Extract values from a list of IO actions

Question

So I've got something like:

[IO Blah, IO Blah, IO Blah]

and I really want just a list of Blahs, how can I do it?

P.S.: Yes, I am working within an IO function.

Answer 1

Use sequence.

Evaluate each action in the sequence from left to right, and collect the results.

do blahs <- sequence listOfIoBlah
   -- now use blahs

Answer 2

Hoogle can be very useful in answering these sort of questions, if you know how to formulate the question as a type, for example: http://www.haskell.org/hoogle/?hoogle=%5BIO+a%5D+-%3E+IO+%5Ba%5D