How to 'unassign' variables used for PlotPoints, which subsequently print as e.g. ChartingPrivatepvar$727158 I have a table of four insoluble equations, fceq, in terms of unassigned variables, Subscript[fc, i], Subscript[μ, i].  I am using contour plots to visualise them: cplots = Table[ContourPlot[Evaluate[fceq[[i]]], {Subscript[fc, i], 0, 1}, {Subscript[μ, i], 1, 3.8}, PlotPoints -> 260], {i, 1, 4}]  That works fine but it has an unpleasant side effect. After running this, printing Subscript[fc, 1], for example, returns ChartingPrivatepvar$727158


instead of simply fc_1, and similarly for mu_1. I want to remove these assignments so I can use these variables again, but Clear[Subscript[fc, 1]] doesn't work. What's going on? Thanks!

• This is a good reason not to use subscripts except for display purposes. It leads to no end of headaches otherwise. – J. M. will be back soon Mar 24 '18 at 16:01
• I agree! I usually avoid subs but in my current work I have lots of tables of equations and I couldn't figure out how to automatically index variables without using subs. Is there a way to do, e.g. Table[xi[t]-> i Sin[t],{i,1,imax}] such that the loop knows to isolate the 'i' in 'xi' and change it with the index? I want the output to be {x1[t]->1 Sin[t], x2[t]->2 Sin[t], ....} This is straightforward if the 'i' is dropped to a subscript but then all the associated problems with subs show up. Where's the happy medium? Thanks. – dr_strangeloop Mar 25 '18 at 0:30
• If you must: Table[x[i][t] -> i Sin[t], {i, 1, imax}]. – J. M. will be back soon Mar 25 '18 at 1:01

Simple answer: I realised I can use Unset.

Subscript[fc, 1]=.


Then Subscript[fc, 1] simply returns fc_1 as required.

I think this issue is worth reporting to support. As a workaround, you could use Block. For example, without the Block:

Subscript[fc, 1]
cplots = Table[ContourPlot[Sin[Subscript[fc, i] Subscript[μ, i]],{Subscript[fc, i],0,1},{Subscript[μ, i],1,3.8}],{i,1,4}];
Subscript[fc, 1]


Subscript[fc, 1]

ChartingPrivatepvar\$23375

Using Block:

Clear[Subscript]
Subscript[fc, 1]
Block[{Subscript},
cplots = Table[ContourPlot[Sin[Subscript[fc, i] Subscript[μ, i]],{Subscript[fc, i],0,1},{Subscript[μ, i],1,3.8}],{i,1,4}];
]
Subscript[fc, 1]


Subscript[fc, 1]

Subscript[fc, 1]