2D map to graph in Sml - graph

I have a 2D map as input from a file ,line by line and I want to save it and run a Bfs or Dijkstra to find the shortest path from Start (marked as S ) to end (marked as E),what's the proper structure to save the information? My implementation in c++ was with a graph,but I find it hard to do so in sml,because I can't link the nodes both ways.

You can do it using mutable arrays. This is an extremely minimal adjacency matrix implementation using an array of array of int option. The edge between vertex i and j is given by the value in the ith row and jth column. If the value is None then there is no edge and if the value is Some w than the edge exists and has weight w.
let is_some opt =
match opt with
| None -> false
| _ -> true;;
let unwrap opt =
match opt with
| None -> raise (Failure "unwrapped None")
| Some x -> x;;
let add_edge g u v w =
let us = Array.get g u in
Array.set us v (Some w);;
let get_edge g u v =
let us = Array.get g u in
Array.get us v;;
let make_graph vertices =
Array.make_matrix vertices vertices None;;
let neighbors g u =
Array.get g u |>
Array.to_list |>
List.filter is_some |>
List.mapi (fun i o -> (i, unwrap o));;
let g = make_graph 4;;
add_edge g 0 1 2;;
add_edge g 0 2 3;;
add_edge g 0 3 5;;
add_edge g 1 2 7;;
add_edge g 1 3 11;;
add_edge g 2 3 13;;
add_edge g 3 0 17;;
List.iter (fun (v, e) -> Printf.printf "0-(%i)->%i\n" e v) (neighbors g 0);;
This is in OCaml, but the differences between SML and OCaml are, for the most part, minor.

Related

F# extended Euclidian algorithm with Continuations question

I am new to F# and haven't done functional programming since I was an undergraduate, but I've been trying teach myself. I wrote a naive recursive Extended Euclidean implementation, which works just fine, and am now trying again but with continuations.
I walked through the code by hand twice with a small example and got the correct answer, but when I run it through the interpreter I am not getting the same result, so I'm clearly misunderstanding something I am trying to do.
I ran eea 7 3 by hand, and the (correct) result I computed was (1, 1, -2)
But when I run it in the interpreter I get
eea 7 3;;
val it : int * int * int = (1, 0, 1)
Here's my implementation:
let eea a b =
let rec contEEA a b f =
match b with
| 0 -> f () (a,1,0)
| _ ->
contEEA b (a%b) (fun () t ->
let (d,x',y') = t
(d, y', x'-(y'*(a/b)))
)
contEEA a b (fun () t -> t)
For reference the naive approach, straight from a textbook, is
let rec eea_gcd a b =
match b with
| 0 -> (a, 1, 0)
| _ ->
let d, x', y' = eea_gcd b (a % b)
(d, y', x'-(y'*(a/b)))
Your continuation-based version is always doing exactly one iteration (the last one). When you make the recursive call, your continuation just straight up returns the result instead of "returning" it to the previous call by passing to the previous continuation.
So the call sequence goes like this:
eea 7 3
contEEA 7 3 (fun () t -> t)
b <> 0 ==> second case matches
contEEA 3 1 (fun () t -> ... (d, y', ...))
b <> 0 ==> second case matches
contEEA 1 0 (fun () t -> ... (d, y', ...))
b = 0 ==> first case matches
The continuation is called f () (1, 1, 0)
The continuation calculates result (1, 0, 1 - (0*(3/1)) = (1, 0, 1) and immediately returns it
What you want to do instead is when the first continuation calculates the result of (1, 0, 1) it should pass it to the previous continuation, so that it may carry on the calculations from there, ultimately passing the result to the very first continuation fun () t -> t, which returns it back to the consumer.
To do that, replace this line:
(d, y', x'-(y'*(a/b)))
With this:
f (d, y', x'-(y'*(a/b)))
Also, a few notes on some other aspects.
The first parameter of the continuation (the unit, ()) is not necessary, since it's never actually used (and how can it be?). You can lose it.
After removing the unit parameter, the first continuation becomes fun t -> t, which has a special name id (aka "the identity function")
Rather than destructure the triple with a let, you can do it right in the parameter declaration. Parameters can be patterns!
Applying all of the above, as well as the actual problem fix, here's a better version:
let eea a b =
let rec contEEA a b f =
match b with
| 0 -> f (a,1,0)
| _ ->
contEEA b (a%b) (fun (d,x',y') ->
f (d, y', x'-(y'*(a/b)))
)
contEEA a b id

Ocaml: Longest path using bfs

The problem is as follow: Given an oriented weighted graph, a start node, an end node and a number k, verify if exist a path from the start node to the end node with at least length k.
This is the code i wrote and it's correct but only in specific graph. For example g1 with weights1 is as follows:
let weights1 = [(2,1,1);(2,1,3);(2,1,4);(1,1,5);(5,1,2);(5,1,6);(3,1,6);(6,1,7);(4,1,3)];;
let f1 = function
1 -> [5]
| 2 -> [1;3;4]
| 3 -> [6]
| 4 -> [3]
| 5 -> [2;6]
| 6 -> [7]
| _ -> [];;
type 'a graph = Graph of ('a -> 'a list);;
let g1 = Graph f1;;
let weights2 = [(1,3,2);(1,9,5);(2,2,3);(5,4,6);(3,1,6);(3,7,4);(6,2,7);(4,4,6);(6,1,2)];;
let f2 = function
1 -> [2;5]
| 2 -> [3]
| 3 -> [4;6]
| 4 -> [6]
| 5 -> [6]
| 6 -> [2;7]
| _ -> [];;
let g2 = Graph f2;;
exception NotFound;;
exception Errore;;
(* Function that return the weight of an edge given 2 nodes*)
let rec get_k x y = function
[] -> 0
|(a,b,c)::rest -> if((a=x && c=y))then b else get_k x y rest;;
(* Function that calculate the total cost of a given path*)
let cost_of_path path weight =
let rec sum cost = function
[]->raise Errore
|x::y::rest -> sum (cost + get_k x y weight) (y::rest)
|_::[]->cost
in sum 0 path;;
(*this function print the list of the path*)
let rec printList = function [] -> print_newline()
| x::rest -> print_int(x); print_string("; "); printList rest;;
(* Simple bfs function, return only 1 path that connect the start node to the final node*)
let bfs start last_node (Graph succ) =
let extends path = printList path;
List.map (function x -> x::path) (List.filter (function x -> not (List.mem x path)) (succ (List.hd path)))
in let rec aux last_node = function
[] -> raise Not_found
| path::rest ->
if (last_node = List.hd path) then List.rev path
else aux last_node (rest # (extends path))
in aux last_node [[start]];;
let loghest_path start final_node k weight (Graph succ)=
let extends path = printList path;
List.map (function x -> x::path)(succ (List.hd path))
in let rec aux final_node = function
[] -> raise NotFound
| path::rest ->
(*if the cost of this path is >= k and the last node is the final node, return that path.*)
if ((cost_of_path (List.rev path) weight >= k) && (List.hd path == final_node)) then List.rev path
(*HERE IS THE ERROR: if the total weight of the singole path is >= k but the last node is not the final node,
find a path that connect the last node of this path to the final node using bfs. It can happen that the path exists
but it return "Not_Found".*)
else if((cost_of_path (List.rev path) weight) >= k)
then (List.rev (List.tl path)) # bfs (List.hd path) (final_node) (Graph succ)
(* If the weight is not yet k than extend the path and try another one in list 'rest' *)
else aux final_node (rest # (extends path))
in aux final_node [[start]];;
(*Function that calls the other function 'loghest_path' and print the result *)
let find_path start final_node k weigths (Graph succ)=
let result = (loghest_path start final_node k weigths (Graph succ)) in
print_string("Final Path:"); printList result ;
print_string("The weight is:"); print_int (cost_of_path result weigths); print_newline();;
And an execution of my code using weights1 and g1 is:
Now, if i execute my code in another graph, for example:
let weights3 =[(1,1,2);(1,1,3);(1,1,4);(2,1,5);(2,1,6);(3,1,7);(3,1,8);(4,1,9);(4,1,10);(10,1,1)];;
let f3 = function
1 -> [2;3;4]
| 2 -> [5;6]
| 3 -> [7;8]
| 4 -> [9;10]
| 10 -> [1]
| _ -> [];;
let g3 = Graph f3;;
With the following execution my code fails:
This because the last path before finding a path that is at least k starts with node 2, and there isn't a path that can connect 2 with 10, but a path between 1 and 10 of weights 10 exists and it's not been chosen. Can someone explain to me how can i change my code to make sure that the problem is solved in every type of graph?
As you stated yourself, the block
else if((cost_of_path (List.rev path) weight) >= k)
then (List.rev (List.tl path)) # bfs (List.hd path) (final_node) (Graph succ)
can fail because nothing ensures the existence of a path from the the last element of the current path to the final node.
The easiest fix is to simply delete this block and ... that's it.
There are no imperious needs to switch algorithms when one partial path is greater than the length threshold (and this is not the right algorithm to try to optimize).

Find "short enough" paths in a given graph

I need to design an algorithm to find a path in a public transportation system. In theory only the best (lowest cost) path is required, but in reality it's different. When traveling in a public transportation system, it's difficult to define the cost, it cannot be simplified to traveling time, waiting time, transfer time, bus/subway fees etc, are all need to take into consideration.
Firstly I need to simplify the problem, design a cost function which is a combination of all those "time" and "fee", then use a graph algorithm to find a few paths (3~5 paths). Finally present all these paths to the end users and let them make the decision.
The reason I need to present more than one path is that, for different users/situations these "time" and "fee" are different, thus presenting a few paths is better than just giving out the "best" path.
Algorithms like A* are good for finding the shortest path, but how can I find those "short enough" paths in a graph ? or how can I find the shortest N paths ?
BTW, I don't even need to find the shortest path, because in practice the end users never know the shortest path (unless the shortest path is obvious), they will be happy if the results are close to the shortest path.
A* star's "cost" is more versatile than you are thinking. A* is typically explained with nodes who's cost is simply a distance. We can, however, beef this up a little.
I'm not seeing a language you prefer, maybe Graph? Oh well, here's some c++:
namespace Astar
{
struct CostEvaluation
{
int distance_cost;
int transfer_cost;
// others
int costToTraverseNodes( const Node& first, const Node& second ) const
{
int distance = // apply distance_cost to distance between nodes
int transfer = // apply transfer_cost if there is a transfer between nodes
return distance + transfer;
}
}
}
Now, the actual implementation of your A* will take a CostEvaluation object to determine the cost on the route. If transfers don't matter, set the transfer_cost to zero.
As far as a "good enough" route: I'm sure other people would be able to help you better, but I feel like you might run into a situation where the program says something like "oh, you want to be there in an hour, but the best route only takes twenty minutes? Here, go around in circles for forty minutes, that's good enough".
As I hinted in my comments, it is possible to create a modified A* version which reports multiple routes. I just drove my implementation to the point where it is obviously confirming this statement.
The code below starts with a "classic" A* implementation, which I keep around so one can study the differences between "classic" and "modified".
The basic idea for the modified version is to start the search both forwards and backwards in parallel. This often also yields more robust results, given that the "greediness" of A* is largely driven by its heuristic function (h(x)). It is possible to construct cases, where the greediness opts for fast progress at the start of the route, while that route towards the end "slows down" drastically. Starting from both sides (source, target), this effect can be mitigated to bits. (If one calculates to the end, it should always be optimal routes, if not necessarily the same route. If one were to calculate to the "classic" ending condition in both directions a picture as the one below could result, showing that the both directions yield 2 different paths.
Now, the "explored lists" of both directions can be used to find out when while searching e.g. "forwards", the next node is already explored by the "backwards" search - or vice versa. Obviously, those "connection points" between the two searches yield a route, which is not necessarily optimal but - a valid route.
My implementation traces those intermediate routes and I did not bother to collect them. The traces show the id of the node where both exploration lists "meet" and the resulting 2 parts of the route (source -> meeting point, meeting point -> destination).
Now, using those intermediate lists along with some post processing, e.g. by means of evaluating the routes according to single dimensions of the heuristics function (e.g. comfort, speed, ...), it should be possible to find a good enough selection of routes, associated with different trade-offs in those dimensions.
The full F# script is around 340 lines - a bit too long for this site, so I will omit some nonessential parts (such as my rendering function, creating those bitmaps, etc.
module AStar =
module Internals =
let makeRoute (explo : Map<int,(int * float)>) at tgt =
let rec loop at acc =
let dst,c = explo.[at]
match at,dst with
| (_,b) when b = tgt -> (at,c) :: acc
| (_,b) -> loop b ((at,c) :: acc)
[(tgt,0.0)] # loop at []
let makeRouteBackward (exploBW : Map<int, (int * float)>) at tgt =
let rec loop at acc =
let src,c = exploBW.[at]
match at,src with
| (_,b) when b = tgt -> acc # [(at,c)]
| (_,b) -> loop b (acc # [at,c])
let r = loop at [] # [(tgt,0.0)]
let rev = List.rev r
List.zip r rev |> List.map (fun ((id1,c1),(id2,c2)) -> id1,c2)
let classic neighbors h cost start goal =
let prioSelect (lopen : (int * float) list) =
let sorted = List.sortBy (fun (id,p) -> p) lopen //|> List.rev
(fst (List.head sorted), List.tail sorted)
let rec search (lopen : (int * float) list) (routes : Map<int,int * float>) =
let rec searchNeighbors cur nl o (r : Map<int,(int * float)>) =
match nl with
| [] -> o,r
| next::others ->
let newCost = (snd (r.[cur])) + cost cur next
if (not (Map.containsKey next r)) || (newCost < snd r.[next])
then
let r1 = r |> Map.remove next |> Map.add next (cur,newCost)
let prio = newCost + h next goal
//printfn "current = %d -- next = %d -- newCost = %f -- prio = %f -- h = %f" cur next newCost prio (h next goal)
let o1 = (next,prio) :: o
searchNeighbors cur others o1 r1
else
searchNeighbors cur others o r
match lopen with
| [] -> []
| _::_ ->
let current,rest = prioSelect lopen
if current = goal then Internals.makeRoute routes current start
else
let lopen1,routes1 = searchNeighbors current (neighbors current) rest routes
search lopen1 routes1
search [start,0.] (Map.ofList [start,(start,0.0)])
let twoWay sources targets hforward hbackward costforward costbackward (start : int) (goal : int) (n : int) rr =
let prioSelect (lopen : (int * float) list) =
let sorted = List.sortBy (fun (id,p) -> p) lopen //|> List.rev
(fst (List.head sorted), List.tail sorted)
let searchforward lopen exploredF exploredB nfound acc =
let rec searchNeighbors cur nl o (r : Map<int,(int * float)>) =
match nl with
| [] -> o,r
| next::others ->
//printfn "fwd: current = %d -- next = %d -- nl = %A -- r = %A" cur next nl r
let newCost = (snd (r.[cur])) + costforward cur next
if (not (Map.containsKey next r)) || (newCost < snd r.[next])
then
let r1 = r |> Map.remove next |> Map.add next (cur,newCost)
let prio = newCost + hforward next goal
let o1 = (next,prio) :: o
if Map.containsKey next exploredB then
rr (next, Internals.makeRoute r1 next start, Internals.makeRouteBackward exploredB next goal)
searchNeighbors cur others o1 r1
else
searchNeighbors cur others o r
match lopen with
| [] -> (lopen,exploredF,0,acc)
| _::_ ->
let current,rest = prioSelect lopen
if current = goal then
(rest,exploredF,nfound+1,acc # [Internals.makeRoute exploredF current start] )
else
let lopen1,explored1 = searchNeighbors current (targets current) rest exploredF
(lopen1, explored1, nfound, acc)
let searchbackward lopen exploredB exploredF nfound acc =
let rec searchNeighbors cur nl o (r : Map<int,(int * float)>) =
match nl with
| [] -> o,r
| next::others ->
//printfn "bwd: current = %d -- next = %d -- nl = %A -- r = %A" cur next nl r
let newCost = (snd (r.[cur])) + costbackward cur next
if (not (Map.containsKey next r)) || (newCost < snd r.[next])
then
let r1 = r |> Map.remove next |> Map.add next (cur,newCost)
let prio = newCost + hbackward next start
let o1 = (next,prio) :: o
searchNeighbors cur others o1 r1
else
searchNeighbors cur others o r
match lopen with
| [] -> (lopen,exploredB,0,acc)
| _::_ ->
let current,rest = prioSelect lopen
if current = start then
//(rest,explored,nfound+1,acc # [Internals.makeRoute explored current goal []])
(rest,exploredB,nfound+1,acc # [Internals.makeRouteBackward exploredB current goal] )
else
let lopen1,explored1 = searchNeighbors current (sources current) rest exploredB
(lopen1, explored1, nfound, acc)
let rec driver openF openB exploredF exploredB nfoundF nfoundB accF accB =
let openF1, exploredF1,nfoundF1,accF1 = searchforward openF exploredF exploredB nfoundF accF
let openB1, exploredB1,nfoundB1,accB1 = searchbackward openB exploredB exploredF nfoundB accB
match (nfoundF1+nfoundB1), List.isEmpty openF1, List.isEmpty openB1 with
| (s,false,false) when s < n ->
driver openF1 openB1 exploredF1 exploredB1 nfoundF1 nfoundB1 accF1 accB1
| _ ->
accF1 # accB1
driver [start,0.0] [goal,0.0] (Map.ofList [start,(start,0.0)]) (Map.ofList [goal,(goal,0.0)]) 0 0 [] []
// Location : x,y coordinate or lat/long - whatever.
// Edges: (id,cost) list
type Node = { Id : int; Location : int * int; Edges : (int * float) list; EdgesBackward : (int * float) list}
type Graph = Map<int,Node>
let addNode node graph =
Map.add (node.Id) node graph
let newNode idgen x y =
{ Id = idgen(); Location = (x,y); Edges = []; EdgesBackward = [] }
let addEdge id cost node =
{ node with Node.Edges = node.Edges # [(id,cost)]; }
let addEdgeBackward id cost node =
{ node with Node.EdgesBackward = node.EdgesBackward # [(id,cost)]; }
let idgen startvalue =
let next = ref startvalue
fun () ->
let id = !next
next := !next + 1
id
let appendNode node nodeList = nodeList # [node]
let sq x = x*x
let distance p1 p2 =
let x1,y1 = p1
let x2,y2 = p2
sqrt( float (sq (x2-x1) + sq (y2-y1)) )
let solve (g : Graph) s e =
let ns id =
g.[id].Edges |> List.map (fun (id,c) -> id)
let h at goal =
float (distance (g.[at].Location) (g.[goal].Location))
let c a b =
g.[a].Edges |> List.pick (fun (id,cost) -> if id = b then Some(cost) else None)
[AStar.classic ns h c s e] // give it the same return type as solveTwoWay to make stuff below easier and shorter
let solveTwoWay (g : Graph) s e n =
let edges id =
let nl = g.[id].Edges |> List.map (fun (id,c) -> id)
//printfn "2way edges id = %d list = %A" id nl
nl
let edgesBackward id =
let nl = g.[id].EdgesBackward |> List.map (fun (id,c) -> id)
//printfn "2way backwards edges id = %d list = %A" id nl
nl
let hforward at goal =
float (distance (g.[at].Location) (g.[goal].Location))
let hbackward at start =
float (distance (g.[at].Location) (g.[start].Location))
let costF a b =
g.[a].Edges |> List.pick (fun (id,cost) -> if id = b then Some(cost) else None)
let costB a b =
g.[a].EdgesBackward |> List.pick (fun (id,cost) -> if id = b then Some(cost) else None)
let debugView arg =
let id,r1,r2 = arg
printfn "meeting at %d: r1 = %A r2 = %A" id r1 r2
AStar.twoWay edgesBackward edges hforward hbackward costF costB s e n debugView
let solveProblem problem =
let g, start, goal = problem
g,start,goal,solve g start goal
let solveProblemTwoWay problem n =
let g, start, goal = problem
g,start,goal,solveTwoWay g start goal n
let save name solution =
let graph, start, goal, routes = solution
use writer = System.IO.File.CreateText("""E:\temp\""" + name + """.txt""")
fprintf writer "------------------------------------\n start = %d ----> goal = %d: %d routes found.\n" start goal (List.length routes)
fprintf writer "Graph:\n"
graph |> Map.iter
(fun id node ->
fprintf writer "Node: %A\n" node
)
routes |> List.iteri
(fun index route ->
fprintf writer "Route %d: %A\n" index route
)
// An example problem I used to play with:
// The graph is such, that the nodes are connected to the right and
// downwards and diagonally downwards only.
// The cost is either 1.0 or sqrt(2), for the horizontal or vertical and
// the diagonal connection, respectively.
let problem2 () =
let newNodeAN = newNode (idgen 0)
let cond c x n =
if c then n |> x else n
let accessCost p =
match p with
| (4,4) | (4,5) | (5,4) | (5,5) -> 10.0
| _ -> 1.0
let right (n : Node) : Node =
let t = 1 + fst n.Location, snd n.Location
let c = accessCost t
n
|> cond (fst n.Location < 9) (fun n -> addEdge (n.Id + 1) c n)
|> cond (fst n.Location > 0) (fun n -> addEdgeBackward (n.Id - 1) c n)
let down n =
let t = fst n.Location, 1 + snd n.Location
let c = accessCost t
n
|> cond (snd n.Location < 9) (fun n -> addEdge (n.Id + 10) c n)
|> cond (snd n.Location > 0) (fun n -> addEdgeBackward (n.Id - 10) c n)
let diagdown n =
let t = 1 + fst n.Location, 1 + snd n.Location
let c = (sqrt(2.0)) * accessCost t
n
|> cond (fst n.Location < 9 && snd n.Location < 9) (fun n -> addEdge (n.Id + 11) c n)
|> cond (fst n.Location > 0 && snd n.Location > 0) (fun n -> addEdgeBackward (n.Id - 11) c n)
[
for y = 0 to 9 do
for x = 0 to 9 do
yield newNodeAN x y
]
|> List.map
(fun n ->
n
|> right
|> down
|> diagdown
)
|> List.map (fun n -> (n.Id,n))
|> Map.ofList
, 0, 99
// Last not least, the code can be executed like this:
// And since both implementations yield the same data structures,
// they can be used interchangeably and compared to each other.
solveProblemTwoWay (problem2() 5) |> save "problem2_solution"
The output printed during runtime which shows the "intermediate routes", then looks like this:
...
meeting at 48:
r1 = [(0, 0.0); (11, 1.414213562); (12, 2.414213562); (23, 3.828427125);
(34, 5.242640687); (35, 6.242640687); (46, 7.656854249); (47, 8.656854249);
(48, 9.656854249)]
r2 = [(48, 0.0); (58, 1.414213562); (68, 2.414213562); (78, 3.414213562);
(88, 4.414213562); (99, 5.414213562)]
meeting at 84:
r1 = [(0, 0.0); (11, 1.414213562); (21, 2.414213562); (32, 3.828427125);
(43, 5.242640687); (53, 6.242640687); (64, 7.656854249); (74, 8.656854249);
(84, 9.656854249)]
r2 = [(84, 0.0); (85, 1.414213562); (86, 2.414213562); (87, 3.414213562);
(88, 4.414213562); (99, 5.414213562)]
meeting at 95:
r1 = [(0, 0.0); (11, 1.414213562); (21, 2.414213562); (32, 3.828427125);
(43, 5.242640687); (53, 6.242640687); (64, 7.656854249); (75, 9.071067812);
(85, 10.07106781); (95, 11.07106781)]
r2 = [(95, 0.0); (96, 1.0); (97, 2.0); (98, 3.0); (99, 4.0)]
...

Ocaml - This expression has type 'a list but an expression was expected of type 'a The type variable 'a occurs inside 'a list

Why is the following code giving me that error?
Note that the is_sorted function returns either true or false
and make_move function returns a list of lists. e.g [[0,1,3,2],[1,0,2,3]]
let rec solve_helper b pos n r fn =
if n = 0 then b :: r :: fn (*fn is the final array with all paths*)
else match pos with
[] -> fn
|(h::t) -> if is_sorted h = true then h
else h :: r (* ERROR HERE: r is the temp array that contains 1 path*)
solve_helper b (make_moves h) (n-1) r
solve_helper b t (n-1) r (*tail recursion*)
;;
let solve_board b n = solver_helper b (make_moves b) n [] []
;;
new code:
let rec solve_helper b pos n r fn =
if n = 0 then r :: fn (*fn is the final array with all paths*)
else match pos with
[] -> fn
|(h::t) -> if is_sorted h = true then
let j = h :: r in
r :: fn
else
let u = h :: r in
let k = solve_helper b (make_moves h) (n - 1) r fn in
solve_helper b t (n - 1) r fn(*tail recursion*)
;;
let solve_board b n = solve_helper b (make_moves b) n [] []
;;
These lines of your code:
else h :: r (* ERROR HERE: r is the temp array that contains 1 path*)
solve_helper b (make_moves h) (n-1) r
solve_helper b t (n-1) r (*tail recursion*)
do not make sense as far as I can tell. They represent a call to a function named r with 10 arguments (two of which are the function r itself).
Possibly you need to edit your code to show exactly what the compiler is seeing.
If your code actually looks like this, you need to rethink this part. It reads like imperative code (a series of things to do) rather than functional code (an expression consisting of functions applied to arguments).

Ocaml nested if without else

Is it possible to have nested if without else statements. I wrote the following useless program to demonstrate nested ifs. How do I fix this so it's correct in terms of syntax. lines 5 and 6 gives errors.
let rec move_helper b sz r = match b with
[] -> r
|(h :: t) ->
if h = 0 then
if h - 1 = sz then h - 1 ::r
if h + 1 = sz then h + 1 ::r
else move_helper t sz r
;;
let move_pos b =
move_helper b 3 r
;;
let g = move_pos [0;8;7;6;5;4;3;2;1]
You can't have if without else unless the result of the expression is of type unit. This isn't the case for your code, so it's not possible.
Here's an example where the result is unit:
let f x =
if x land 1 <> 0 then print_string "1";
if x land 2 <> 0 then print_string "2";
if x land 4 <> 0 then print_string "4"
You must understand that if ... then is an expression like any other. If no else is present, it must be understood as if ... then ... else () and thus has type unit. To emphasize the fact that it is an expression, suppose you have two functions f and g of type, say, int → int. You can write
(if test then f else g) 1
You must also understand that x :: r does not change r at all, it constructs a new list putting x in front of r (the tail of this list is shared with the list r). In your case, the logic is not clear: what is the result when h=0 but the two if fail?
let rec move_helper b sz r = match b with
| [] -> r
| h :: t ->
if h = 0 then
if h - 1 = sz then (h - 1) :: r
else if h + 1 = sz then (h + 1) :: r
else (* What do you want to return here? *)
else move_helper t sz r
When you have a if, always put an else. Because when you don't put an else, Java will not know if the case is true or false.

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