From

⊇

Select (⊇) (jokingly referred to as Sane Indexing) is a primitive function that allows selecting multiple major cells using indices of the cells. It is equivalent to ⌷⍨∘⊂⍨ and ⌷⍤0 ∞, only providing a neater notation for such a fundamental concept. It was introduced in Extended Dyalog APL, and then adopted into dzaima/APL.

Common usage

Select is commonly used to reorder the major cells of an array. For example, the following shuffles any array into random order:

Try it online!

      Shuffle←?⍨∘≢⊇⊢
      Shuffle 'abcdef'
fbdcea

Works in: dzaima/APL, Extended Dyalog APL

Without Select, one would have to write Shuffle←⊢⌷⍨∘⊂?⍨∘≢.

In a case where the left argument is a permutation vector for the right argument, the functionality can rightfully be called Permute.

Select especially cleans up expressions for reordering. An ascending sort can be represented as ⍋⊇⊢ and "sort by" can be written as ⊇⍨∘⍋:

Try it online!

      'abcde' ⊇⍨∘⍋ 3 1 4 1 5
bdace

Works in: dzaima/APL, Extended Dyalog APL

Potential extension

Select can be defined as ⌷⍨∘⊃⍨⍤0 ∞ thus allowing both the above usage and "scatter point indexing":

      1 4 3 ⊇ 4 4⍴⎕A
ABCD
MNOP
IJKL
      (1 1)(4 4)(3 4) ⊇ 4 4⍴⎕A
APL

See also

• Index (function)
• Bracket indexing
• Pick