtcars[grepl('^Merc ', rownames(mtcars)), ]
mercedes

mercedes$vs = 0  # set all Mercedes engine types to V-shaped
mtcars

# Aliases can contain interpolated expressions:
n = 1
m = 2
s := .(n) + m
s  # prints 3

n = 10
m = 10
s  # prints 11

alias_expr('s')  # prints `1 + m`

# Be careful when assigning to an alias to an object in a parent environment:

e = attach(new.env())
e$y = 'hello'

ay := y

# Works: `y` is found in the parent environment
ay  # prints 'hello'

# But the following creates a *new variable* `y` in the current environment:
ay = 'world'
e$y   # prints 'hello', still!
y     # prints 'world'

# To prevent this, use the `expr_env` argument:
# alias(ay = y, expr_env = e)

aka documentation built on June 8, 2025, 12:52 p.m.