Expands on documentation of the 'with' rule (#4195)

* Expands on documentation of the 'with' rule

This additional text clarifies the syntax of the 'with' rule:

- it gives the name "view refined argument pattern" to argument
  patterns to the left of the | vertical bar.

- it explains that when the original function argument patterns are
  unchanged, then the refined pattern may be omitted, using the
  'filter' function as an example.

- it decomposes in a bit more detail the body of the 'natToBin'
  function, explaining in bullet point form where the refined patterns
  have come from, i.e. Even and Odd constructor definitions.
This commit is contained in:
Rob Stewart 2017-11-13 21:37:29 +00:00 committed by Jan de Muijnck-Hughes
parent afa8a25dcc
commit 07ee064a9a

View File

@ -33,24 +33,36 @@ rule, inspired by views in ``Epigram`` [1]_, which takes account of
the fact that matching on a value in a dependently typed language can
affect what we know about the forms of other values. In its simplest
form, the ``with`` rule adds another argument to the function being
defined, e.g. we have already seen a vector filter function, defined
as follows:
defined.
We have already seen a vector filter function. This time, we define it
using ``with`` as follows:
.. code-block:: idris
filter : (a -> Bool) -> Vect n a -> (p ** Vect p a)
filter p [] = ( _ ** [] )
filter p (x :: xs) with (filter p xs)
| ( _ ** xs' ) = if (p x) then ( _ ** x :: xs' ) else ( _ ** xs' )
filter p (x :: xs) | ( _ ** xs' ) = if (p x) then ( _ ** x :: xs' ) else ( _ ** xs' )
Here, the ``with`` clause allows us to deconstruct the result of
``filter p xs``. Effectively, it adds this value as an extra argument,
which we place after the vertical bar.
``filter p xs``. The view refined argument pattern ``filter p (x ::
xs)`` goes beneath the ``with`` clause, followed by a vertical bar
``|``, followed by the deconstructed intermediate result ``( _ ** xs'
)``. If the view refined argument pattern is unchanged from the
original function argument pattern, then the left side of ``|`` is
extraneous and may be omitted:
.. code-block:: idris
filter p (x :: xs) with (filter p xs)
| ( _ ** xs' ) = if (p x) then ( _ ** x :: xs' ) else ( _ ** xs' )
If the intermediate computation itself has a dependent type, then the
result can affect the forms of other arguments — we can learn the form
of one value by testing another. For example, a ``Nat`` is either even
or odd. If its even it will be the sum of two equal ``Nat``.
of one value by testing another. In these cases, view refined argument
patterns must be explicit. For example, a ``Nat`` is either even or
odd. If it is even it will be the sum of two equal ``Nat``.
Otherwise, it is the sum of two equal ``Nat`` plus one:
.. code-block:: idris
@ -80,14 +92,29 @@ rule:
natToBin (j + j) | Even = False :: natToBin j
natToBin (S (j + j)) | Odd = True :: natToBin j
The value of the result of ``parity k`` affects the form of ``k``,
because the result of ``parity k`` depends on ``k``. So, as well as
the patterns for the result of the intermediate computation (``Even``
and ``odd``) right of the ``|``, we also write how the results
affect the other patterns left of the ``|``. Note that there is
a function in the patterns (``+``) and repeated occurrences of
``j``—this is allowed because another argument has determined the form
of these patterns.
The value of ``parity k`` affects the form of ``k``, because the
result of ``parity k`` depends on ``k``. So, as well as the patterns
for the result of the intermediate computation (``Even`` and ``Odd``)
right of the ``|``, we also write how the results affect the other
patterns left of the ``|``. That is:
- When ``parity k`` evaluates to ``Even``, we can refine the original
argument ``k`` to a refined pattern ``(j + j)`` according to
``Parity (n + n)`` from the ``Even`` constructor definition. So
``(j + j)`` replaces ``k`` on the left side of ``|``, and the
``Even`` constructor appears on the right side. The natural number
``j`` in the refined pattern can be used on the ride side of the
``=`` sign.
- Otherwise, when ``parity k`` evaluates to ``Odd``, the original
argument ``k`` is refined to ``S (j + j)`` according to ``Parity (S
(n + n))`` from the ``Odd`` constructor definition, and ``Odd`` now
appears on the ride side of ``|``, again with the natural number
``j`` used on the ride side of the ``=`` sign.
Note that there is a function in the patterns (``+``) and repeated
occurrences of ``j`` - this is allowed because another argument has
determined the form of these patterns.
We will return to this function in the next section :ref:`sect-parity` to
complete the definition of ``parity``.