Re: [Caml-list] module type constraints problem

[brogoff@speakeasy.net]

Hi, 

Here's a hint; Your element type, 'a, is wrong. Try something like this:

module type ITER =
  sig
    type 'a elt
    type 'a t
    val iter : ('a elt -> unit) -> 'a t -> unit
  end

module ListIter : ITER =
  struct
    type 'a elt = 'a 
    type 'a t = 'a list
    let iter f l = List.iter f l
  end

type expr =
    Expr of int * expr * expr
  | Int of int
  | Unit

module ExprIter : (ITER with type 'a elt = expr and type 'a t = expr) =
  struct
    type 'a elt = expr
    type 'a t = expr
    let rec iter f e =
      begin
        f e;
        match e with
          Expr(i, a, b) -> (iter f a; iter f b)
        | _ -> ()
      end
  end

-- Brian

On Wed, 28 May 2003, Warren Harris wrote:

> Hi. I'm wondering if someone on this mailing list can help me with a 
> module type problem. What I would like to achieve is an iteration 
> abstraction (module) that is parameterized by the node and element type 
> of the data to be iterated over. I want to implement this abstraction 
> for different data types including lists, and a language expression type.
> 
> In the list case, the element type is abstract ('a), and the node type 
> is 'a list.
> 
> In the expr case, the element type is expr (the exprs themselves, not 
> some sub-element of the exprs), and the node type is also expr.
> 
> Here's my module type:
> 
>     module type Iter =
>     sig
>       type 'a t
>       val iter : ('a -> unit) -> 'a t -> unit
>     end
> 
> and here's the list implementation (works great):
> 
>     module ListIter : Iter =
>     struct
>       type 'a t = 'a list
>       let iter f l = List.iter f l
>     end
> 
> Here's a simlified version of my expr type:
> 
>     type expr =
>         Expr of int * expr * expr
>       | Int of int
>       | Unit
> 
> But this implementation of the Iter module won't type check:
> 
>     module ExprIter : Iter =
>     struct
>       type 'a t = expr
>       let rec iter f e =
>         f e;
>         match e with
>             Expr(i, a, b) -> iter f a; iter f b
>           | e -> ()
>     end
> 
>     Signature mismatch:
>     Modules do not match:
>       sig type 'a t = expr val iter : (expr -> 'a) -> expr -> unit end
>     is not included in
>       Iter
>     Values do not match:
>       val iter : (expr -> 'a) -> expr -> unit
>     is not included in
>       val iter : ('a -> unit) -> 'a t -> unit
> 
> Adding explicit constraints to the parameters of the iter function don't 
> help either:
> 
>     module ExprIter : Iter =
>     struct
>       type 'a t = expr
>       let rec iter (f:'a -> unit) (e:'a t) =
>         f e;
>         match e with
>             Expr(i, a, b) -> iter f a; iter f b
>           | e -> ()
>     end
> 
>     Signature mismatch:
>     Modules do not match:
>       sig type 'a t = expr val iter : (('a t as 'a) -> unit) -> 'a ->
>     unit end
>     is not included in
>       Iter
>     Values do not match:
>       val iter : (('a t as 'a) -> unit) -> 'a -> unit
>     is not included in
>       val iter : ('a -> unit) -> 'a t -> unit
> 
> Is there some additional way to constrain this problem such that the 
> type checker will accept it? If you look closely, 'a t = 'a = expr yet 
> the type checker is failing to deduce the equality of the two iter 
> function types.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated,
> 
> Warren
> 

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