comparison demo/prose @ 420:9119a5920106

Prose for Ref and Metaform
author Adam Chlipala <adamc@hcoop.net>
date Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:52:04 -0400
parents cb5897276abf
children 0767d7ad0c3a
comparison
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419:cb5897276abf 420:9119a5920106
74 74
75 <p>Other functions demonstrate use of the <tt>dml</tt> function, for building a transaction from a SQL DML command. It is easy to insert antiquoted Ur code into queries and DML commands, and the type-checker catches mistakes in the types of the expressions that we insert.</p> 75 <p>Other functions demonstrate use of the <tt>dml</tt> function, for building a transaction from a SQL DML command. It is easy to insert antiquoted Ur code into queries and DML commands, and the type-checker catches mistakes in the types of the expressions that we insert.</p>
76 76
77 <p> 77 <p>
78 78
79 ref.urp
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81 <p>This example shows how to mix the module system with SQL to implement a kind of "abstract data type." The functor <tt>RefFun.Make</tt> takes in a type belonging to the type class of those types that may be included in SQL. The functor output includes an abstract type <tt>ref</tt>, along with operations for working with <tt>ref</tt>s via transactions. In the functor implementation, we see that <tt>ref</tt> is implemented as <tt>int</tt>, treated as primary keys of a SQL table.</p>
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83 <p>The functor creates a new encapsulated SQL sequence and table on each call. These local relations show up in the automatically-generated SQL file that should be run to prepare the database for use, but they are invisible from client code. We could change the functor to create different SQL relations, without needing to change client code.</p>
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79 sum.urp 85 sum.urp
80 86
81 <p>Metaprogramming is one of the most important facilities of Ur. This example shows how to write a function that is able to sum up the fields of records of integers, no matter which set of fields the particular record has.</p> 87 <p>Metaprogramming is one of the most important facilities of Ur. This example shows how to write a function that is able to sum up the fields of records of integers, no matter which set of fields the particular record has.</p>
82 88
83 <p>Ur's support for analysis of types is based around extensible records, or <i>row types</i>. In the definition of the <tt>sum</tt> function, we see the type parameter <tt>fs</tt> assigned the <i>kind</i> <tt>{Unit}</tt>, which stands for records of types of kind <tt>Unit</tt>. The <tt>Unit</tt> kind has only one inhabitant, <tt>()</tt>. The kind <tt>Type</tt> is for "normal" types.</p> 89 <p>Ur's support for analysis of types is based around extensible records, or <i>row types</i>. In the definition of the <tt>sum</tt> function, we see the type parameter <tt>fs</tt> assigned the <i>kind</i> <tt>{Unit}</tt>, which stands for records of types of kind <tt>Unit</tt>. The <tt>Unit</tt> kind has only one inhabitant, <tt>()</tt>. The kind <tt>Type</tt> is for "normal" types.</p>
105 111
106 <p>It's easy to adapt the last example to use type classes, such that we can sum the fields of records based on any numeric type.</p> 112 <p>It's easy to adapt the last example to use type classes, such that we can sum the fields of records based on any numeric type.</p>
107 113
108 metaform1.urp 114 metaform1.urp
109 115
116 <p>We can use metaprogramming with row types to build HTML forms (and their handlers) generically. The functor <tt>Metaform.Make</tt> takes in a unit row <tt>fs</tt> and a value-level record <tt>names</tt> assigning string names to the fields of <tt>fs</tt>. The functor implementation builds a form handler with a library function <tt>foldURX2</tt>, which runs over two value-level records in parallel, building an XML fragment.</p>
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118 <p>The form itself is generated using the more primitive <tt>foldUR</tt>. We see the type <tt>xml form [] (mapUT string cols)</tt> as the result of the fold. This is the type of XML fragments that are suitable for inclusion in forms, require no form fields to be defined on entry, and themselves define form fields whose names and types are given by <tt>mapUT string cols</tt>. The <tt>useMore</tt> function "weakens" the type of an XML fragment, so that it "pretends" to require additional fields as input. This weakening is necessary to accommodate the general typing rule for concatenating bits of XML.</tt>
119 <p>The functor use in <tt>Metaform1</tt> is trivial. The compiler infers the value of the structure member <tt>fs</tt> from the type of the value provided for <tt>names</tt>.</p>
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110 metaform2.urp 121 metaform2.urp
111 122
112 ref.urp 123 <p>This example showcases code reuse by applying the same functor as in the last example. The <tt>Metaform2</tt> module mixes pages from the functor with some new pages of its own.</p>