The c() function concatenates vectors or lists into a vector
(if possible) or else a list.
In analogy to that function, the n() function nests objects into a list
(not into an atomic vector, as atomic vectors cannot be nested).
It is a short-hand version of the list function.
This is handy because lists are often needed in 'squarebrackets',
especially for arrays.
Examples
obj <- array(1:64, c(4,4,3))
print(obj)
#> , , 1
#>
#> [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
#> [1,] 1 5 9 13
#> [2,] 2 6 10 14
#> [3,] 3 7 11 15
#> [4,] 4 8 12 16
#>
#> , , 2
#>
#> [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
#> [1,] 17 21 25 29
#> [2,] 18 22 26 30
#> [3,] 19 23 27 31
#> [4,] 20 24 28 32
#>
#> , , 3
#>
#> [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
#> [1,] 33 37 41 45
#> [2,] 34 38 42 46
#> [3,] 35 39 43 47
#> [4,] 36 40 44 48
#>
sb_x(obj, n(1:3, 1:2), c(1,3))
#> , , 1
#>
#> [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
#> [1,] 1 5 9 13
#> [2,] 2 6 10 14
#> [3,] 3 7 11 15
#>
#> , , 2
#>
#> [,1] [,2] [,3] [,4]
#> [1,] 17 21 25 29
#> [2,] 18 22 26 30
#> [3,] 19 23 27 31
#>
# above is equivalent to obj[1:3, , 1:2, drop = FALSE]