# How to take several values out of a large expression?

Background: Consider the following graphics directive.

    EdgeForm[
Directive[Thickness[Large],
Dashing[{Small, Small}],
Opacity[0.1],
RGBColor[0, 0, 1]]]


In a Manipulate I want to interactively change Thickness, Dashing, Opacity and Color of the edges of Polygons in a pattern. So, for each of them I will have to create a control. The EdgeForm is stored in Excel =as is=. So I will need to extract the values which will become the starting values for the controls out of the EdgeForm above, i.e.:

    Large,
{Small, Small},
0.1,
RBGColor [0,0,1]


for the four controls respectively.

My strategy was to ToString[EdgeForm[ ...everything ] and then do string manipulations on them but that turned out to become a lot of ( messy, still not working ) code. Considering this is Mathematica ( I thought that ) there must be a simple way to get the values out of that EdgeForm.

Question: How to change the EdgeForm above to {Large, {Small, Small}, 0.1, RBGColor [0,0,1] }. Needless to say that the values change per pattern, i.e. Tiny, Large, etc.

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You can use list manipulation functions on any expression, not merely Lists. You can do anything with that EdgeForm that you can do with a List, e.g. take a Part of it, Replace something inside, etc. It seems to me that you asked this question because you were not aware of this. – Szabolcs Apr 20 '12 at 15:19
Yes..., the paradigm issue. I will try a few things. – ndroock1 Apr 20 '12 at 15:24
OMG. That was in fact the answer. It's good that I asked anyway. Thanks. – ndroock1 Apr 20 '12 at 15:26

As @Szabolcs points out in the comments, you can always use Part or Replace regardless what head your expression has. I personally prefer ReplaceAll in cases such as this because I find it easier to tell what I intended with my code when I dig it up months or years later.

ef =
EdgeForm[Directive[Thickness[Large], Dashing[{Small, Small}],
Opacity[0.1], RGBColor[0, 0, 1]]];

ef /.
EdgeForm[Directive[Thickness[t_], Dashing[d_], Opacity[o_],
col_]] :> {t, d, o, col}

==> {Large, {Small, Small}, 0.1, RGBColor[0, 0, 1]}

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