Vocabulary: path in a graph of objects? - reference

I'm having trouble with the following sentence:
DeepClone performs a deep clone of
the target object, stopping the cloning process
when all <dependency paths> have
reached a value type or an ITransactionalObject.
What I mean by "dependency path" is the chain of references you follow in the cloning process: object A has a reference to B, B to C, C to D,... and N to an ITransactionalObject, and then you stop there and don't clone the ITransactionalObject. Then you go back to M and follow that path, and so on, until all branches run into value types or ITransactionalObjects.
What term would you use rather than dependency path? I have the feeling there must already be a name for it.
Thanks :)

Path is the standard term for a walk through a graph, so unless you want to add more domain-specific terminology I think that's okay.
You could say "... until the dependency tree is fully resolved (i.e. all paths have terminated in ITransactionalObjects or value types)".

Related

squeak(smalltallk) how to 'inject' string into string

I'm writing a class named "MyObject".
one of the class methods is:
addTo: aCodeString assertType: aTypeCollection
when the method is called with aCodeString, I want to add (in runtime) a new method to "MyObject" class which aCodeString is it's source code and inject type checking code into the source code.
for example, if I call addTo: assertType: like that:
a := MyObject new.
a addTo: 'foo: a boo:b baz: c
^(a*b+c)'
assertType: #(SmallInteger SmallInteger SmallInteger).
I expect that I could write later:
answer := (a foo: 2 boo: 5 baz: 10).
and get 20 in answer.
and if I write:
a foo: 'someString' boo: 5 baz: 10.
I get the proper message because 'someString' is not a SmallInteger.
I know how to write the type checking code, and I know that to add the method to the class in runtime I can use 'compile' method from Behavior class.
the problem is that I want to add the type checking code inside the source code.
I'm not really familiar with all of squeak classes so I'm not sure if I rather edit the aCodeString as a string inside addTo: assertType: and then use compile: (and I don't know how to do so), or that there is a way to inject code to an existing method in Behavior class or other squeak class.
so basically, what I'm asking is how can I inject string into an existing string or to inject code into an existing method.
There are many ways you could achieve such type checking...
The one you propose is to modify the source code (a String) so as to insert additional pre-condition type checks.
The key point with this approach is that you will have to insert the type checking at the right place. That means somehow parsing the original source (or at least the selector and arguments) so as to find its exact span (and the argument names).
See method initPattern:return: in Parser and its senders. You will find quite low level (not most beautiful) code that feed the block (passed thru return: keyword) with sap an Array of 3 objects: the method selector, the method arguments and the method precedence (a code telling if the method is connected to unary, binary or keyword message). From there, you'll get enough material for achieving source code manipulation (insert a string into another with copyReplace:from:to:with:).
Do not hesitate to write small snippets of code and execute in the Debugger (select code to debug, then use debug it menu or ALT+Shift+D). Also use the inspectors extensively to gain more insight on how things work!
Another solution is to parse the whole Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) of the source code, and manipulate that AST to insert the type checks. Normally, the Parser builds the AST, so observe how it works. From the modified AST, you can then generate new CompiledMethod (the bytecode instructions) and install it in methodDictionary - see the source code of compile: and follow the message sent until you discover generateMethodFromNode:trailer:. This is a bit more involved, and has a bad side effect that the source code is now not in phase with generated code, which might become a problem once you want to debug the method (fortunately, Squeak can used decompiled code in place of source code!).
Last, you can also arrange to have an alternate compiler and parser for some of your classes (see compilerClass and/or parserClass). The alternate TypeHintParser would accept modified syntax with the type hints in source code (once upon a time, it was implemented with type hints following the args inside angle brackets foo: x <Integer> bar: y <Number>). And the alternate TypeHintCompiler would arrange to compile preconditions automatically given those type hints. Since you will then be very advanced in Squeak, you will also create special mapping between source code index and bytecodes so as to have sane debugger and even special Decompiler class that could recognize the precondition type checks and transform them back to type hints just in case.
My advice would be to start with the first approach that you are proposing.
EDIT
I forgot to say, there is yet another way, but it is currently available in Pharo rather than Squeak: Pharo compiler (named OpalCompiler) does reify the bytecode instructions as objects (class names beginning with IR) in the generation phase. So it is also possible to directly manipulate the bytecode instructions by proper hacking at this stage... I'm pretty sure that we can find examples of usage. Probably the most advanced technic.

In the J language, the verb `over` doesn't work

I'm following along this thing: J Dictionary
It tells me to issue the command d by d over d!/d where d is a list, but my jqt environment tells me value error: over. If the problem is that I'm supposed to import/install/activate a library, I don't see any instructions in the documentation about that. Anyone know what's going on here?
From the documentation you linked:
The verbs over=:({.;}.)#":#, and by=:' '&;#,.#[,.] can be entered as utilities (for use rather than for immediate study)
It's telling you to define those verbs in order for the following code to work.
So they're not part of the standard library nor any other library - you're supposed to define them yourself.

make menhir find all alternatives?

I would like to change the behavior of menhir's output in follwoing way:
I want it to look up all grammatical alternatives if it finds any, and put them in a list and get me back this ambigouus interpretation. It shall not reduce conflicts, just store them.
In the source code of menhir, it seems to me, that I have to look in "Engine.ml". The resultant syntactically determined token comes in a variant type item "Accepted v" as a state of a checkpoint of the grammatical automaton. This content is found by a function "accept env prod" before, that is part of a bundle of recursive functions, that change the states.
Do you have a tip, how I could change these functions to put all the possible results in the list here and proceed as if nothing happened? Or do you think, that this wont work anyway?
Thanks.
What you are looking for is a GLR parser generator (G is for generalized). Menhir is not such tool, and I doubt you could modify it easily to do what you want.
However, there is another tool that does exactly what you want: dypgen.

prolog recursive searching with contraints

I have a house with rooms that are defined with connections for when you can go from one room to another eg.
connection(garage,sidehall).
connection(sidehall,kitchen).
connection(kitchen,diningroom).
canget(X,Y):-connection(X,Y).
canget(X,Y):-connection(X,_),
write('player goes from '),write(X),write(' to '),write(Y),nl,
canget(_,Y).
Im trying to figure out how make it so the player can only get from one room to another when they have a specific item, such as you can only be in the kitchen when items = gloves.
canget(X,Y,Item):-connection(X,Y,Item),canbein(Y,Item).
canget(X,Y,Item):-connection(X,Somewhere,Item),canbein(Somewhere,Item),canget(Somewhere,Y,Item).
tried defining canbein with:
canbein(kitchen):- item(sword).
canbein(sidehall):- item(hat).
but that doesnt work!
Have defined my items as such, not sure if this is right either:
item(gloves,sword,helm,cheese).
Basically, have i declared my item values correctly?
How can i use the specific item value to make canget x to y false?
Thank you!
Well, I see a few problems with your code. Firstly, you call canbein with two arguments (from canget predicate). However, canbein is defined as single-argument predicate. Therefore, the call always fails as no canbein/2 predicate exists.
I suggest the following modification:
canbein(kitchen, sword).
canbein(sidehall, hat).
Than, the item definition is not required. Let's think about what happens during the unification of
canget(X,Y,Item) :- connection(X,Y,Item), canbein(Y,Item).
Let's assume the following setting X=sidehall, Y=kitchen, Item==sword. This predicate should be OK. Assuming the conection predicate is OK, prolog tries to find canbein(Y, Item) i.e. canbein(kitchen, sword) and it succeeds.
On the contrary, if the Item is different the unification fails, hence it works as expected.
The second problem is the item predicate. By your definition, it expects 4 arguments. That's nonsense, of course. You should declare it like
item(gloves).
item(sword).
item(helm).
item(cheese).
However, I don't think this predicate is necessary at all. Just to be clear, try to call item(X) and obtain all results (the four declared). Try it with the prior definition - what should you even ask for?
I hope it helps :)

Why do I have to specify an ExtPgm parameter for the Main Procedure?

My program, PKGDAYMONR has the control option:
ctl-opt Main( CheckDailyPackages )
The CheckDailyPackages procedure has the following PI:
dcl-pi *n ExtPgm( 'PGMNAME' );
As you can see the ExtPgm parameter is not the name of the program. In fact, it’s what came over in the template source and I forgot to change it. Despite the wrong name in ExtPgm, the program runs without a problem.
If I remove that parameter and leave the keyword as just ExtPgm, I get the following message:
RNF3573: A parameter is required for the EXTPGM keyword when the
procedure name is longer than 10.
If I drop ExtPgm from the Procedure Interface altogether, it also complains:
RNF3834: EXTPGM must be specified on the prototype for the MAIN()
procedure.
So why is it that I have to specify a parameter if it doesn't matter what value I enter?
O/S level: IBM i 7.2
Probably worth pursuing as a defect with the service provider; presumably for most, that would be IBM rather than a third-party, as they would have to contact IBM anyhow, given the perceived issue is clearly with their compiler. Beyond that, as my "Answer", I offer some thoughts:
IMO, and in apparent agreement with the OP, naming the ExtPgm seems pointless in the given scenario. I think the compiler is confused while trying to enforce some requirements in validations of the implicitly generated Prototype for the linear-main for which only a Procedure Interface is supplied; i.e. enforcing requirements that are appropriate for an explicit Prototype, but requirements that could be overlooked [thus are no longer requirements] in the given scenario.? I am suggesting that while the RNF3573 would seem appropriate for diagnosing EXTPGM specifications of an explicit Prototype, IMO that same effect is inappropriate [i.e. the validation should not be performed] for an implicit prototype that was generated by the compiler.
FWiW: Was the fixed-format equivalent of that free-form code tested, to see if the same or a different error was the effect? The following source code currently includes the EXTPGM specification with 'PGMNAME' as the argument [i.e. supplying any bogus value of 10-byte naming to supplicate the compiler, just as is being done in the scenario of the OP, solely to effect a successful compile], but could be compiled with the other variations with changes to the source, mimicking what was done with free-form variations, to test if the same\consistent validations and errors are the effect:
- just EXTPGM keyword coded (w/out argument); is RNF3573 the effect?
- the EXTPGM keyword could be omitted; is RNF3834 the effect?
- the D-spec removed entirely (if there are no parameters defined); ¿that was not one of the variations noted in the OP as being tried, so... the effect?
H MAIN(CheckDailyPackages)
*--------------------------------------------------
* Program name: CheckDailyPackages (PGMNAME)
*--------------------------------------------------
P CheckDailyPackages...
P B
D PI EXTPGM('PGMNAME')
/free
// Work is done here
/end-free
P CheckDailyPackages...
P E
I got a response from IBM and essentially Biswa was on to something, it simply wasn't clear (in my opinion) about the answer.
Essentially the EXTPGM is required on long Main procedure names in order to support recursive program calls.
This is the response I received from IBM explaining the reason for the scenario:
The incorrect EXTPGM would only matter if there was a call to the main
procedure (the program) within the module.
When the compiler processes the procedure interface, it doesn't know
whether there might be a call that appears later in the module.
EXTPGM keyword is used to define the external name of the program which you want to prototype. If you mention the EXTPGM then the program will be called dynamically.
Let us take an example in order to explain your query.
PGMA
D cmdExc PR ExtPgm('QSYS/QCMDEXC')
D 200A const
D 15P05 const
c callp cmdExc('CLRPFM LIB1/PF1':200)
C Eval *INLR = *ON
In the above example CmdExc used for the dynamic call to QSYS/QCMDEXC.
When we use the same program name as the EXTPGM parameter it acts as an entry point to the program when called from other programs or procedure.
But in any case when we mention any name as the sample parameter the EXTPGM will not give any error in compilation, but it gives the error during run time as it tries to resolve the name during run time.

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