# AbstractArray doesn't capture the element type of a UnitRange
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/abstractarray-doesnt-capture-the-element-type-of-a-unitrange/18159
**Category:** New to Julia
**Created:** [November 29, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/abstractarray-doesnt-capture-the-element-type-of-a-unitrange/18159 "2018-11-29T19:07:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hesham](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hesham)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/abstractarray-doesnt-capture-the-element-type-of-a-unitrange/18159/1 "2018-11-29T19:07:27Z")
Hi,
I have a function that I want to work on ranges and Vectors.
I see UnitRange{Int64} and Arrays{Int64,1} type hierarchy intersect at AbstractArray{Int64,1}, so I wrote my function as:
```julia
function test(t::AbstractArray{T,1}) where T
return T
end
```
```julia
julia> test([1:3])
UnitRange{Int64}
julia> test([1,2,3])
Int64
```
I was expecting to see Int64 as a result for both.
Any explanation?
---
### Author:  [@mbauman](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mbauman)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/abstractarray-doesnt-capture-the-element-type-of-a-unitrange/18159/2 "2018-11-29T19:19:13Z")
In Julia, the `1:3` _itself_ is a UnitRange.
When you put brackets around it, it means you’re putting the UnitRange _into_ an array:
```julia
julia> A = [1:3]
1-element Array{UnitRange{Int64},1}:
1:3
julia> [1:3,5:7]
2-element Array{UnitRange{Int64},1}:
1:3
5:7
```
Just do `test(1:3)` and you’ll find things to work as you expected.
Note that we print UnitRanges just like they’re entered, but they really are fully-functional array-like objects. You can see this by converting them to an `Array` or doing maths on them:
```julia
julia> r = 1:3
1:3
julia> size(r)
(3,)
julia> Array(r)
3-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
2
3
julia> r .^ 2
3-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
4
9
```
---
### Author:  [@hesham](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hesham)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/abstractarray-doesnt-capture-the-element-type-of-a-unitrange/18159/3 "2018-11-29T19:59:00Z")
This is indeed the issue. Thanks!