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# Lists

## @ (amend)¶

Syntax: @[x;i;f]
Syntax: @[x;i;f;a]
Syntax: @[x;i;f;v]

Functional amend Where

• x is a list (or file symbol, see Tip)
• i is an int vector of indexes of x
• f is a function
• a is an atom in the domain of the second argument of f
• v is a vector in the domain of the second argument of f

returns x with its values at indexes i changed.

For ind in til count i, x[i ind] becomes

expression   x[i ind]
-----------------------------
@[x;i;f]     f[x i ind]
@[x;i;f;a]   f[x i ind][a]
@[x;i;f;v]   f[x i ind][v ind]
q)d:("quick";"";"brown";"fox")
q)@[d;where"b"$count each d;,[;"..."]] / unary f "quick..." "" "brown..." "fox..." q)d:((1 2 3;4 5 6 7);(8 9;10;11 12);(13 14;15 16 17 18;19 20)) q)@[d;1 1 1;+;3] / binary f ((1 2 3;4 5 6 7);(17 18;19;20 21);(13 14;15 16 17 18;19 20)) Functions of rank higher than 2 can be applied by enlisting their arguments and using apply. Projections For a general list x, omitting a or v when f is binary returns projections at the indexes i: q)0N!@[("ssd";"bsd");0;+]; (+["ssd"];"bsd") Do it on disk Since V3.4 certain vectors can be updated directly on disk without the need to fully rewrite the file. Such vectors must have no attribute, be of a mappable type, not nested, not an enumeration, and not compressed. e.g. q):data set til 20; q)@[:data;3 6 8;:;100 200 300]; q)get:data 0 1 2 100 4 5 200 7 300 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ## count¶ Syntax: count x (unary, aggregate) Returns the number of items in x (rows for a table and entries for dictionary). Use with each to count the number of items at each level of a list or dictionary. q)count 42 / an atom has 1 item 1 q)count 1 2 3 3 q)RaggedArray:(1 2 3;4 5;6 7 8 9;0) q)count RaggedArray 4 q)count each RaggedArray 3 2 4 1 q)RaggedDict:abc!(1 2;3 4 5;"hello") q)count RaggedDict 3 q)count each RaggedDict a| 2 b| 3 c| 5 q)\l sp.q q)count sp 12 ## cross¶ Syntax: x cross y Returns the cross-product (i.e. all possible combinations) of x and y. q)1 2 3 cross 10 20 1 10 1 20 2 10 2 20 3 10 3 20 q)(cross/)(2 3;10;"abc") 2 10 "a" 2 10 "b" 2 10 "c" 3 10 "a" 3 10 "b" 3 10 "c" cross can work on tables and dictionaries. q)s:IBMMSFTAAPL q)v:1 2 q)([]s:s)cross([]v:v) s v ------ IBM 1 IBM 2 MSFT 1 MSFT 2 AAPL 1 AAPL 2 ## cut¶ Syntax: x cut y Cuts a list or table into a matrix of x columns – or close as can be. Where • x is an integer atom, returns y splits into a list of lists, all (except perhaps the last) of count x. q)4 cut til 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 • otherwise cut is synonymous with _ cut. ## _ (cut)¶ Syntax: x _ y Cuts a list or table into sub-arrays. Where x is a non-decreasing list of integers in the domain til count y, and y is a list or table, returns y cut at the indexes given in x. The result is a list with the same count as x. q)2 4 9 _ til 10 /first result item starts at index 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ,9 q) q)2 4 4 9 _ til 10 /cuts are empty for duplicate indexes 2 3 long$()
4 5 6 7 8
,9
q)2 5 7 _ til 12
2 3 4
5 6
7 8 9 10 11
q)\l sp.q
q)count sp
12
q){}show each 2 5 7_sp / show returns the generic null ::
s  p  qty
---------
s1 p3 400
s1 p4 200
s4 p5 100
s  p  qty
---------
s1 p6 100
s2 p1 300
s  p  qty
---------
s2 p2 400
s3 p2 200
s4 p2 200
s4 p4 300
s1 p5 400

## _ (drop)¶

Syntax: x _ y

Drops items from a list, entries from a dictionary or columns from a table.

Where

• x is an int atom and y a list or dictionary, returns y without the first or last x items.

q)5_0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8      /drop the first 5 items
5 6 7 8
q)-5_0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8     /drop the last 5 items
0 1 2 3
q)1 _ abc!1 2 3
b| 2
c| 3

Drop from string

q)b:"apple: banana: cherry"
q)/ find the first ":" and remove the prior portion of the sentence.
q)(b?":") _ b
": banana: cherry"

• x is a list or dictionary and y is an index or key of x, returns x without y.

q)0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8_5      /drop the 5th item
0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8
q)(abc!1 2 3)_a        /drop the entry for a
b| 2
c| 3

• x is an atom or vector of keys to dictionary y, returns y without the entries for x.

q)a _ abc!1 2 3
b| 2
c| 3
q)ab _ abc!1 2 3
c| 3
q)(abc!1 2 3) _ ab
'type

Q for Mortals: 5. Dictionaries

Dropping dictionary entries with integer arguments

With dictionaries, distinguish the roles of integer arguments to drop.

q)d:100 200!ab
q)1 _ d            /drop the first entry
200| b
q)d _ 1            /drop where key=1
100| a
200| b
q)d _ 100          /drop where key=100
200| b
q)enlist[1] _ d    /drop where key=1
100| a
200| b
q)enlist[100] _ d  /drop where key=100
200| b
q)100 _ d          /drop first 100 entries

• x is a vector of keys and y is a table, returns y without columns x.

q)t:([]a:1 2 3;b:4 5 6;c:def)
q)ab _ t
c
-
d
e
f
q)t _ ab
'type
q)a _ t
'type
q)t _ a
'type

Drop in place

Assign through drop to delete in place.

q)show d:abcx!(1;2 3;4;5)
a| 1
b| 2 3
c| 4
x| 5
q)d _:x
q)d
a| 1
b| 2 3
c| 4

## enlist¶

Syntax: enlist x

Returns its argument/s in a list.

An atom is not a one-item list. enlist and first will convert between the two.

q)a:10
q)b:enlist a
q)c:enlist b
q)type each (a;b;c)
-7 7 0h
q)a~b
0b
q)a~first b
1b
q)b~c
0b
q)b~first c
1b

With multiple arguments returns a single list.

q)show a:enlist[til 5;ibmgoog;"hello"]
0 1 2 3 4
ibmgoog
"hello"
q)count a
3

Where x is a dictionary, the result is the corresponding table.

q)enlist abc!(1;2 3; 4)
a b   c
-------
1 2 3 4

Atoms to lists

If you need to ensure, say, all items in a list are themselves lists and not atoms, use (),, which leaves lists unchanged.

For example, {(),x} each foo converts any atoms in list foo into singleton lists.

## ^ (fill)¶

Syntax: x^y (atomic)

Returns y with any nulls replaced by the corresponding item of x.

q)0^1 2 3 0N
1 2 3 0
q)100^1 2 -5 0N 10 0N
1 2 -5 100 10 100
q)1.0^1.2 -4.5 0n 0n 15
1.2 -4.5 1 1 15
q)nobody^tomdickharry
tomdicknobodyharry
q)1 2 3 4 5^6 0N 8 9 0N
6 2 8 9 5

Integer x items are promoted when y is float or real.

q)a:11.0 2.1 3.1 0n 4.5 0n
q)type a
9h
q)10^a
11 2.1 3.1 10 4.5 10
q)type 10^a
9h

When x and y are dictionaries, both null and missing values in y are filled with those from x.

q)(abc!1 2 3)^bc!0N 30
a| 1
b| 2
c| 30

^ coalesce where x and y are keyed tables

## fills¶

Syntax: fills x (uniform)

Returns x with any nulls replaced by their preceding non-null values, if any.

q)fills 0N 2 3 0N 0N 7 0N
0N 2 3 3 3 7 7

Tips

To back-fill, reverse the list and the result:

q)reverse fills reverse 0N 2 3 0N 0N 7 0N
2 2 3 7 7 7 0N
For a similar function on infinities, first replace them with nulls:

q)fills {(x where x=0W):0N;x} 0N 2 3 0W 0N 7 0W
0N 2 3 3 3 7 7

## flip¶

Syntax: flip x

Returns x transposed, where x may be a list of lists, a dictionary or a table.

In a list of lists, each list must be the same length.

q)flip (1 2 3;4 5 6)
1 4
2 5
3 6

The flip of a dictionary is a table, and vice versa. If x is a dictionary where the keys are a list of symbols, and the values are lists of the same count (or atoms), then flip x will return a table. The flip of a table is a dictionary.

q)D:sympricesize!(IBMMSFT;10.2 23.45;100 100)
q)flip D
sym  price size
---------------
IBM  10.2  100
MSFT 23.45 100
q)D~flip flip D
1b

## , (join)¶

Syntax: x join y

Joins list, dictionaries or tables.

Where x and y are atoms, lists, dictionaries or tables returns x joined to y.

q)1 2 3,4
1 2 3 4
q)1 2,3 4
1 2 3 4
q)(0;1 2.5;01b),(a;"abc")
(0;1.00 2.50;01b;a;"abc")

The result is a vector if both arguments are vectors or atoms of the same type.

q)1 2.4 5,-7.9 10               /float vectors
1.00 2.40 5.00 -7.90 10.00
q)1 2.4 5,-7.9                  /float vector and atomatom
1.00 2.40 5.00 -7.90
q)1 2.4 5, -7.9 10e             /float and real vectors
(1.00;2.40;5.00;-7.90e;10.00e)

Cast arguments to ensure vector results.

q)v:1 2.34 -567.1 20e
q)v,(type v)$789 / cast an int to a real 1.00 2.34 -567.1 20.00 789e q)v,(type v)$1b                 / cast a boolean to a real
1.00 2.34 -567.1 20 1e
q)v,(type v)$0xab 1.00 2.34 -567.1 20.00 171e Tables can be joined row-wise. q)t:([]a:1 2 3;b:abc) q)s:([]a:10 11;b:de) q)show t,s a b ---- 1 a 2 b 3 c 10 d 11 e Tables of the same count can be joined column-wise with ,'. q)r:([]c:10 20 30;d:1.2 3.4 5.6) q)show t,'r q)show t,'r a b c d ---------- 1 a 10 1.2 2 b 20 3.4 3 c 30 5.6 Join for keyed tables is strict; both the key and data columns must match in names and datatypes. Joins, .Q.dd (join symbols) ## raze¶ Syntax: raze x Returns the items of x joined, collapsing one level of nesting. To collapse all levels, use converge i.e. raze/[x]. q)raze (1 2;3 4 5) 1 2 3 4 5 q)b:(1 2;(3 4;5 6);7;8) q)raze b / flatten one level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 q)raze/[b] / flatten all levels 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 q)raze 42 / atom returned as a list ,42 Returns the flattened values from a dictionary. q)d:qwe!(1 2;3 4;5 6) q)value d 1 2 3 4 5 6 q)raze d 1 2 3 4 5 6 Use only on items that can be joined raze is defined in k as ,/ and requires items that can be joined together. q)d:ab!(1 2;3 5) q)10,d / cannot join integer and dictionary 'type q)raze (10;d) / raze will not work 'type ## reverse¶ Syntax: reverse x (uniform) Returns the items of x in reverse order. q)reverse 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 On atoms, returns the atom; on dictionaries, reverses the keys; and on tables, reverses the columns: q)d:ab!(1 2 3;"xyz") q)reverse d b| x y z a| 1 2 3 q)reverse each d a| 3 2 1 b| z y x q)reverse flip d a b --- 3 z 2 y 1 x ## rotate¶ Syntax: x rotate y (uniform) Returns list or table y rotated by x items: to the ‘left’ for positive x, to the ‘right’ for negative x. q)2 rotate 2 3 5 7 11 / rotate a list 5 7 11 2 3 q)-2 rotate 2 3 5 7 11 7 11 2 3 5 q)t:([]a:1 2 3;b:"xyz") q)1 rotate t / rotate a table a b --- 2 y 3 z 1 x ## # (set attribute)¶ Syntax: x # y Where y is a list and atom x is • an item from the list supg, returns y with the corresponding attribute set • the null symbol , returns y with all attributes removed q)s#1 2 3 s#1 2 3 q)#s#1 2 3 1 2 3 Setting or unsetting an attribute other than s (i.e. upg) causes a copy of the object to be made. Setting/unsetting the s attribute on a list which is already sorted will not cause a copy to be made, and hence will affect the original list in-place. Setting the s attribute on a dictionary or table, where the key is already in sorted order, in order to obtain a step-function, causes the s attribute to be set in place for the key but copies the outer object. s, u and g are preserved on append in memory, if possible. Only s is preserved on append to disk. q)t:([1 2 4]y:7 8 9);s#t;attr each (t;key t) s ## sv¶ ‘Scalar from vector’ – joins stuff together Syntax: x sv y Where: • (join strings) y is a list of strings, and x is a character or string, returns the strings in y, separated by x. Where x is the back tick , the strings are separated by the host line separator – \n on Unix, \r\n on Windows. q)"," sv ("one";"two";"three") / comma separated "one,two,three" q)"\t" sv ("one";"two";"three") / tab separated "one\ttwo\tthree" q)", " sv ("one";"two";"three") / x may be a string "one, two, three" q)"." sv string 192 168 1 23 / form IP address "192.168.1.23" q) sv ("one";"two";"three") / use host line separator "one\ntwo\nthree\n" • (join path components) y is a symbol list of which the first item is a file handle, it returns a file handle where the items of the list are joined, separated by slashes. This is useful when building file paths. q) sv :/home/kdb/qdata2010.03.22trade :/home/kdb/q/data/2010.03.22/trade If the first item is not a file handle, returns a symbol where the items are joined, separated by . (dot). This is useful for building filenames with a given extension: q) sv myworkdat mywork.dat ## # (take)¶ Syntax: x # y Returns y as a list, dictionary or table described or selected by x. Where • x is an int atom, and y is an atom or list, returns a list of length x filled from y, starting at the front if x is positive and the end if negative. q)5#0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 /take the first 5 items 0 1 2 3 4 q)-5#0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 /take the last 5 items 4 5 6 7 8 If x>count y, y is treated as circular. q)5#ArthurSteveDennis ArthurSteveDennisArthurSteve q)-5#ArthurSteveDennis SteveDennisArthurSteveDennis q)3#9 9 9 9 q)2#a aa If x is 0, an empty list is returned. q)trade:([]time:();sym:();price:();size:()) /columns can hold anything q)trade +timesympricesize!(();();();()) q)/idiomatic way to initialise columns to appropriate types q)trade:([]time:0#0Nt;sym:0#;price:0#0n;size:0#0N) q)trade +timesympricesize!(time$();symbol$();float$();int$()) • x is an int atom and y is a dictionary, x entries are returned. q)d:abc!1 2 3 q)2#d a| 1 b| 2 • x is an int atom and y is a table, x rows are returned. q)\l sp.q .. q)5#sp s p qty s1 p1 300 s1 p2 200 s1 p3 400 s1 p4 200 s4 p5 100 • x is an int vector and y is an atom or list, returns a matrix or higher-dimensional array; count x gives the number of dimensions. (Since V2.3) q)2 5#"!" "!!!!!" "!!!!!" q)2 3#til 6 (0 1 2;3 4 5) A 2×4 matrix taken from the list ArthurSteveDennis q)2 4#ArthurSteveDennis (ArthurSteveDennisArthur;SteveDennisArthurSteve) Higher dimensions are not always easy to see. q)2 3 4#"a" "aaaa" "aaaa" "aaaa" "aaaa" "aaaa" "aaaa" q)show five3d:2 3 4#til 5 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 q)count each five3d 3 3 q)first five3d 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 A null in x will cause that dimension to be maximal. q)0N 3#til 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ,9 Changes since V3.3 From V3.4, if x is a list of length 1, the result has a single dimension. q)enlist[2]#til 10 0 1 From V3.4, x can have length greater than 2 – but may not contain nulls. q)(2 2 3#til 5)~((0 1 2;3 4 0);(1 2 3;4 0 1)) 1b q)(enlist("";""))~1 2 0#"a" 1b q)alldomain=@[;1 2;{$x}]each(#)@'(1 0 2;2 3 0N;0N 2 1;-1 2 3)
1b

The effect of nulls in x changed in V3.3.

Prior to V3.3:

q)3 0N # til 10
(0 1 2 3;4 5 6 7;8 9)
q)(10 0N)#(),10
10
q)4 0N#til 9
0 1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8

From V3.3:

q)3 0N#til 10
(0 1 2;3 4 5;6 7 8 9)
q)2 0N#0#0
(long$();long$())
q)(10 0N)#(),10
(long$();long$();long$();long$();long$();long$();long$();long$();long\$();,10)
q)4 0N#til 9
0 1
2 3
4 5
6 7 8

• x is a symbol vector and y is a dictionary, returns entries for x.

q)d:abc!1 2 3
q)ab#d
a| 1
b| 2

• x is a symbol vector and y is a table, returns columns x.

q)pqty#sp
p  qty

p1 300 p2 200 p3 400 p4 200 p5 100 p6 100 p1 300 p2 400 p2 200 p2 200 p4 300 p5 400

• x is a table and y is a keyed table, where columns of x are keys of y, returns matching rows, together with the respective keys. This is similar to retrieving multiple records through the square brackets syntax, except take also returns the keys.

q)([]s:s1s2)#s
s | name  status city
--| ------------------- s1| smith 20 london s2| jones 10 paris

Q for Mortals: 8.4.5 Retrieving Multiple Records

## ? (vector conditional)¶

Syntax: ?[x;y;z]

Braids two vectors.

Where x, y and z are conforming vectors or atoms, x is boolean, and y and z are of the same type, returns a vector with items of y where x is 1b, otherwise of z. All three arguments are evaluated.

q)?[1100b;"abcd";"ABCD"]
"abCD"
q)?[1100b;"a";"ABCD"]
"aaCD"
q)?[1100b;"abcd";"X"]
"abXX"
q)?[1b;"abcd";"X"]
"abcd"
q)?[0b;"abcd";"X"]
"X"
q)?[0b;"abcd";"ABCD"]
"ABCD"

Not this, not that

It can be useful to have more than just a true/false selection, e.g. match1/match2/match3/others mapping to result1/result2/result3/default. This can be achieved with find.

q)input:10?m1m2m3otheryetanother
q)input
yetanotherm1m3m2m3m2m3otherm3yetanother
q)r1r2r3default m1m2m3?input
defaultr1r3r2r3r2r3defaultr3default

This avoids nesting vector conditional, and scales better.

## vs¶

‘Vector from scalar’ – partitions list y according to x

Syntax: x vs y

Where

• x is a char atom or string, and y is a string, returns a list of strings: y cut using x as the delimiter.

q)"," vs "one,two,three"
"one"
"two"
"three"
q)", " vs "spring, summer, autumn, winter"
"spring"
"summer"
"autumn"
"winter"
q)"|" vs "red|green||blue"
"red"
"green"
""
"blue"

• x is the empty symbol , and y is a symbol, returns as a symbol vector y split on ..

q) vs mywork.dat
myworkdat

• x is the empty symbol , and y is a file handle, returns as a symbol vector y split into directory and file parts.

q) vs :/home/kdb/data/mywork.dat
:/home/kdb/datamywork.dat

• x is the empty symbol , and y is a string, returns as a list of strings y partitioned on embedded line terminators into lines. (Recognizes both Unix \n and Windows \r\n terminators).

q) vs "abc\ndef\nghi"
"abc"
"def"
"ghi"
q)` vs "abc\r\ndef\r\nghi"
"abc"
"def"
"ghi"