Equating large lists

Question

Lets say I have a list of undefined variables {a1,a2,a3,a4}. I could type out each element by hand, but if I wanted to eventually extend the list, it would be easier generate the list by Table[ToExpression["a" <> ToString[i]], {i, 1, 4}].

Now, lets say I want to assign values to each element. In the first method when I type it out by hand, I simply put {a1,a2,a3,a4} = {1,2,3,4}, then I get the result that I wanted: a1=1, a2=2, a3=3, a4=4.

Now, if I try to assign to each element a value using the second method, I would think it would make sense to put Table[ToExpression["a" <> ToString[i]], {i, 1, 4}] = {1,2,3,4}. However, it gives me an error.

How can I equate a variable list generated by the table function to another list? I have tried about 5 different methods, and the only thing that seems to work is to copy and paste the output from the table function into a new kernel, but this is not an elegant solution at all.

Answer 1

Evaluate[Table[ToExpression["a" <> ToString[i]], {i, 1, 4}]] = {1, 2, 3, 4}

You need to ensure that the first argument of Set (=) is actually evaluated, because Table is protected, but it will handle List as expected once Table is evaluated.