How to turn quoted string input into value of a vector?

Question

I would like to accept input from the user in a format such as:

arg_from_user = "c(1,2,3)"

and then assign the content of this string to a vector, such that:

vector = mystery_function(arg_from_user)

vector
[1] 1 2 3

What do I use in place of mystery_function?

Answer 1

You could try

eval(parse(text="c(1,2,3)"))