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I would like to clear all definitions of the form f[1,...] in such a way that f[2,...] remain unaffected.

The two methods I know to clear variables don't seem to apply to this situation:

  1. Pattern matching with Clear:

    Clear[f[1,"*"]] or Clear["f[1,*]"]

  2. Using the command =.

    f[1,"*"]=.

The second option works for particular values of f[1,...] but doesn't work with pattern matching.

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WillG
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1 Answers1

16

You can modify DownValues[f] directly. For example

DownValues[f] = 
 DeleteCases[DownValues[f], HoldPattern[_[f[1, ___]]] :> _]
Simon Woods
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  • This works, but I'm a bit confused about the syntax _[...]. Could you explain why the f[1,___] needs brackets around it in this context? – WillG May 18 '20 at 03:59
  • @WillG we need to match the HoldPattern as it appears in the DownValues, but without putting it explicitly in the pattern provided to DeleteCase. So we use a Blank. In other words, _[...] matches HoldPattern[...] but doesn't act as a held pattern. It looks confusing because then we have to wrap the pattern in HoldPattern to avoid evaluating the pattern. – Simon Woods May 18 '20 at 19:43
  • Ok I think I see. So the HoldPattern that appears explicitly in HoldPattern[_[f[1,___]]] is not what gets matched against the HoldPattern stored in DownValues? – WillG May 18 '20 at 21:42
  • @WillG exactly. – Simon Woods May 19 '20 at 18:08