R: Remove Objects from a Specified Environment

remove {base} | R Documentation

## Remove Objects from a Specified Environment

### Description

`remove` and `rm` can be used to remove objects. These can be specified successively as character strings, or in the character vector `list`, or through a combination of both. All objects thus specified will be removed.

If `envir` is NULL then the currently active environment is searched first.

If `inherits` is `TRUE` then parents of the supplied directory are searched until a variable with the given name is encountered. A warning is printed for each variable that is not found.

### Usage

    remove(..., list = character(0), pos = -1,
           envir = as.environment(pos), inherits = FALSE)

    rm    (..., list = character(0), pos = -1,
           envir = as.environment(pos), inherits = FALSE)

### Arguments

`...` | the objects to be removed, as names (unquoted) or character strings (quoted).
`list` | a character vector naming objects to be removed.
`pos` | where to do the removal. By default, uses the current environment. See the details for other possibilities.
`envir` | the `environment` to use. See the details section.
`inherits` | should the enclosing frames of the environment be inspected?

### Details

The `pos` argument can specify the environment from which to remove the objects in any of several ways: as an integer (the position in the `search` list); as the character string name of an element in the search list; or as an `environment` (including using `sys.frame` to access the currently active function calls). The `envir` argument is an alternative way to specify an environment, but is primarily there for back compatibility.

It is not allowed to remove variables from the base environment and base name space, nor from any environment which is locked (see `lockEnvironment`).

Earlier versions of R incorrectly claimed that supplying a character vector in `...` removed the objects named in the character vector, but it removed the character vector. Use the `list` argument to specify objects via a character vector.

### References

Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

### See Also

`ls`, `objects`

### Examples

    tmp <- 1:4
    ## work with tmp  and cleanup
    rm(tmp)

    ## Not run:
    ## remove (almost) everything in the working environment.
    ## You will get no warning, so don't do this unless you are really sure.
    rm(list = ls())
    ## End(Not run)

[Package base version 2.6.2 Index]