The usual way to generate HTML using CL-WHO is by using the macros with-html-output and with-html-output-to-string. This uses special syntax. For example:
(let ((id "greeting")
(message "Hello!"))
(cl-who:with-html-output-to-string (*standard-output*)
((:p :id id) message)))
Is it possible to write the data ((:p :id id) message) as a list instead of using the macro syntax shown above? For example, I would like to define the HTML as a list like this:
(let* ((id "greeting")
(message "Hello!")
(the-html `((:p :id ,id) ,message)))
;; What should I do here to generate HTML using CL-WHO?
)
Can CL-WHO take a normal Lisp list and produce HTML from the list?
You want to insert code into an expression.
Actually you would need eval:
(let* ((id "greeting")
(message "Hello!")
(the-html `((:p :id ,id) ,message)))
(eval `(cl-who:with-html-output-to-string (*standard-output*)
,the-html)))
But this is not good to use eval.
But a macro contains an implicite eval.
I would define a macro for this and call the macro:
(defun html (&body body)
`(cl-who:with-html-output-to-string (*standard-output*)
,#body))
;; but still one doesn't get rid of the `eval` ...
;; one has to call:
(let* ((id "greeting")
(message "Hello!")
(the-html `((:p :id ,id) ,message)))
(eval `(html ,the-html)))
Related
I want some reader macros to print as as shortened expression that the macro understands. Lets say I want to extend the #' macro to take #'~[rest-of-symbol] and turn that into (complement #'rest-of-symbol).
What controls how that is printed? On SBCL, for instance, '(function +) prints as #'+. How do i make '(complement #'listp) print as #~listp?
My first thought was
(defmethod print-object :around ((obj cons) stream)
;; if #'~fn-name / (complement (function fn-name))
;; => fn-name otherwise NIL
(let ((fn-name
(ignore-errors
(destructuring-bind (complement (function fn-name))
obj
(when (and (eq complement 'complement)
(eq function 'function))
fn-name)))))
(if fn-name
(format stream "#'~~~S" fn-name)
(call-next-method))))
This works insofar as (print-object '(complement #'evenp) *standard-output*) prints it the way I want, but the REPL doesn't. Also (print-object '#'+ *standard-output*) prints it as (function +) so the REPL isn't using print-object. With defining the print-object method for user defined classes the REPL always picks up on the new definition.
This is my first post and I'm sorry I can't get the code to format properly. If someone can put a link on how to do that I would appreciate it.
Evaluation time
You are mixing code with data in your example:
(function +)
Is a special form that evaluates to a function object, which admits a shorter syntax:
#'+
But when you are writing:
'(function +)
or
'(complement fn)
Then in both cases you are writing quoted, literal lists, which evaluates to themselves (namely a list starting with symbol function or complement, followed respectively by symbol + and fn).
However, you want the code to be evaluated at runtime to actual function objects; if you type this in the REPL:
(complement #'alpha-char-p)
The result is a value that is printed as follows:
#<FUNCTION (LAMBDA (&REST SB-IMPL::ARGUMENTS) :IN COMPLEMENT) {101AAC8D9B}>
You have an actual function object that you can funcall. In other words, by the time you reach print-object, you no longer have access to source code, you are manipulating data at runtime which happens to be functions. So you cannot use destructuring-bind to get the complement symbol that was present in the source code.
What you need to do instead is to attach metadata to your function. There is a way to do that in Common Lisp by defining a new type of function, thanks to the Meta-Object Protocol.
Funcallable objects
I'm relying on Closer-MOP for all the symbols prefixed with c2cl: below. I define a new class of functions, annotated-fn, which is a function with addditional data:
(defclass annotated-fn (c2cl:funcallable-standard-object)
((data :initform :data :initarg :data :reader annotated-fn-data))
(:metaclass c2cl:funcallable-standard-class))
Notice that this class is a funcallable-standard-object (like the usual functions), and its metaclass is funcallable-standard-class. Such an object has an additional implicit slot that is a function to call.
More precisely, you have to call c2cl:set-funcallable-instance-function to set a function associated with the object, and when later you use funcall or apply with the object, then the wrapped function is called instead. So you can transparently use this class of functions wherever you usually use a function. It just has additional slots (here data).
For example, here is how I instantiate it, with a function to wrap additional data:
(defun annotate-fn (function data)
(let ((object (make-instance 'annotated-fn :data data)))
(prog1 object
(c2cl:set-funcallable-instance-function object function))))
Let's try it:
(describe
(annotate-fn (constantly 3)
'(:category :constantly)))
#<ANNOTATED-FN {1006275C7B}>
[funcallable-instance]
Lambda-list: UNKNOWN
Derived type: FUNCTION
Documentation:
T
Source file: SYS:SRC;CODE;FUNUTILS.LISP
Slots with :INSTANCE allocation:
DATA = (:CATEGORY :CONSTANTLY)
You can also use this object like any other function.
Now, your reader macros can expand into calls to annotate-fn, and add any kind of additional metadata you need to the function.
Reader macro
For our example, imagine you define a reader macros for constant functions:
(set-macro-character #\[ 'read-constantly t)
(set-macro-character #\] (get-macro-character #\) nil))
(defun read-constantly (stream char)
(declare (ignore char))
(let* ((list (read-delimited-list #\] stream t))
(value (if (rest list) list (first list)))
(var (gensym)))
`(let ((,var ,value))
(annotate-fn (constantly ,var)
(list :category :constantly
:constant ,var)))))
Using this syntax:
> [(+ 8 5)]
=> #<ANNOTATED-FN ...>
By the way, the syntax I defined also allows the following:
> [+ 8 5]
Pretty-printing
Let's define a generic function that prints an annotated function given its :category field:
(defgeneric print-for-category (category data object stream))
(defmethod print-object ((o annotated-fn) s)
(let* ((data (annotated-fn-data o))
(category (getf data :category)))
(print-for-category category data o s)))
Then, we can specialize it for :constantly, and here we assume also that the data associated with the function contains a :constant field:
(defmethod print-for-category ((_ (eql :constantly)) data o s)
(format s "[~s]" (getf data :constant)))
For example:
(let ((value (+ 8 6)))
(annotate-fn (constantly value)
`(:constant ,value
:category :constantly)))
This above is printed as:
[14]
Which would be the same as your hypothetical reader macro.
To do this you need to understand the pretty printer. I have understood it in the past but no longer do completely. It dispatches on type and the trick for things like this is that you can specify very specific types for trees of conses, although doing so is verbose.
Here is an example which is almost certainly not completely correct, but does achieve what you want in this case:
(defparameter *ppd* (copy-pprint-dispatch))
(defun pprint-complement-function (s form)
;; This is the thing that the pretty printer will call. It can
;; assume that the form it wants to print is already correct.
(destructuring-bind (complement (function name)) form
(declare (ignore complement function))
(format s "#'~~~W" name)))
;;; Now set this in the table with a suitable hairy type specification
;;;
(set-pprint-dispatch '(cons (eql complement)
(cons (cons (eql function)
(cons t null))
null))
'pprint-complement-function
0
*ppd*)
And now
> (let ((*print-pprint-dispatch* *ppd*))
(pprint '(complement (function foo)))
(pprint '((complement (function foo)) (function foo))))
#'~foo
(#'~foo #'foo)
You can make the awful nested cons type specifier easier by defining this (which, perhaps, should be the compound type specifier for list except you can't do that):
(deftype list-of-types (&rest types)
(labels ((lot (tt)
(if (null tt)
'null
`(cons ,(first tt) ,(lot (rest tt))))))
(lot types)))
And then
(set-pprint-dispatch '(list-of-types (eql complement)
(list-of-types (eql function)
*))
'pprint-complement-function
0
*ppd*)
is perhaps easier to read.
I have a struct with :name and :value that I'd like to use as arguments to a macro. But I'm not sure how to tell lisp that.
I can write out the call like
(sxql:yield (sxql:set= :name "a" :value 1))
"SET name = ?, value = ?"
("a" 1)
But I'd like to use an already existing structure
(defstruct my-struct name value)
(setq x (make-my-struct :name "a" :value 1))
; #S(MY-STRUCT :NAME "a" :VALUE 1)
using answers from Common LISP: convert (unknown) struct object to plist?
I've made
(defun struct-plist (x)
"make struct X into a property list. ugly kludge"
(let* ((slots (sb-mop:class-slots (class-of x)))
(names (mapcar 'sb-mop:slot-definition-name slots)))
(alexandria:flatten
(mapcar (lambda (n) (list (intern (string n) "KEYWORD")
(slot-value x n)))
names))))
(setq p (struct-plist x)) ; (:NAME "a" :VALUE 1)
My naive attempts are
(sxql:set= p) ; error in FORMAT: No more argument SET ~{~A = ~A~^, ~}
(funcall 'sxql:set= p) ; SXQL:SET= is a macro, not a function.
(macroexpand (sxql:set= p)) ; error in FORMAT ...
I imagine this is an easy/fundamental lisp programming question. But I'm not sure how to ask it (or search for answers). I'm also hoping there is an better struct<->plist story than what I've stumbled across so far.
EDIT: In case this is really an xy-problem. I've used flydata:defmodel to create the struct and I want to insert to a database using the same model.
This is definitely an xy problem: unfortunately I don't understand y (flydata?) well enough to answer the y part.
Here's why what you are trying to do can't work however. Consider this code in a file being compiled:
(defstruct mine name value)
...
(sxql:set= <anything derived from mine>)
Compiling this file must satisfy two constraints:
It does not fully create the structure type mine (see defstruct);
It must macroexpand sxql:set=.
What these constraints mean is that sxql:set= can't know about the structure at the time it is expanded. So any trick which relies on information about the structure must make that information available at compile time.
As I said, I don't understand the y part well enough to understand what you are trying to do, but a hacky approach to this is:
write a wrapper for defstruct which stashes information at compile time (strictly: at macro-expansion time);
write a wrapper for sxql:set= which uses that information to expand into something which makes sense.
Here is a mindless wrapper for defstruct. Note that this is mindless: it can only understand the most simple defstruct forms, and even then it may be wrong. It exists only as an example.
(eval-when (:compile-toplevel :load-toplevel :execute)
(defvar *structure-information* '()))
(defmacro define-mindless-structure (name &body slots)
(assert (and (symbolp name)
(every #'symbolp slots))
(name slots)
"I am too mindless")
(let ((found (or (assoc name *structure-information*)
(car (push (list name) *structure-information*)))))
(setf (cdr found) (mapcar (lambda (slot)
(list slot (intern (symbol-name slot)
(find-package "KEYWORD"))
(intern (concatenate 'string
(symbol-name name)
"-"
(symbol-name slot)))))
slots)))
`(defstruct ,name ,#slots))
So now
(define-mindless-structure mine
name value)
Will expand into (defstruct mine name value) and, at macroexpansion time will stash some information about this structure in *structure-information*.
Now I stop really understanding what you need to do because I don't know what sxql:set= is meant to do, but it might be something like this:
(defmacro mindless-set= ((s o))
(let ((info (assoc s *structure-information*))
(ov (make-symbol "O")))
(unless info
(error "no information for ~A" s))
`(let ((,ov ,o))
(sxql:set= ,#(loop for (slot initarg accessor) in (cdr info)
;; the compiler will whine about slot annoyingly
collect initarg
collect `(,accessor ,ov))))))
So with this macro, assuming a suitable define-mindless-structure for mine form has been seen by the time the macro is expanded, then
(mindless-set= (mine it))
Will expand into
(let ((#:o it))
(set= :name (mine-name #:o) :value (mine-value #:o)))
But, as I said, I am not sure what the expansion you actually want is.
Finally, before even thinking about using anything like the above, it would be worth looking around to see if there are portability libraries which provide compile/macroexpansion-time functionality like this: there very well may be such, as I don't keep up with things.
I'm still quite new to Common Lisp macros.
For an abstraction over a defclass with defgeneric I thought it'd be nice to make a macro.
A complitely naive implementation looks like:
(defmacro defgserver (name &key call-handler cast-handler)
"TODO: needs firther testing. Convenience macro to more easily create a new `gserver' class."
`(progn
(defclass ,name (gserver) ())
(defmethod handle-call ((server ,name) message current-state)
,(if call-handler call-handler nil))
(defmethod handle-cast ((server ,name) message current-state)
,(if cast-handler cast-handler nil))))
When used the error says that 'message' is not known.
I'm not sure. 'message' is the name of a parameter of defgeneric:
(defgeneric handle-call (gserver message current-state))
Using the macro I see a warning 'undefined variable message':
(defgserver foo :call-handler
(progn
(print message)))
; in: DEFGSERVER FOO
; (PRINT MESSAGE)
;
; caught WARNING:
; undefined variable: COMMON-LISP-USER::MESSAGE
Which when used has this consequence:
CL-USER> (defvar *my* (make-instance 'foo))
*MY*
CL-USER> (call *my* "Foo")
<WARN> [10:55:10] cl-gserver gserver.lisp (handle-message fun5) -
Error condition was raised on message processing: CL-GSERVER::C: #<UNBOUND-VARIABLE MESSAGE {1002E24553}>
So something has to happen with message and/or current-state.
Should they be interned into the current package where the macro is used?
Manfred
The problem, as mentioned, is that you are talking about different symbols.
However this is really a symptom of a more general problem: what you are trying to do is a sort of anaphora. If you fixed up the package structure so this worked:
(defgserver foo :call-handler
(progn
(print message)))
Then, well, what exactly is message? Where did it come from, what other bindings exist in that scope? Anaphora can be useful, but it also can be a source of obscure bugs like this.
So, I think a better way to do this, which avoids this problem is to say that the *-handler options should specify what arguments they expect. So instead of the above form you'd write something like this:
(defgserver foo
:call-handler ((server message state)
(print message)
(detonate server)))
So here, value of the :call-handler-option is the argument list and body of a function, which the macro will turn into a method specialising on the first argument. Because the methods it creates have argument lists provided by the user of the macro there's never a problem with names, and there is no anaphora.
So, one way to do that is to do two things:
make the default values of these options be suitable for processing into methods without any special casing;
write a little local function in the macro which turns one of these specifications into a suitable (defmethod ...) form.
The second part is optional of course, but it saves a little bit of code.
In addition to this I've also done a slightly dirty trick: I've changed the macro definition so it has an &body option, the value of which is ignored. The only reason I've done this is to help my editor indent it better.
So, here's a revised version:
(defmacro defgserver (name &body forms &key
(call-handler '((server message current-state)
(declare (ignorable
server message current-state))
nil))
(cast-handler '((server message current-state)
(declare (ignorable
server message current-state))
nil)))
"TODO: needs firther testing. Convenience macro to more easily
create a new `gserver' class."
(declare (ignorable forms))
(flet ((write-method (mname mform)
(destructuring-bind (args &body decls/forms) mform
`(defmethod ,mname ((,(first args) ,name) ,#(rest args))
,#decls/forms))))
`(progn
(defclass ,name (gserver) ())
,(write-method 'handle-call call-handler)
,(write-method 'handle-cast cast-handler))))
And now
(defgserver foo
:call-handler ((server message state)
(print message)
(detonate server)))
Expands to
(progn
(defclass foo (gserver) nil)
(defmethod handle-call ((server foo) message state)
(print message)
(detonate server))
(defmethod handle-cast ((server foo) message current-state)
(declare (ignorable server message current-state))
nil))
I am working on a function that transforms an alist into a query parameters. So far it looks like this.
(defun encode-options (opts)
"Turns an alist into url query parameters."
(format nil "~{~{~A=~A~}~^&~}" opts))
This works perfectly for alists like ((a b) (c d)) (Resulting in "A=B&C=D"), but fails for dotted alists like ((a . b) (c . d)). (Resulting in The value B is not of type LIST.)
My question is: Is it possible to format the dotted alist to give me the expected results and how?
Is it possible to format the dotted alist?
No, format iterates over proper lists.
There are many possible ways to implement what you want. Here I present two of them.
Keep control string, change data
(defun ensure-proper-list (value)
(typecase value
(null nil)
(cons (cons (car value)
(ensure-proper-list (cdr value))))
(t (list value))))
Now, you transform the option argument so that all elements are proper lists:
(defun encode-options (options)
"Turns an alist into url query parameters."
(format nil
"~{~{~A=~A~}~^&~}"
(mapcar #'ensure-proper-list options)))
Keep data, change control string
(defun print-alist (stream data &optional colonp atsignp)
(declare (ignore colonp atsignp))
(destructuring-bind (head . tail) data
(format stream "~A=~A" head (if (consp tail) (first tail) tail))))
With this new format control, print the list as given:
(defun encode-options (options)
"Turns an alist into url query parameters."
(format nil
"~{~/lib:print-alist/~^&~}"
options))
Note that I added a package prefix lib because without a package, print-alist would be looked up in the user package (a.k.a. COMMON-LISP-USER), which in my opinion is rarely what you want. From 22.3.5.4 Tilde Slash: Call Function:
The function corresponding to a ~/name/ directive is obtained by
looking up the symbol that has the indicated name in the indicated
package. If name does not contain a ":" or "::", then the whole name
string is looked up in the COMMON-LISP-USER package.
That's why I would recommend to always mention the package with ~/ directives.
When accessing class slots, instead of writing
(defmethod get-name ((somebody person) (slot-value somebody 'name))
is it possible to use the dot notation aka C++, namely
(defmethod get-name ((somebody person) somebody.name) ?
Otherwise, when there are many slot operations in a method, (slot-value... creates a lot of boilerplate code.
I have figured out the answer today and I am just posting it as a Q&A, but if there are better solutions or there are problems I should expect with my solution, feel free to add new answers or comments.
The library access provides a dot notation reader macro for accessing slots (and hash-tables and other things). After enabling the reader macro by calling (access:enable-dot-syntax) you'll able to use #D. to access a slot name with the dot syntax popular in other languages.
(defclass person ()
((name :initarg :name :reader name)))
CL-USER> (access:enable-dot-syntax)
; No values
CL-USER> (defvar *foo* (make-instance 'person :name "John Smith"))
*FOO*
CL-USER> #D*foo*
#<PERSON #x302001F1E5CD>
CL-USER> #D*foo*.name
"John Smith"
There is also a with-dot macro if you don't want to use a reader macro
CL-USER> (access:with-dot () *foo*.name)
"John Smith"
You should not write accessors by hand, nor use slot-value (outside of object lifecycle functions, where the accessors may not have been created yet). Use the class slot options instead:
(defclass foo ()
((name :reader foo-name
:initarg :name)
(bar :accessor foo-bar
:initarg :bar)))
Now you can use the named accessors:
(defun example (some-foo new-bar)
(let ((n (foo-name some-foo))
(old-bar (foo-bar some-foo)))
(setf (foo-bar some-foo) new-bar)
(values n old-bar)))
Often, you want your classes to be "immutable", you'd use :reader instead of :accessor then, which only creates the reader, not the setf expansion.
The easiest solutions seems to be a reader macro that overloads . so that (slot-value somebody 'name) can be written as .somebody.name My strategy is to read somebody.name as a string (we need to define a non-terminating macro character so that the reader does not stop mid-string), and then process the string to construct the appropriate (slot-value...
I will need two helper functions:
(defun get-symbol (str)
"Make an uppercase symbol"
(intern (string-upcase str)))
(defun split-string (str sep &optional (start 0))
"Split a string into lists given a character separator"
(let ((end (position sep str :start start)))
(cons (subseq str start end) (if end (split-string str sep (1+ end))))))
And then I can define my reader macro:
(defun dot-reader (stream char)
(declare (ignore char))
(labels ((make-query (list)
(let ((car (car list))
(cdr (cdr list)))
(if cdr `(slot-value ,(make-query cdr) (quote ,(get-symbol car)))
(get-symbol car)))))
(make-query (nreverse (split-string (symbol-name (read stream)) #\.)))))
Finally, I need to register this reader macro:
(set-macro-character #\. #'dot-reader t)
Now it is possible to write:
(defmethod get-name ((somebody person) .somebody.name)
or, if name is itself a class,
(defmethod get-name ((somebody person) .somebody.name.first-name)
One restriction is that s-expressions will not work between the dots, say
.(get-my-class).name
won't work.