package ppx_view

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A ppx rewriter that provides pattern matching on abstract types by

Install

Dune Dependency

Authors

Maintainers

Sources

ppx_view-1.0.1.tbz
sha256=194e3276ef9ca0d8011a5f6eafc2d8b84d89c6e1e0fc911019ce0e5a6234c8f7
md5=7323a5db34f96fda424cead34da7d025

README.md.html

README.md

A ppx rewriter that provides pattern matching on abstract types by transforming patterns into views/expressions.

Syntax

ppx_view transforms the patterns of match/function constructs wrapped inside [%view] extensions by replacing matches against constructors with function calls.

For instance, in the following code:

match%view expr with
| Constr var -> var

the constructor Constr is turned into a call to the function constr, which is expected to be a view pattern:

val constr : (string, 'a, 'b) View.t -> (expression, 'a, 'b) View.t

Technically, the above expression is rewritten into:

Viewlib.View.match_ __POS__
    [Viewlib.View.case (constr Viewlib.View.__)
       (fun (Viewlib.View.Var_cons
          (var,Viewlib.View.Var_nil ))  -> var)] expr

where __ is used to capture the variable.

Mapping

ppx_view applies the following mapping:

  • a literal constant c of type typ is mapped to View.typ c;

  • an interval pattern c1..c2 is mapped to View.interval e1 e2 where ci is mapped to ei;

  • a variable pattern is mapped to View.__;

  • a catch-all pattern is mapped to View.drop;

  • a record pattern { lbl1 = p1; lbl2 = p2; ... } is mapped to lbl1'match e1 (lbl2'match e2 ...) where pi is mapped to ei;

  • a constructor pattern C (p1, ..., pn) is mapped to c e1 ... en where pi is mapped to ei, except for constructors from the core library:

    • Some is mapped to View.some;

    • None is mapped to View.none;

    • :: is mapped to View.cons;

    • [] is mapped to View.nil;

    • () is mapped to View.unit;

    • true is mapped to View.true_;

    • false is mapped to View.false_.

Note: the following patterns are currently not supported:

  • polymorphic variants;

  • lazy;

  • module unpacking;

  • exceptions.

Library

The Parseview module of the library contains the functions corresponding to the constructors and records from the Parsetree module. Such functions use "shortcuts" to xyz_desc fields, allowing to directly match constructors:

open Viewast

let is_zero : Parsetree.expression -> true = function%view
  | Pexp_constant (Pconst_integer ("0", _)) -> true
  | Pexp_ident { txt = Lident "zero"; _ } -> true
  | _ -> false

The access to other fields is done through a [@view ...] annotation:

open Viewast

let is_zero : Parsetree.expression -> true = function%view
  | (Pexp_constant (Pconst_integer ("0", _)))[@view { pexp_loc; }] -> true, pexp_loc
  | Pexp_ident { txt = Lident "zero"; loc; } -> true, loc
  | _ -> false, Location.none

The library also provides an Ast_viewer module that acts as the counterpart of the Ast_helper module. It allows to write patterns very similar to the corresponding expressions:

open Viewast

let twice_mapper =
  let module H = Ast_helper in
  let module M = Ast_mapper in
  let module V = Ast_viewer in
  let super = M.default_mapper in
  let expr self e =
    match%view super.expr self e with
    | V.Exp.Constant (V.Const.String (str, _)) ->
      H.Exp.constant (H.Const.string (str ^ str))
    | other ->
      other
  and pat self p =
    match%view super.pat self p with
    | V.Pat.Constant (V.Const.String (str, _)) ->
      H.Pat.constant (H.Const.string (str ^ str))
    | other ->
      other
  in
  { super with expr; pat; }
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