How to define a function that acts invidually on a varible number of arguments

I am trying to generate a function that applies to each argument for any number and type of arguments. The function might work like this:

m = {{1, 2}, {3, 4}}; (* matrix *)
v = {1, 2, 1}; (*a vector *)
b = 10; (* a scalar *)

f[x__] := p[x] (* not sure what the function would like but this is probably close *)

f[m, v, b] (* notice arguments are not in a list n*)
(* Out: {p[m], p[v], p[b]} (*desired output *)


How would I set up such a function? How should attributes be set?

• Will the arguments stay in the order you give them? What happens when you give a List? – CA Trevillian Jun 9 '20 at 3:05

ClearAll[f]
f = Map[p] @* List;

f[m, v, b]

{p[{{1, 2}, {3, 4}}], p[{1, 2, 1}], p[10]}

• thank you the function model works. For a real world case I would replace p with objectName = Function[Null, SymbolName[Unevaluated[#]], {HoldFirst}]; which works fine when called directly for example x = {1,2,3} with objectName[x] but not when called from another function f[x]as in replacing p: f=Map[objectName]@*List and I can't figure out why. ?x reveals its a symbol but I get not a symbol errors when used in this model. – Jules Manson Jun 9 '20 at 6:50
• @kglr is there any functional difference between your answer and mine? I wonder if I’m missing something. – MarcoB Jun 9 '20 at 14:04
• @Marco, the only difference i can think of is the case f[]. (This is equivalent to f[x___] :=Map[p, {x}].) – kglr Jun 9 '20 at 19:13
Clear[f]
f[x__] := Map[p, {x}]


Then:

f[m, v, b]
(* Out: {p[{{1, 2}, {3, 4}}], p[{1, 2, 1}], p[10]} *)


If on the other hand, you really mean that m etc should appear as such, not evaluated, then that would require significant amounts of trickery. When such an abstruse requirement crops up, it sometimes makes me wonder whether the overall approach might not need reconsideration.

• thank you for your input. You may be right about reconsidering this approach. – Jules Manson Jun 9 '20 at 6:52