guile/doc/ref/scheme-utility.texi

@page
@node Utility Functions
@chapter General Utility Functions

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

This chapter contains information about procedures which are not cleanly
tied to a specific data type.  Because of their wide range of
applications, they are collected in a @dfn{utility} chapter.

@menu
* Equality::                    When are two values `the same'?
* Object Properties::           A modern interface to object properties.
* Sorting::                     Sort utility procedures.
* Copying::                     Copying deep structures.
* General Conversion::          Converting objects to strings.
* Hooks::                       User-customizable event lists.
@end menu


@node Equality
@section Equality

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

@cindex sameness
@cindex equality

Three different kinds of @dfn{sameness} are defined in Scheme.

@itemize @bullet
@item
Two values can refer to exactly the same object.

@item
Two objects can have the same @dfn{value}.

@item
Two objects can be structurally equivalent.
@end itemize

The differentiation between these three kinds is important, because
determining whether two values are the same objects is very efficient,
while determining structural equivalence can be quite expensive
(consider comparing two very long lists).  Therefore, three different
procedures for testing for equality are provided, which correspond to
the three kinds of @dfn{sameness} defined above.

@rnindex eq?
@deffn {Scheme Procedure} eq? x y
Return @code{#t} iff @var{x} references the same object as @var{y}.
@code{eq?} is similar to @code{eqv?} except that in some cases it is
capable of discerning distinctions finer than those detectable by
@code{eqv?}.
@end deffn

@rnindex eqv?
@deffn {Scheme Procedure} eqv? x y
The @code{eqv?} procedure defines a useful equivalence relation on objects.
Briefly, it returns @code{#t} if @var{x} and @var{y} should normally be
regarded as the same object.  This relation is left slightly open to
interpretation, but works for comparing immediate integers, characters,
and inexact numbers.
@end deffn

@rnindex equal?
@deffn {Scheme Procedure} equal? x y
Return @code{#t} iff @var{x} and @var{y} are recursively @code{eqv?} equivalent.
@code{equal?} recursively compares the contents of pairs,
vectors, and strings, applying @code{eqv?} on other objects such as
numbers and symbols.  A rule of thumb is that objects are generally
@code{equal?}  if they print the same.  @code{equal?} may fail to
terminate if its arguments are circular data structures.
@end deffn


@node Object Properties
@section Object Properties

It's often useful to associate a piece of additional information with a
Scheme object even though that object does not have a dedicated slot
available in which the additional information could be stored.  Object
properties allow you to do just that.

An object property is most commonly used to associate one kind of
additional information with each instance of a class of similar Scheme
objects.  For example, all procedures have a `name' property, which
stores the name of the variable in which the procedure was stored by a
@code{define} expression, or @code{#f} if the procedure wasn't created
by that kind of expression.

Guile's representation of an object property is a procedure-with-setter
(@pxref{Procedures with Setters}) that can be used with the generalized
form of @code{set!} (REFFIXME) to set and retrieve that property for any
Scheme object.  So, setting a property looks like this:

@lisp
(set! (my-property obj1) value-for-obj1)
(set! (my-property obj2) value-for-obj2)
@end lisp

@noindent
And retrieving values of the same property looks like this:

@lisp
(my-property obj1)
@result{}
value-for-obj1

(my-property obj2)
@result{}
value-for-obj2
@end lisp

To create an object property in the first place, use the
@code{make-object-property} procedure:

@lisp
(define my-property (make-object-property))
@end lisp

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} make-object-property
Create and return an object property.  An object property is a
procedure-with-setter that can be called in two ways.  @code{(set!
(@var{property} @var{obj}) @var{val})} sets @var{obj}'s @var{property}
to @var{val}.  @code{(@var{property} @var{obj})} returns the current
setting of @var{obj}'s @var{property}.
@end deffn

A single object property created by @code{make-object-property} can
associate distinct property values with all Scheme values that are
distinguishable by @code{eq?} (including, for example, integers).

Internally, object properties are implemented using a weak key hash
table.  This means that, as long as a Scheme value with property values
is protected from garbage collection, its property values are also
protected.  When the Scheme value is collected, its entry in the
property table is removed and so the (ex-) property values are no longer
protected by the table.

@menu
* Property Primitives::         Low level property implementation.
* Old-fashioned Properties::    An older approach to properties.
@end menu


@node Property Primitives
@subsection Low Level Property Implementation.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} primitive-make-property not_found_proc
@deffnx {C Function} scm_primitive_make_property (not_found_proc)
Create a @dfn{property token} that can be used with
@code{primitive-property-ref} and @code{primitive-property-set!}.
See @code{primitive-property-ref} for the significance of
@var{not_found_proc}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} primitive-property-ref prop obj
@deffnx {C Function} scm_primitive_property_ref (prop, obj)
Return the property @var{prop} of @var{obj}.  When no value
has yet been associated with @var{prop} and @var{obj}, call
@var{not-found-proc} instead (see @code{primitive-make-property})
and use its return value.  That value is also associated with
@var{obj} via @code{primitive-property-set!}.  When
@var{not-found-proc} is @code{#f}, use @code{#f} as the
default value of @var{prop}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} primitive-property-set! prop obj val
@deffnx {C Function} scm_primitive_property_set_x (prop, obj, val)
Associate @var{code} with @var{prop} and @var{obj}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} primitive-property-del! prop obj
@deffnx {C Function} scm_primitive_property_del_x (prop, obj)
Remove any value associated with @var{prop} and @var{obj}.
@end deffn


@node Old-fashioned Properties
@subsection An Older Approach to Properties

Traditionally, Lisp systems provide a different object property
interface to that provided by @code{make-object-property}, in which the
object property that is being set or retrieved is indicated by a symbol.

Guile includes this older kind of interface as well, but it may well be
removed in a future release, as it is less powerful than
@code{make-object-property} and so increases the size of the Guile
library for no benefit.  (And it is trivial to write a compatibility
layer in Scheme.)

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} object-properties obj
@deffnx {C Function} scm_object_properties (obj)
Return @var{obj}'s property list.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} set-object-properties! obj alist
@deffnx {C Function} scm_set_object_properties_x (obj, alist)
Set @var{obj}'s property list to @var{alist}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} object-property obj key
@deffnx {C Function} scm_object_property (obj, key)
Return the property of @var{obj} with name @var{key}.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} set-object-property! obj key value
@deffnx {C Function} scm_set_object_property_x (obj, key, value)
In @var{obj}'s property list, set the property named @var{key}
to @var{value}.
@end deffn


@node Sorting
@section Sorting

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

@cindex sorting
@cindex sorting lists
@cindex sorting vectors

Sorting is very important in computer programs.  Therefore, Guile comes
with several sorting procedures built-in.  As always, procedures with
names ending in @code{!} are side-effecting, that means that they may
modify their parameters in order to produce their results.

The first group of procedures can be used to merge two lists (which must
be already sorted on their own) and produce sorted lists containing
all elements of the input lists.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} merge alist blist less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_merge (alist, blist, less)
Merge two already sorted lists into one.
Given two lists @var{alist} and @var{blist}, such that
@code{(sorted? alist less?)} and @code{(sorted? blist less?)},
return a new list in which the elements of @var{alist} and
@var{blist} have been stably interleaved so that
@code{(sorted? (merge alist blist less?) less?)}.
Note:  this does _not_ accept vectors.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} merge! alist blist less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_merge_x (alist, blist, less)
Takes two lists @var{alist} and @var{blist} such that
@code{(sorted? alist less?)} and @code{(sorted? blist less?)} and
returns a new list in which the elements of @var{alist} and
@var{blist} have been stably interleaved so that
 @code{(sorted? (merge alist blist less?) less?)}.
This is the destructive variant of @code{merge}
Note:  this does _not_ accept vectors.
@end deffn

The following procedures can operate on sequences which are either
vectors or list.  According to the given arguments, they return sorted
vectors or lists, respectively.  The first of the following procedures
determines whether a sequence is already sorted, the other sort a given
sequence.  The variants with names starting with @code{stable-} are
special in that they maintain a special property of the input sequences:
If two or more elements are the same according to the comparison
predicate, they are left in the same order as they appeared in the
input.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} sorted? items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_sorted_p (items, less)
Return @code{#t} iff @var{items} is a list or a vector such that
for all 1 <= i <= m, the predicate @var{less} returns true when
applied to all elements i - 1 and i
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} sort items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_sort (items, less)
Sort the sequence @var{items}, which may be a list or a
vector.  @var{less} is used for comparing the sequence
elements.  This is not a stable sort.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} sort! items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_sort_x (items, less)
Sort the sequence @var{items}, which may be a list or a
vector.  @var{less} is used for comparing the sequence
elements.  The sorting is destructive, that means that the
input sequence is modified to produce the sorted result.
This is not a stable sort.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} stable-sort items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_stable_sort (items, less)
Sort the sequence @var{items}, which may be a list or a
vector. @var{less} is used for comparing the sequence elements.
This is a stable sort.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} stable-sort! items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_stable_sort_x (items, less)
Sort the sequence @var{items}, which may be a list or a
vector. @var{less} is used for comparing the sequence elements.
The sorting is destructive, that means that the input sequence
is modified to produce the sorted result.
This is a stable sort.
@end deffn

The procedures in the last group only accept lists or vectors as input,
as their names indicate.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} sort-list items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_sort_list (items, less)
Sort the list @var{items}, using @var{less} for comparing the
list elements. This is a stable sort.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} sort-list! items less
@deffnx {C Function} scm_sort_list_x (items, less)
Sort the list @var{items}, using @var{less} for comparing the
list elements. The sorting is destructive, that means that the
input list is modified to produce the sorted result.
This is a stable sort.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} restricted-vector-sort! vec less startpos endpos
@deffnx {C Function} scm_restricted_vector_sort_x (vec, less, startpos, endpos)
Sort the vector @var{vec}, using @var{less} for comparing
the vector elements.  @var{startpos} and @var{endpos} delimit
the range of the vector which gets sorted.  The return value
is not specified.
@end deffn


@node Copying
@section Copying Deep Structures

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

The procedures for copying lists (@pxref{Lists}) only produce a flat
copy of the input list, and currently Guile does not even contain
procedures for copying vectors.  @code{copy-tree} can be used for these
application, as it does not only copy the spine of a list, but also
copies any pairs in the cars of the input lists.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} copy-tree obj
@deffnx {C Function} scm_copy_tree (obj)
Recursively copy the data tree that is bound to @var{obj}, and return a
pointer to the new data structure.  @code{copy-tree} recurses down the
contents of both pairs and vectors (since both cons cells and vector
cells may point to arbitrary objects), and stops recursing when it hits
any other object.
@end deffn


@node General Conversion
@section General String Conversion

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

When debugging Scheme programs, but also for providing a human-friendly
interface, a procedure for converting any Scheme object into string
format is very useful.  Conversion from/to strings can of course be done
with specialized procedures when the data type of the object to convert
is known, but with this procedure, it is often more comfortable.

@code{object->string} converts an object by using a print procedure for
writing to a string port, and then returning the resulting string.
Converting an object back from the string is only possible if the object
type has a read syntax and the read syntax is preserved by the printing
procedure.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} object->string obj [printer]
@deffnx {C Function} scm_object_to_string (obj, printer)
Return a Scheme string obtained by printing @var{obj}.
Printing function can be specified by the optional second
argument @var{printer} (default: @code{write}).
@end deffn


@node Hooks
@section Hooks
@tpindex Hooks

@c FIXME::martin: Review me!

A hook is basically a list of procedures to be called at well defined
points in time.  Hooks are used internally for several debugging
facilities, but they can be used in user code, too.

Hooks are created with @code{make-hook}, then procedures can be added to
a hook with @code{add-hook!} or removed with @code{remove-hook!} or
@code{reset-hook!}.  The procedures stored in a hook can be invoked with
@code{run-hook}.

@menu
* Hook Examples::               Hook usage by example.
* Hook Reference::              Reference of all hook procedures.
@end menu

@node Hook Examples
@subsection Hook Examples

Hook usage is shown by some examples in this section.  First, we will
define a hook of arity 2 --- that is, the procedures stored in the hook
will have to accept two arguments.

@lisp
(define hook (make-hook 2))
hook
@result{} #<hook 2 40286c90>
@end lisp

Now we are ready to add some procedures to the newly created hook with
@code{add-hook!}.  In the following example, two procedures are added,
which print different messages and do different things with their
arguments.  When the procedures have been added, we can invoke them
using @code{run-hook}.

@lisp
(add-hook! hook (lambda (x y)
                    (display "Foo: ")
                    (display (+ x y))
                    (newline)))
(add-hook! hook (lambda (x y)
                    (display "Bar: ")
                    (display (* x y))
                    (newline)))
(run-hook hook 3 4)
@print{} Bar: 12
@print{} Foo: 7
@end lisp

Note that the procedures are called in reverse order than they were
added.  This can be changed by providing the optional third argument
on the second call to @code{add-hook!}.

@lisp
(add-hook! hook (lambda (x y)
                    (display "Foo: ")
                    (display (+ x y))
                    (newline)))
(add-hook! hook (lambda (x y)
                    (display "Bar: ")
                    (display (* x y))
                    (newline))
                    #t)   ; @r{<- Change here!}
(run-hook hook 3 4)
@print{} Foo: 7
@print{} Bar: 12
@end lisp

@node Hook Reference
@subsection Hook Reference

When a hook is created with @code{make-hook}, you can supply the arity
of the procedures which can be added to the hook.  The arity defaults to
zero.  All procedures of a hook must have the same arity, and when the
procedures are invoked using @code{run-hook}, the number of arguments
must match the arity of the procedures.

The order in which procedures are added to a hook matters.  If the third
parameter to @var{add-hook!} is omitted or is equal to @code{#f}, the
procedure is added in front of the procedures which might already be on
that hook, otherwise the procedure is added at the end.  The procedures
are always called from first to last when they are invoked via
@code{run-hook}.

When calling @code{hook->list}, the procedures in the resulting list are
in the same order as they would have been called by @code{run-hook}.

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} make-hook [n_args]
@deffnx {C Function} scm_make_hook (n_args)
Create a hook for storing procedure of arity @var{n_args}.
@var{n_args} defaults to zero.  The returned value is a hook
object to be used with the other hook procedures.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} hook? x
@deffnx {C Function} scm_hook_p (x)
Return @code{#t} if @var{x} is a hook, @code{#f} otherwise.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} hook-empty? hook
@deffnx {C Function} scm_hook_empty_p (hook)
Return @code{#t} if @var{hook} is an empty hook, @code{#f}
otherwise.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} add-hook! hook proc [append_p]
@deffnx {C Function} scm_add_hook_x (hook, proc, append_p)
Add the procedure @var{proc} to the hook @var{hook}. The
procedure is added to the end if @var{append_p} is true,
otherwise it is added to the front.  The return value of this
procedure is not specified.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} remove-hook! hook proc
@deffnx {C Function} scm_remove_hook_x (hook, proc)
Remove the procedure @var{proc} from the hook @var{hook}.  The
return value of this procedure is not specified.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} reset-hook! hook
@deffnx {C Function} scm_reset_hook_x (hook)
Remove all procedures from the hook @var{hook}.  The return
value of this procedure is not specified.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} run-hook hook . args
@deffnx {C Function} scm_run_hook (hook, args)
Apply all procedures from the hook @var{hook} to the arguments
@var{args}.  The order of the procedure application is first to
last.  The return value of this procedure is not specified.
@end deffn

@deffn {Scheme Procedure} hook->list hook
@deffnx {C Function} scm_hook_to_list (hook)
Convert the procedure list of @var{hook} to a list.
@end deffn


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