Maybe I'm trying to be too creative here.
Is it possible to extend the concept of dynamic binding to SETFable places of a dynamic variable, so that I can shadow part of a dynamic variable (such as a plist) with LET bindings?
For example, I would like to be able to do something like:
(defparameter *foo* '(:one 1))
(let (((getf *foo* :one) 2))
(do-things))
To shadow the value of :one with 2.
This example doesn't work since (getf *foo* :one) is not a variable name that LET can assign a value to, but perhaps there is another way?
There is no standard way, but some implementations may offer
extensions, e.g., letf.
Alternatively, you can use
unwind-protect yourself:
(let ((old-value (getf *foo* :one)))
(unwind-protect
(progn (setf (getf *foo* :one) 2)
(do-things))
(setf (getf *foo* :one) old-value)))
If this is a common operation in your code, you might even define a macro for that:
(defmacro with-one (tmp-one &body body)
"Bind (getf *foo* :one) to tmp-one around body."
(let ((old-value (gensym "WITH-ONE-OLD")))
`(let ((,old-value (getf *foo* :one)))
(unwind-protect
(progn (setf (getf *foo* :one) ,tmp-one)
,#body)
(setf (getf *foo* :one) ,old-value)))))
Related
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.
The function getf works like that:
CL-USER> (getf '(:name "pedro") :name)
"pedro"
CL-USER> (getf '(:name "pedro") :whatever)
NIL
NIL is the default value. Is it possible to change it?
Yes. The documentation defines this possibility:
(getf place indicator &optional default)
Thus, the default value it's actually an optional argument. An example using it would be:
CL-USER> (getf '(:name "pedro") :name "no-answer")
"pedro"
CL-USER> (getf '(:name "pedro") :whatever "no-answer")
"no-answer"
When working in a top level REPL, I sometimes forget what definitions I've entered into the running lisp system.
I use Clozure CL and it provides the option of saving the application as an image, which I do and can continue where I left off, but at this point it becomes impossible to review all the code, unless I had separately typed and saved the code to xyz file already.
Is there a way to get/extract/view the definitions that I entered, so I can save them as a source file?
The following will extract all the function definitions entered in a package:
(defun get-all-symbols (&optional package)
(let ((lst nil)
(package (find-package package)) )
(do-all-symbols (s lst)
(when (fboundp s)
(unless (and package (not (eql (symbol-package s) package)))
(push (cons s (function-lambda-expression s)) lst) )))))
Try something like:
(get-all-symbols *package*)
Common Lisp (in general) does not provide any standard way to “recover” the source code of a definition once it has been compiled. Normally, it's found in whatever file or buffer you're working-from.
(As Leo's answer points out, there is Function-Lambda-Expression, which can give you some function definitions. It won't help with, say, constants or classes, and it won't always work — as CLHS says, “Any implementation may legitimately return nil as the lambda-expression of any function.” http://clhs.lisp.se/Body/f_fn_lam.htm — his solution is certainly useful in the most common case(s), but it is not “as general” as this one.)
You could use a set of “wrapper” macros which store the forms you pass to them in a global hash-table, and then recover the source from that. Writing that sounded like an interesting little challenge, so the below is my attempt to do something like that.
My Silly Wrappers Solution
Note that the “source” forms stashed in this way won't preserve reader macros, comments, or the like, and will probably choke on some things like defmethod in subtly horrible ways. That's because I blindly store the definitions keyed off the defining form — eg, defun — and the second word, only. It's not smart enough to notice if you rebound a function as a macro or generic function (all three conflicting definitions would be saved), it doesn't read method combinations or lambda lists to save various methods, or any of that. There are lots of other things you might do — eg, (SetF (FDefinition 'FOO) …) — that could bypass these and go unnoticed, so it's far from “foolproof.” Caveat Lector.
The macros here try to inherit the documentation and lambda lists from the underlying forms, so they should work pretty nicely with most IDE's. They do well enough, in Slime.
One way to work with these would be to directly call them; eg, in your REPL you could directly
My-Package> (use-package :wrap-defining-form)
My-Package> (defun$ my-fn (x) (+ x (sqrt x)))
A more dangerous/interesting way is provided in the package Wrap-Defining-Form.Shadowing, in which the macros shadow the real Common-Lisp package definitions …
CL-User> (in-package :CL-USER$)
CL-User$> (defun blah (n) (loop repeat n do (format t "~&Blah …")))
When you're ready to “save” things, run (dump-definitions).
I wrote and tested this in SBCL, but tried to take care that it should work on many/most other implementations. In particular, I used one non-ANSI function: SB-Introspect:Function-Lambda-List. The function here Wrap-Defining-Form::Find-Function-Lambda-List will search all packages for your implementation's version of that function. If it can't find one, all is not lost; but you won't get hints from your IDE about the lambda-list of the wrapped function. (Clozure's seems to work — kinda — for functions, but not macros. That can probably be improved.)
CL-USER> (describe 'defun$)
WRAP-DEFINING-FORM:DEFUN$
[symbol]
DEFUN$ names a macro:
Lambda-list: (NAME LAMBDA-LIST &BODY BODY)
Documentation:
Wrap `DEFUN' and save the original form.
DEFUN: Define a function at top level.
Source file: /home/brpocock/Private/wrap-defining-form.lisp
; No value
Without Function-Lambda-List, the wrapper looks like
Lambda-list: (&REST UNKNOWN-LAMBDA-LIST)
… which is not very helpful.
wrap-defining-form.lisp
EDIT: Debugged in Clozure. Posted to https://github.com/brpocock/wrap-defining-forms also.
;;;; Wrap--Defining-Forms
;;; -*- Lisp -*-
(defpackage wrap-defining-forms
(:use :common-lisp)
(:documentation "Wrap defining forms so that they (try to) save the
source code of the definition being passed.")
(:export #:wrap-defining-form #:dump-definitions
#:defclass$
#:defconstant$
#:defgeneric$
#:define-compiler-macro$
#:define-condition$
#:define-method-combination$
#:define-modify-macro$
#:define-setf-expander$
#:define-symbol-macro$
#:defmacro$
#:defmethod$
#:defpackage$
#:defparameter$
#:defsetf$
#:defstruct$
#:deftype$
#:defun$
#:defvar$))
(defpackage wrap-defining-forms.shadowing
(:documentation "Wrapped forms like DEFUN$ are exported here with the
names of the forms that they wrap, like DEFUN, for
shadowing imports.")
(:export #:defclass
#:defconstant
#:defgeneric
#:define-compiler-macro
#:define-condition
#:define-method-combination
#:define-modify-macro
#:define-setf-expander
#:define-symbol-macro
#:defmacro
#:defmethod
#:defpackage
#:defparameter
#:defsetf
#:defstruct
#:deftype
#:defun
#:defvar)
(:use))
;; Clozure appears to be “smart” and adds Common-Lisp even though we
;; didn't ask for it (and explicily don't want it)
#+ccl (unuse-package '(:ccl :common-lisp)
:wrap-defining-forms.shadowing)
(defpackage :common-lisp-user/save-defs
(:nicknames :cl-user$)
(:use :common-lisp :common-lisp-user)
(:import-from :wrap-defining-forms #:dump-definitions)
(:shadowing-import-from :wrap-defining-forms.shadowing
#:defclass
#:defconstant
#:defgeneric
#:define-compiler-macro
#:define-condition
#:define-method-combination
#:define-modify-macro
#:define-setf-expander
#:define-symbol-macro
#:defmacro
#:defmethod
#:defpackage
#:defparameter
#:defsetf
#:defstruct
#:deftype
#:defun
#:defvar))
;; Clone any other functions you may have packed into CL-User.
(with-package-iterator (next-symbol :common-lisp-user :internal)
(loop for symbol = (next-symbol)
while symbol
for sibling = (intern (symbol-name symbol) (find-package :cl-user$))
when (and (fboundp symbol)
(not (fboundp sibling)))
do (setf (fdefinition sibling) (fdefinition symbol))))
(in-package "WRAP-DEFINING-FORMS")
(defvar *definitions* (make-hash-table)
"Copies of forms defined by the wrappers created by
`WRAP-DEFINING-FORM' which can be stashed with `DUMP-DEFINITIONS'")
#+ccl
(defun ccl-mock-lambda-list (function)
(if (macro-function function)
(list '&rest 'macro-lambda-list)
(multiple-value-bind (required optional restp
keywords)
(ccl:function-args (fdefinition function))
(concatenate ' list
(loop repeat required
collect (gensym "ARG-"))
(when (and optional (plusp optional))
(cons '&optional
(loop repeat optional
collect (gensym "OPT-"))))
(when restp
(list '&rest 'rest))
(when (and keywords (plusp keywords))
(list '&key '&allow-other-keys))))))
(defun find-function-lambda-list ()
"Find the implementation's version of `FUNCTION-LAMBDA-LIST' if there
is one. That way, Slime and friends can still give the proper
lambda-list for the wrapped form. If it can't be found, this will
return a stub with just a &rest-var."
(or
#+sbcl #'sb-introspect:function-lambda-list
#+ccl #'ccl-mock-lambda-list
#-(or ccl sbcl)
(dolist (package (list-all-packages))
(let ((sym (find-symbol "FUNCTION-LAMBDA-LIST" package)))
(when (fboundp sym)
(return-from find-function-lambda-list sym))))
(lambda (function)
(declare (ignore function))
(list '&rest 'unknown-lambda-list))))
(defmacro wrap-defining-form (cl-form)
"Assuming that CL-FORM is a symbol for a macro or function which
defines something interesting (eg, “Defun”), this will create a macro
with the same name with a trailing “$” that will save the source tree
before passing on the form to CL-FORM.
EG: (wrap-defining-form defun) provides a “defun$” which has the
additional side effect of storing the source form in *DEFINITIONS*.
Definitions saved can be recovered by `DUMP-DEFINITIONS'.
This is not industrial-strength; in particular, I expect it to cope
poorly with DEFMETHOD."
(check-type cl-form symbol)
(let ((wrapper (intern (concatenate 'string (symbol-name cl-form) "$")))
(wrapper.shadow (intern (symbol-name cl-form) :wrap-defining-forms.shadowing))
(wrapped-lambda-list (funcall (find-function-lambda-list) 'defun)))
(setf (gethash cl-form *definitions*) (make-hash-table))
`(prog1
(defmacro ,wrapper (&whole whole ,#wrapped-lambda-list)
(declare (ignore ,#(remove-if (lambda (form) (member form lambda-list-keywords))
wrapped-lambda-list)))
,(concatenate 'string "Wrap `" (symbol-name cl-form) "' and save the original form." #(#\newline #\newline)
(symbol-name cl-form) ": " (or (documentation cl-form 'function)
"(see CLHS; no documentation here)"))
(let ((defined (cons ',cl-form (cdr whole))))
(setf (gethash (second whole) (gethash ',cl-form *definitions*))
defined)
defined))
(defmacro ,wrapper.shadow (&whole whole ,#wrapped-lambda-list)
(declare (ignore ,#(remove-if (lambda (form) (member form lambda-list-keywords))
wrapped-lambda-list)))
,(concatenate 'string "Wrap `COMMON-LISP:" (symbol-name cl-form) "' and save the original form."
#(#\newline #\newline)
(symbol-name cl-form) ": " (or (documentation cl-form 'function)
"(see CLHS; no documentation here)"))
(let ((defined (cons ',cl-form (cdr whole))))
(setf (gethash (second whole) (gethash ',cl-form *definitions*))
defined)
defined)))))
(wrap-defining-form defclass)
(wrap-defining-form defconstant)
(wrap-defining-form defgeneric)
(wrap-defining-form define-compiler-macro)
(wrap-defining-form define-condition)
(wrap-defining-form define-method-combination)
(wrap-defining-form define-modify-macro)
(wrap-defining-form define-setf-expander)
(wrap-defining-form define-symbol-macro)
(wrap-defining-form defmacro)
(wrap-defining-form defmethod)
(wrap-defining-form defpackage)
(wrap-defining-form defparameter)
(wrap-defining-form defsetf)
(wrap-defining-form defstruct)
(wrap-defining-form deftype)
(wrap-defining-form defun)
(wrap-defining-form defvar)
(defun dump-definitions (&optional pathname)
"Write out the definitions saved by `WRAP-DEFINING-FORM'-built
wrappers to PATHNAME (or *STANDARD-OUTPUT*)."
(let (output
(*print-case* :capitalize)
;; If writing to file, set margin at 79, but try to keep things under 72.
(*print-right-margin* (if pathname 79 *print-right-margin*))
(*print-miser-width* (if pathname 72 *print-miser-width*)))
(unwind-protect
(progn (setq output (if pathname
(open pathname :direction :output
:if-exists :rename
:if-does-not-exist :create)
*standard-output*))
(multiple-value-bind (sec min hr d m y) (decode-universal-time (get-universal-time))
(declare (ignore sec))
(format output
"~&~|~%;;; definitions as of ~d-~d-~d # ~d:~2,'0d:
\(In-Package #:~a)
~{~{~2%~:<~W ~#_~:I~W ~:_~W~1I ~_~W~:>~}~^~|~}~%~|~%" ; from CLHS 22.2.2 SIMPLE-PPRINT-DEFUN
y m d hr min
(package-name *package*)
(remove-if #'null
(loop for form being the hash-keys of *definitions*
for defs = (gethash form *definitions*)
collect (loop for definition being the hash-values of defs
collect definition))))))
(when output (ignore-errors (close output))))))
Sample Usage
CL-USER> (load "wrap-defining-form.lisp")
T
CL-USER> (use-package :wrap-defining-form)
T
CL-USER> (defun$ trash-word (word)
(let ((s (string word)))
(sort (remove-if-not #'alpha-char-p s) #'char<)))
WARNING: redefining COMMON-LISP-USER::TRASH-WORD in DEFUN
TRASH-WORD
CL-USER> (trash-word 'Blatherscythe)
"ABCEEHHLRSTTY"
CL-USER> (describe 'trash-word)
COMMON-LISP-USER::TRASH-WORD
[symbol]
TRASH-WORD names a compiled function:
Lambda-list: (WORD)
Derived type: (FUNCTION (T) (VALUES SEQUENCE &OPTIONAL))
Source form:
(SB-INT:NAMED-LAMBDA TRASH-WORD
(WORD)
(BLOCK TRASH-WORD
(LET ((S (STRING WORD)))
(SORT (REMOVE-IF-NOT #'ALPHA-CHAR-P S) #'CHAR<))))
; No value
CL-USER> (macroexpand-1 '(defun$ trash-word (word)
(let ((s (string word)))
(sort (remove-if-not #'alpha-char-p s) #'char<))))
(DEFUN TRASH-WORD (WORD)
(LET ((S (STRING WORD)))
(SORT (REMOVE-IF-NOT #'ALPHA-CHAR-P S) #'CHAR<)))
T
CL-USER> (dump-definitions)
;;; definitions as of 2016-12-1 # 15:23:
(In-Package #:COMMON-LISP-USER)
(Defun Trash-Word (Word)
(Let ((S (String Word)))
(Sort (Remove-If-Not #'Alpha-Char-P S) #'Char<)))
NIL
CL-USER> (in-package :Common-Lisp-User/Save-Defs)
#<PACKAGE "COMMON-LISP-USER/SAVE-DEFS">
CL-USER$> (defun 2+ (n) (+ 2 n))
2+
CL-USER$> (describe '2+)
COMMON-LISP-USER/SAVE-DEFS::2+
[symbol]
2+ names a compiled function:
Lambda-list: (N)
Derived type: (FUNCTION (T) (VALUES NUMBER &OPTIONAL))
Source form:
(SB-INT:NAMED-LAMBDA 2+
(N)
(BLOCK 2+ (+ 2 N)))
; No value
CL-USER$> (macroexpand-1 '(defun 2+ (n) (+ 2 n)))
(COMMON-LISP:DEFUN 2+ (N) (+ 2 N))
T
CL-USER$> (documentation 'defun 'function)
"Wrap `COMMON-LISP:DEFUN' and save the original form.
DEFUN: Define a function at top level."
CL-USER$> (dump-definitions)
;;; definitions as of 2016-12-1 # 15:32:
(In-Package #:COMMON-LISP-USER/SAVE-DEFS)
(Common-Lisp:Defun 2+ (N) (+ 2 N))
(Common-Lisp:Defun Trash-Word (Word)
(Let ((S (String Word)))
(Sort (Remove-If-Not #'Alpha-Char-P S) #'Char<)))
NIL
File Backup
Dump-Definitions also will write to a file. (It sets :If-Exists :Rename, so you could have one-level-UNDO protection as well.)
CL-USER$> (dump-definitions "saved.lisp")
NIL
Here is an interactive session with CCL:
? (declaim (optimize (debug 3)))
NIL
The above is not strictly required here, but it doesn't hurt to develop with high debugging levels.
? (defun foo (x) (+ 3 x))
FOO
? (inspect 'foo)
[0] FOO
[1] Type: SYMBOL
[2] Class: #<BUILT-IN-CLASS SYMBOL>
Function
[3] INTERNAL in package: #<Package "COMMON-LISP-USER">
[4] Print name: "FOO"
[5] Value: #<Unbound>
[6] Function: #<Compiled-function FOO #x3020004B3F7F>
[7] Arglist: (X)
[8] Plist: NIL
Inspect> 6
[0] #<Compiled-function FOO #x3020004B3F7F>
[1] Name: FOO
[2] Arglist (analysis): (X)
[3] Bits: 8388864
[4] Plist: (CCL::PC-SOURCE-MAP #(17 70 15 22) CCL::FUNCTION-SYMBOL-MAP
(#(X) . #(63 17 70)) CCL::%FUNCTION-SOURCE-NOTE ...)
[5] Source Location: #<SOURCE-NOTE Interactive "(defun foo (x) (+ 3 x))">
Inspect 1> 5
[0] #<SOURCE-NOTE Interactive "(defun foo (x) (+ 3 x))">
[1] Type: SOURCE-NOTE
[2] Class: #<STRUCTURE-CLASS SOURCE-NOTE>
[3] SOURCE: #(40 100 101 102 117 ...)
[4] FILENAME: NIL
[5] FILE-RANGE: 23
You can see that even from within the REPL, and without running Slime which might also store information about the Emacs environment, you can have access to the source code of FOO. This can be used if you know which function you want to recover. For a recording of your interactive session, follow jkiiski's advice about DRIBBLE.
Perhaps you can easily implement something like this yourself:
(defun my-repl (&optional (file-path "cl-history.lisp"))
"Saves commands to a file"
(loop
(with-open-file (stream file-path
:direction :output
:if-does-not-exist :create
:if-exists :append)
(print '>)
(let ((input (read)))
(format stream "~A~%" input)
(print (eval input))))))
To exit the inner loop you should type (quit).
Alternatively you can use com.informatimago.common-lisp.interactive.interactive:repl
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.
What is this self reference for?
Could it be written in any other way?
Is there any advantage?
(defmacro sublet (bindings% &rest body)
(let ((bindings (let-binding-transform
bindings%)))
(setq bindings
(mapcar
(lambda (x)
(cons (gensym (symbol-name (car x))) x))
bindings))
`(let (,#(mapcar #'list
(mapcar #'car bindings)
(mapcar #'caddr bindings)))
,#(tree-leaves
body
#1=(member x bindings :key #'cadr)
(caar #1#)))))
It's just a way of reusing structure somewhere else. In the macro you have:
(tree-leaves body
#1=(member x bindings :key #'cadr)
(caar #1#))
Which is just a fancy way of writing:
(tree-leaves body
(member x bindings :key #'cadr)
(caar (member x bindings :key #'cadr)))
On the positive side if you correct a bug in the member form you'll fix it both places, but it's runs the same code twice so if member was expensive this wouldn't be the wise way to do it. However it is a macro, thus run at compile time, and member is fairly fast on mall lists (small == millions of elements or below) so I guess it won't matter if you read the references just as good as any other CL code. An alternative and perhaps more readable for other kind of lispers would be:
(let ((found (member x bindings :key #'cadr)))
(tree-leaves body found (caar found)))