scheme - contains?: undefined cannot reference undefined identifier - count

I have written a function that accepts a list of characters and checks how many times the instances of the vowels are in the list.
The following error appears when I try the function:
; contains?: undefined;
; cannot reference undefined identifier
; [,bt for context]
The function :
(define (count list)
(if (and(null? (cdr list))
(contains?(vowels)(car list)))
(+ counter 1)
(if(and (contains?(vowels)(car list))
(not(contains?(vowels)(cadr list))))
(+ counter 1)
(count(cdr list)))))

contains? is not part of either R5R, R6RS, or R7RS and thus is not part of any current Scheme standard.
In the current standard we have something that works in its place: member, memv, and memq:
(member '(b) '((a) (b) (c))) ; ==> ((b) (c))
(member '(q) '((a) (b) (c))) ; ==> #f
member uses equal? to check for same object. The others use eqv? (numbers) and eq? (identity).

Related

Controlling the printing of special cons forms (e.g printing (function +) as #'+ etc)

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.

Defining a type on a list that begins with a particular symbol

I am trying to use generic functions' ability to specify behaviour based on the first argument of a list.
In other words, I want the list (atypelist 1 2 3) and the list (btypelist 1 2 3) to have their individual behaviour when passed to foo. So far, this is what I came up with:
(deftype atypelist (lst)
`(eq (car ,lst) 'atypelist))
(deftype btypelist (lst)
`(eq (car ,lst) 'btypelist))
(defmethod foo ((lst atypelist))
(format nil "success atypelist: ~S" lst))
(defmethod foo ((lst btypelist))
(format nil "success btypelist: ~S" lst))
However, when I call (typep (list 'atypelist 1 2 3) 'atypelist) I get the following error:
error while parsing arguments to DEFTYPE ATYPELIST:
too few elements in
()
to satisfy lambda list
(LST):
exactly 1 expected, but got 0
I am guessing the error is in my definition of atypelist.
Questions:
Is there a better way to get the functionality I am looking for?
If yes - what is the way?
If not - how to properly define a type on a list/cons that has a particular symbol in the car?
Before I start: what you want to do can't work, and is confused in two ways.
Firstly deftype defines a type in terms of other type specifiers: the body of a deftype form must expand into a type specifier, not an expression, as yours does. And deftype's arguments are not the thing you want to check the type for, they are parts of the type specification.
In this case you want to specify that the thing is a cons, and that its car is eql to something. Fortunately there are specializing type specifiers for both of these things, and you end up with something like this:
(deftype cons-with-specified-car (x)
`(cons (eql ,x) t))
And now
> (typep '(1) '(cons-with-specified-car 1))
t
> (typep '(a) '(cons-with-specified-car a))
t
> (typep '() '(cons-with-specified-car a))
nil
And if you want:
(deftype cons-with-a ()
'(cons-with-specified-car a))
and now
> (typep '(a) 'cons-with-a)
t
Secondly none of this will work because this it not how CLOS works. CLOS dispatches on classes not types, and you have merely defined a type, not a class: your method definitions simply cannot work, since classes cannot be parametrized in this way like types can.
Some ways you might achieve what you want.
If what you want to do is to dispatch on the first element of a list, then the obvious approach, if you want to use CLOS, is to use a two-level approach where you first dispatch on the class of the thing (cons is a class), and then use eql specializers to pick out the things you want.
(defgeneric select (it)
(:method ((it cons))
(select* (car it) it))
(:method (it)
nil))
(defgeneric select* (key it)
(:method (key it)
(format t "~&unknown key ~S in ~S~%" key it)))
(defmethod select* ((key (eql 'a)) it)
(format t "~&~S begins with a~%" it))
However in a case like this, unless you very much want the extensibility that CLOS gets you (which is a good reason to use CLOS here), I'd just use typecase. You could do this using the type defined above:
(defun select (it)
(typecase it
((cons-with-specified-car a)
'(cons a))
(cons
'cons)
(t
nil)))
or, probably simpler, just use what the deftype expands into:
(defun select (it)
(typecase it
((cons (eql a) t)
'(cons a))
(cons
'cons)
(t
nil)))
Finally probably what anyone doing this would actually write (again, assuming you do not want the extensibility CLOS gets you) is:
(defun select (it)
(typecase it
(cons
(case (car it)
...))
(t
...)))
Here is a possible solution, using the type specifier satisfies:
CL-USER> (defun is-atypelist (list)
(eq (car list) 'atypelist))
IS-ATYPELIST
CL-USER> (defun is-btypelist (list)
(eq (car list) 'btypelist))
IS-BTYPELIST
CL-USER> (deftype atypelist ()
`(satisfies is-atypelist))
ATYPELIST
CL-USER> (deftype btypelist ()
`(satisfies is-btypelist))
BTYPELIST
CL-USER> (typep (list 'atypelist 1 2 3) 'atypelist)
T
CL-USER> (typep (list 'atypelist 1 2 3) 'btypelist)
NIL
Note that this does not define a class, but a type, if this is what you need.
Is there a better way to get the functionality I am looking for?
1. Wrap your lists in container types
(defclass lst () ((items :initarg :items :reader items)))
(defclass alst (lst) ())
(defclass blst (lst) ())
It may be a little bit more cumbersome to work with but this is pretty much straightforward and not too suprising.
2. Douple-dispatch
(defgeneric foo (val))
(defgeneric foo/tag (tag val))
For example:
(defmethod foo ((c cons))
(destructuring-bind (tag . list) c
(foo/tag tag list)))
3. Define a custom method combination
It should be possible to hack the meta-object protocol dispatch mechanism to dispatch on the first item of a list. I wouldn't recommend it however.
4. Use a different dispatch mechanism
Use a completely different dispatching mechanism outside of CLOS, like pprint-dispatch does. For example you may want to use trivia or optima pattern-matching libraries, or cl-algebraic-data-type. This may be more useful if you are dealing with trees of symbols.

Concatenate List of Characters Recursively in Common LISP

So I'm attempting to implement a Caesar cipher in LISP recursively, and I've got the basic functionality working. The problem is it returns a list of characters, and calling concatenate 'string on the return statement just returns the same list of characters plus a "". What am I doing wrong here?
(defun caesar (s n)
(if (null (concatenate 'list s))
'()
(cons
(code-char (+ n (char-code (car (concatenate 'list s)))))
(caesar (coerce (cdr (concatenate 'list s)) 'string) n)
)
)
)
The right approach to something like this is to do the conversion between string & list in a wrapper of some kind & then have the main function work on the list.
Here is an approach to doing that which uses some of the power and elegance of CL. This:
uses CLOS methods to do wrapping -- this will presumably make it ineligible for submission as homework, in case that is what it is, but is a good demonstration of how pretty CLOS can be I think, and is also how I would actually write something like this;
uses coerce in the wrapper method rather than concatenate to change types, since that's what it's for;
intentionally does not deal with some of the other problems of the original code around recursion & char-codes.
First of all here is a version which uses two methods: a wrapper method (defined in the generic function definition for convenience) and then the recursive method which does the work:
(defgeneric caesar (text n)
(:method ((text string) n)
;; if we're given a string just turn it into a list, then recurse
;; on the list & turn it back to a string (of the same type, hence
;; TYPE-OF).
(coerce (caesar (coerce text 'list) n) (type-of text))))
(defmethod caesar ((text list) n)
;; The recursive level (note this has various issues which are in
;; the original code & not addressed here
(if (null text)
'()
(cons (code-char (+ n (char-code (first text))))
(caesar (rest text) n))))
Secondly here is a slightly too-clever approach, using a special termination-on-null method. I would not recommend this, but it's a neat demonstration of the kind of thing CLOS can do.
(defgeneric caesar (text n)
(:method ((text string) n)
;; if we're given a string just turn it into a list, then recurse
;; on the list & turn it back to a string (of the same type, hence
;; TYPE-OF).
(coerce (caesar (coerce text 'list) n) (type-of text))))
(defmethod caesar ((text null) n)
;; termination
'())
(defmethod caesar ((text list) n)
;; The recursive level (note this has various issues which are in
;; the original code & not addressed here
(cons (code-char (+ n (char-code (first text))))
(caesar (rest text) n)))
I would be tempted to combine with-output-to-string and labels (for the recursive bit):
(defun caesar (s n)
(with-output-to-string (cipher)
(labels ((beef (s)
(when s
(princ <whatever> cipher)
(beef (rest s)))))
(beef (coerce s 'list)))))
Caveat: the above is thoroughly untested and simply typed into this message, so likely will not even compile. It just makes the suggestions more cncrete.

Clojure recursion through let binding

From core.clj, the definition of assoc (trimmed of metadata etc)
(def assoc
(fn assoc
([map key val] (. clojure.lang.RT (assoc map key val)))
([map key val & kvs]
(let [ret (assoc map key val)]
(if kvs
(if (next kvs)
(recur ret (first kvs) (second kvs) (nnext kvs))
(throw (IllegalArgumentException. "assoc expects even no of args...")))
ret)))))
what does the let binding of ret achieve? Why is it not just:
(def assoc
(fn assoc
([map key val] (. clojure.lang.RT (assoc map key val)))
([map key val & kvs]
(if kvs
(if (next kvs)
(recur (first kvs) (second kvs) (nnext kvs))
(throw (IllegalArgumentException. "assoc expects even no of args...")))
ret))))
Rudimentary testing (in ClojureCLR) seemed to indicate the latter works ok, and I can't find any documentation indicating the use of the former. Any clues?
Thanks, gary
Your version should fail to compile because not enough arguments are passed to recur (four are needed in this case). The let exists to bind the result of association of the first pair of key/values passed to the first body (3-arity) as ret. In case the second body was invoked by itself earlier using recur with kvs = nil (as a result of calling nnext in the recur form as the fourth argument) (if kvs ..) will fail and ret can simply be returned. If there are more kvs tailrecursion can happen.

about the function eval in common lisp

Can somebody explain why the function eval behaves like this?
(eval (list 'cons t nil)) returns (T)
(eval (list 'cons 'a nil)) causes an error
(eval (list 'cons ''a nil)) returns (A)
Thanks a lot.
First:
(CONS T NIL)
T is a constant and returns T when evaluated. NIL is also a constant and evaluates to NIL. (CONS T NIL) then returns (T . NIL), which is shorter written as (T).
Second:
(CONS A NIL)
A is a variable. It is possibly undefined. Evaluating it will lead to an error when A is undefined.
Third:
Now you should think about the third form...
One more thing that you may want to note is that third form is embedding the symbol A in the list. Usually this is the form which is mostly taught in Lisp books for learning by experimenting on REPL. However in actual programs / functions, you may be using initially more of putting value or list represented by A in the list and not the symbol A.
e.g.
(setf a 2)
(eval (list 'cons a nil)) => (2) [A is evaluated before list is evaluated; (eval '(cons 2 nil))]
(eval (list 'cons 'a nil)) => (2) [A is evaluated when (eval '(cons a nil)) is evaluated]
(eval (list 'cons ''a nil)) => (A) [A does not get evaluated as call is (eval '(cons 'a nil)); 'a is symbol A]
If you don't do (setf a 2) in the beginning, 1st and 2nd both forms will give error. This is because when a is evaluated, it is not bounded (i.e. crudely, it does not have any value associated with it)

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