scala turning an Iterator[Option[T]] into an Iterator[T]

Question

I have an Iterator[Option[T]] and I want to get an Iterator[T] for those Options where T isDefined. There must be a better way than this:

it filter { _ isDefined} map { _ get }

I would have thought that it was possible in one construct... Anybody any ideas?

Answer 1

In the case where it is an Iterable

val it:Iterable[Option[T]] = ...
it.flatMap( x => x )                //returns an Iterable[T]

In the case where it is an Iterator

val it:Iterator[Option[T]] = ...
it.flatMap( x => x elements )       //returns an Iterator[T]
it.flatMap( _ elements)             //equivalent

Answer 2

In newer versions this is now possible:

val it: Iterator[Option[T]] = ...
val flatIt = it.flatten