Read in multiple lines from standard input with arguments in Haskell - haskell

Question

I'm trying to read in multiple lines from standard input in Haskell, plus one argument, then do something with the current line and write something to the standard output.
In my case I am trying to normalize lambda expressions. The program may receive 1 or more lambda expressions to normalize and then it has to write the result (normalized form or error) to the standard output. And the program may receive an argument (the max number of reductions). Here is the main function:
main :: IO ()
main = do
params <- getArgs
fullLambda <- getLine
let lambda = convertInput fullLambda
let redNum | (length params) == 1 = read (head params)
| otherwise = 100
case (parsing lambda) of
Left errorExp -> putStrLn ("ERROR: " ++ lambda)
Right lambdaExp -> do
let normalizedLambdaExp = reduction lambdaExp redNum
if (isNormalForm normalizedLambdaExp) && (isClosed lambdaExp)
then putStrLn ("OK: " ++ show normalizedLambdaExp)
else putStrLn ("ERROR: " ++ lambda)
where
convertInput :: String -> String
convertInput ('\"':xs) = take ((length xs) - 2) xs
convertInput input = input
So this code handles one line and completes the reductions and then writes something to the standard output. How can I change this to handle multiple lines? I've read about replicateM but I can't seem to grasp it. My mind is very OO so I was thinking maybe some looping somehow, but that is surely not the preferred way.
Also, this program has to be able to run like this:
echo "(\x.x) (\x.x)" | Main 25
And will produce:
OK: (\x.x)
And if there are multiple lines, it has to produce the same kind of output for each line, in new lines.
But also has to work without the argument, and has to handle multiple lines. I spent time on google and here, but I'm not sure how the argument reading will happen. I need to read in the argument once and the line(s) once or many times. Does someone know a not too lengthy solution to this problem?
I've tried it like this, too (imperatively):
main :: IO ()
main = do
params <- getArgs
mainHelper params
main
mainHelper :: [String] -> IO ()
mainHelper params = do
fullLambda <- getLine
And so on, but then it puts this to the standard output as well:
Main: <stdin>: hGetLine: end of file
Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

It appears you want to:
Parse a command line option which may or may not exist.
For each line of input process it with some function.
Here is an approach using lazy IO:
import System.Environment
import Control.Monad
main = do args <- getArgs
let option = case args of
[] -> ... the default value...
(a:_) -> read a
contents <- getContents
forM_ (lines contents) $ \aline -> do
process option aline
I am assuming your processing function has type process :: Int -> String -> IO (). For instance, it could look like:
process :: Int -> String -> IO ()
process option str = do
if length str < option
then putStrLn $ "OK: " ++ str
else putStrLn $ "NOT OK: line too long"
Here's how it works:
contents <- getContents reads all of standard input into the variable contents
lines contents breaks up the input into lines
forM_ ... iterates over each line, passing the line to the process function
The trick is that getContents reads standard input lazily so that you'll get some output after each line is read.
You should be aware that there are issues with lazy IO which you may run into when your program becomes more complex. However, for this simple use case lazy IO is perfectly fine and works well.