`with f x` matches `false`, but cannot construct `f x == false` - agda

A piece of code here:
-- transitivity
trans : {A : Set} {x y z : A} -> x == y -> y == z -> x == z
trans refl refl = refl
union-pair' : {A : Set} -> (m n : S {A}) -> (x : A) ->
(ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x) == (ismember (union m n) x)
union-pair' m n x with ismember m x | ismember n x | ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x
union-pair' : {A : Set} -> (m n : S {A}) -> (x : A) ->
(ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x) == (ismember (union m n) x)
union-pair' m n x with ismember m x | ismember n x | ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x
... | false | false | false = trans {x = ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x} {y = false}
refl -- line #102
(union-match m n x)
-- more code available on request, although I can't see why that would matter
produces an error:
code.agda:102,54-58
(ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x) != false of type Bool
when checking that the expression refl has type
ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x == false
I have a with-statement, which establishes exactly the fact that ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x is false. Why can it not establish that it is false?
Ok, I can even see some known issues https://agda.readthedocs.io/en/v2.5.2/language/with-abstraction.html#ill-typed-with-abstractions but still none the wiser as to how to pattern match then.

It looks like you need to remember the fact that the following expression
ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x
is indeed equal to
false
This is a very common problem that comes from the way the 'with' construct works. By default, you don't have access to the proof element that connects the element on which you pattern match with the result of the pattern matching, that is, in your example, an element of type:
ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x == false
In order to get an element of this type, you need to use the 'inspect' idiom that is defined alongside the propositional equality in the standard library. More concretely, this means you'll have to add a new element to your pattern matching as follows:
... | ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x | inspect (ismember (set-union (set-pair m n)) x
This will result in you having access both to 'false' and the proof element you require. For more information about the inspect idiom, see :
The wiki page on the with-abtraction : https://agda.readthedocs.io/en/v2.6.0.1/language/with-abstraction.html
The file PropositionalEquality.agda in the standard library, which provides the idiom as well as a quick description of how to use it
The file README/Inspect.agda in the standard library as well which provides a complete example on how and when to use the inspect idiom

Related

Proof about a function that uses rewrite: a "vertical bars in goals" question

I have a function that uses rewrite to satisfy the Agda type checker. I thought that I had a reasonably good grasp of how to deal with the resulting "vertical bars" in proofs about such functions. And yet, I fail completely at dealing with these bars in my seemingly simple case.
Here are the imports and my function, step. The rewrites make Agda see that n is equal to n + 0 and that suc (acc + n) is equal to acc + suc n, respectively.
module Repro where
open import Relation.Binary.PropositionalEquality as P using (_≡_)
open import Data.Nat
open import Data.Nat.DivMod
open import Data.Nat.DivMod.Core
open import Data.Nat.Properties
open import Agda.Builtin.Nat using () renaming (mod-helper to modₕ)
step : (acc d n : ℕ) → modₕ acc (acc + n) d n ≤ acc + n
step zero d n rewrite P.sym (+-identityʳ n) = a[modₕ]n<n n (suc d) 0
step (suc acc) d n rewrite P.sym (+-suc acc n) = a[modₕ]n<n acc (suc d) (suc n)
Now for the proof, which pattern matches on acc, just like the function. Here's the zero case:
step-ok : ∀ (acc d n : ℕ) → step acc d n ≡ a[modₕ]n<n acc d n
step-ok zero d n with n | P.sym (+-identityʳ n)
step-ok zero d n | .(n + 0) | P.refl = ?
At this point, Agda tells me I'm not sure if there should be a case for the constructor P.refl, because I get stuck when trying to solve the following unification problems (inferred index ≟ expected index): w ≟ w + 0 [...]
I am also stuck in the second case, the suc acc case, albeit in a different way:
step-ok (suc acc) d n with suc (acc + n) | P.sym (+-suc acc n)
step-ok (suc acc) d n | .(acc + suc n) | P.refl = ?
Here, Agda says suc (acc + n) != w of type ℕ when checking that the type [...] of the generated with function is well-formed
Update after Sassa NF's response
I followed Sassa NF's advice and reformulated my function with P.subst instead of rewrite. I.e., I changed my right-hand side from being about n + 0 to being about n, instead of conversely changing the goal from being about n to being about n + 0:
step′ : (acc d n : ℕ) → modₕ acc (acc + n) d n ≤ acc + n
step′ zero d n = P.subst (λ # → modₕ 0 # d # ≤ #) (+-identityʳ n) (a[modₕ]n<n n (suc d) 0)
step′ (suc acc) d n = P.subst (λ # → modₕ (suc acc) # d n ≤ #) (+-suc acc n) (a[modₕ]n<n acc (suc d) (suc n))
During the proof, the P.subst in the function definition needs to be eliminated, which can be done with a with construct:
step-ok′ : ∀ (acc d n : ℕ) → step′ acc d n ≡ a[modₕ]n<n acc d n
step-ok′ zero d n with n + 0 | +-identityʳ n
... | .n | P.refl = P.refl
step-ok′ (suc acc) d n with acc + suc n | +-suc acc n
... | .(suc (acc + n)) | P.refl = P.refl
So, yay! I just finished my very first Agda proof involving a with.
Some progress on the original problem
My guess would be that my first issue is a unification issue during dependent pattern matching: there isn't any substitution that makes n identical to n + 0. More generally, in situations where one thing is a strict subterm of the other thing, I suppose that we may run into unification trouble. So, maybe using with to match n with n + 0 was asking for problems.
My second issue seems to be what the Agda language reference calls an ill-typed with-abstraction. According to the reference, this "happens when you abstract over a term that appears in the type of a subterm of the goal or argument types." The culprit seems to be the type of the goal's subterm a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n, which is modₕ [...] ≤ (suc acc) + n, which contains the subterm I abstract over, (suc acc) + n.
It looks like this is usually resolved by additionally abstracting over the part of the goal that has the offending type. And, indeed, the following makes the error message go away:
step-ok (suc acc) d n with suc (acc + n) | P.sym (+-suc acc n) | a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n
... | .(acc + suc n) | P.refl | rhs = {!!}
So far so good. Let's now introduce P.inspect to capture the rhs substitution:
step-ok (suc acc) d n with suc (acc + n) | P.sym (+-suc acc n) | a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n | P.inspect (a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d) n
... | .(acc + suc n) | P.refl | rhs | P.[ rhs-eq ] = {!!}
Unfortunately, this leads to something like the original error: w != suc (acc + n) of type ℕ when checking that the type [...] of the generated with function is well-formed
One day later
Of course I'd run into the same ill-typed with-abstraction again! After all, the whole point of P.inspect is to preserve a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n, so that it can construct the term a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n ≡ rhs. However, preserved a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n of course still has its preserved original type, modₕ [...] ≤ (suc acc) + n, whereas rhs has the modified type modₕ [...] ≤ acc + suc n. That's what's causing trouble now.
I guess one solution would be to use P.subst to change the type of the term we inspect. And, indeed, the following works, even though it is hilariously convoluted:
step-ok (suc acc) d n with suc (acc + n) | P.sym (+-suc acc n) | a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n | P.inspect (λ n → P.subst (λ # → modₕ (suc acc) # d n ≤ #) (P.sym (+-suc acc n)) (a[modₕ]n<n (suc acc) d n)) n
... | .(acc + suc n) | P.refl | rhs | P.[ rhs-eq ] rewrite +-suc acc n = rhs-eq
So, yay again! I managed to fix my original second issue - basically by using P.subst in the proof instead of in the function definition. It seems, though, that using P.subst in the function definition as per Sassa NF's guidance is preferable, as it leads to much more concise code.
The unification issue is still a little mysterious to me, but on the positive side, I unexpectedly learned about the benefits of irrelevance on top of everything.
I'm accepting Sassa NF's response, as it put me on the right track towards a solution.
Your use of P.refl indicates some misunderstanding about the role of _≡_.
There is no magic in that type. It is just a dependent type with a single constructor. Proving that some x ≡ y resolves to P.refl does not tell Agda anything new about x and y: it only tells Agda that you managed to produce a witness of the type _≡_. This is the reason it cannot tell n and .(n + 0) are the same thing, or that suc (acc + n) is the same as .(acc + suc n). So both of the errors you see are really the same.
Now, what rewrite is for.
You cannot define C x ≡ C y for dependent type C _. C x and C y are different types. Equality is defined only for elements of the same type, so there is no way to even express the idea that an element of type C x is comparable to an element of type C y.
There is, however, an axiom of induction, which allows to produce elements of type C y, if you have an element of type C x and an element of type x ≡ y. Note there is no magic in the type _≡_ - that is, you can define your own type, and construct such a function, and Agda will be satisfied:
induction : {A : Set} {C : (x y : A) -> (x ≡ y) -> Set} (x y : A) (p : x ≡ y) ((x : A) -> C x x refl) -> C x y p
induction x .x refl f = f x
Or a simplified version that follows from the induction axiom:
transport : {A : Set} {C : A -> Set} (x y : A) (x ≡ y) (C x) -> C y
transport x .x refl cx = cx
What this means in practice, is that you get a proof for something - for example, A x ≡ A x, but then transport this proof along the equality x ≡ y to get a proof A x ≡ A y. This usually requires specifying the type explicitly, in this case {C = y -> A x ≡ A y}, and provide the x, the y and the C x. As such, it is a very cumbersome procedure, although the learners will benefit from doing these steps.
rewrite then is a syntactic mechanism that rewrites the types of the terms known before the rewrite, so that such transport is not needed after that. Because it is syntactic, it does interpret the type _≡_ in a special way (so if you define your own type, you need to tell Agda you are using a different type as equality). Rewriting types is not "telling" Agda that some types are equal. It just literally replaces occurrences of x in type signatures with y, so now you only need to construct things with y and refl.
Having said all that, you can see why it works for step. There rewrite P.sym ... literally replaced all occurrences of n with n + 0, including the return type of the function, so now it is modₕ acc (acc + (n + 0)) d (n + 0) ≤ acc + (n + 0). Then constructing a value of that type just works.
Then step-ok didn't work, because you only pattern-matched values. There is nothing to tell that n and (n + 0) are the same thing. But rewrite will. Or you could use a function like this transport.

Agda error when checking the inferred type

I'm trying to show that the sum of two odd numbers is even.
What is wrong with the last line?
data odd : ℕ → Set
data even : ℕ → Set
data even where
ezero :
-------
even zero
esuc : ∀ {n : ℕ}
→ odd n
------
→ even (suc n)
data odd where
osuc : ∀ { n : ℕ }
→ even n
------
→ odd (suc n)
e+e≡e : ∀ {m n : ℕ}
→ even m
→ even n
----
→ even (m + n)
o+e≡o : ∀ {m n : ℕ}
→ odd m
→ even n
------
→ odd (m + n)
e+e≡e ezero en = en
e+e≡e (esuc om) en = esuc (o+e≡o om en)
o+e≡o (osuc em) en = osuc (e+e≡e em en)
o+o≡e : ∀ {m n : ℕ}
→ odd m
→ odd n
------
→ even (m + n)
o+o≡e (osuc em) on = esuc (o+e≡o on em)
I'm getting this error:
➊  - 660 Experiment.agda  Agda   ∏  unix | 50: 0  Bottom
/Users/max/dev/plfa.github.io/src/plfa/Experiment.agda:52,28-39
n != n₁ of type ℕ
when checking that the inferred type of an application
odd (n + _n_31)
matches the expected type
odd (n₁ + n)
But the types seem fine to me. For example, if I replace the right side with ? and check the goals, Agda shows:
Goal: even (suc (n + n₁))
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
on : odd n₁
em : even n
n₁ : ℕ (not in scope)
n : ℕ (not in scope
So I'm passing evidence on that n is odd and em that m is even. And passing these to o+e≡e, which expects arguments of exactly those types. So where did I go wrong?
And in general, how can I read Agda's error messages? Are the subscripts after variable names meaningful?
It's telling you that em is not equal to on: you want a proof of odd (m + n), but you get odd (n + m) - Agda can't see addition is commutative. You should swap the arguments.
o+o≡e on (osuc em) = esuc (o+e≡o on em)
This produces a different error. That error tells you that Agda is unable to work out that suc (m + n) is equal to m + suc n, which means you need to introduce a lemma that establishes the equality. Then recall transport (a function that transports a value of a dependent type B x along equality x ≡ y to a value of a different dependent type B y), and that will give you a way to obtain a value of the needed type from the value that esuc (o+e≡o on em) constructs.
Working solution with zero imports:
data _==_ {A : Set} (x : A) : A -> Set where
refl : x == x
-- congruence
cong : forall {A B : Set} {x y : A} -> (f : A -> B) -> (x == y) -> (f x) == (f y)
cong f refl = refl -- note these refls are of different types: of x == y on the left, and of (f x) == (f y) on the right
-- transport: given two values are "equal", transport one dependent value along the equality path into a different dependent value
transport : forall {A : Set} {B : A -> Set} {x y : A} -> x == y -> B x -> B y
transport refl bx = bx -- proof relies on the circumstance that the only way to construct x == y is refl, so (B x) is (B y)
-- then induction at the heart of Agda can work out that this must be valid for any x == y
-- commutativity of _==_
comm : forall {A : Set} {x y : A} -> x == y -> y == x
comm refl = refl
data Nat : Set where
zero : Nat
suc : Nat -> Nat
_+_ : ∀ (m n : Nat) -> Nat
zero + n = n
(suc m) + n = suc (m + n)
-- Proving the necessary commutativity of suc.
-- Agda can see things like "(suc m) + n == suc (m + n)" by definition
-- but other equalities need proving, and then you can transport
-- the values from one type to another
n+1≡1+n : forall (m n : Nat) -> (m + (suc n)) == (suc (m + n))
n+1≡1+n zero n = refl
n+1≡1+n (suc m) n = cong suc (n+1≡1+n m n)
data odd : Nat → Set
data even : Nat → Set
data even where
ezero :
-------
even zero
esuc : ∀ {n : Nat}
→ odd n
------
→ even (suc n)
data odd where
osuc : ∀ { n : Nat }
→ even n
------
→ odd (suc n)
e+e≡e : ∀ {m n : Nat}
→ even m
→ even n
----
→ even (m + n)
o+e≡o : ∀ {m n : Nat}
→ odd m
→ even n
------
→ odd (m + n)
e+e≡e ezero en = en
e+e≡e (esuc om) en = esuc (o+e≡o om en)
o+e≡o (osuc em) en = osuc (e+e≡e em en)
-- Prove commutativity of even based on a known proof for commutativity of suc.
e-comm : forall {m n : Nat} -> even (suc (m + n)) -> even (m + (suc n))
e-comm {m} {n} esmn = transport {B = even} (comm (n+1≡1+n m n)) esmn -- transport needs hinting what B is
-- otherwise Agda cannot infer what B is based on the definition as found in this snippet
-- the error may seem a bit obscure, but you can see it is wrangling with
-- the dependent type of B:
-- Failed to solve the following constraints:
-- _74 := λ {m} {n} esmn → transport (comm (n+1≡1+n m n)) (_72 esmn)
-- [blocked on problem 166]
-- [165] (even (suc (m + n))) =< (_B_73 (suc (m + n))) : Set
-- [166] _B_73 (m + suc n) =< even (m + suc n) : Set
-- _71 := (λ {m} {n} esmn → esmn) [blocked on problem 165]
--
-- See, it is stuck trying to work out a type _B_73 such that even
-- would be a subtype of it, and a different even would be a supertype of it.
o+o≡e : ∀ {m n : Nat}
→ odd m
→ odd n
------
→ even (m + n)
o+o≡e {m} om (osuc en) = e-comm {m} (esuc (o+e≡o om en)) -- Agda had a problem working out m, so extracting it from implicits
-- Failed to solve the following constraints:
-- _81 := λ {.n} {.m} om en → e-comm (_80 om en)
-- [blocked on problem 188]
-- [188, 189] _m_74 om en + suc (_n_75 om en) = .m + suc .n : Nat
-- _79 := λ {.n} {.m} om en → esuc (o+e≡o om en)
-- [blocked on problem 185]
-- [185, 186, 187] .m + .n = _m_74 om en + _n_75 om en : Nat
--
-- See, if e-comm is not given {m} and {n}, then it is stuck working out
-- _m_74
transport joining dependent types is one of the key concepts. For example, congruence and commutativity of _==_ can be reduced to transport:
-- congruence
cong : forall {A B : Set} {x y : A} -> (f : A -> B) -> (x == y) -> (f x) == (f y)
cong {x = x} f xy = transport {B = (\y -> (f x) == (f y))} -- just making explicit that B is a type (f x) == (f _)
xy refl -- this refl is of type (f x) == (f x), which gets transported along x == y to (f x) == (f y)
-- commutativity of _==_
comm : forall {A : Set} {x y : A} -> x == y -> y == x
comm {x = x} xy = transport {B = (_== x)} xy refl -- this refl is of type x == x, which gets transported along x == y to y == x

How exactly can cong be well-typed?

I was looking at the definition of cong:
cong : ∀ {a b} {A : Set a} {B : Set b} (f : A → B) {x y} → x ≡ y → f x ≡ f y
cong f refl = refl
And I couldn't understand why it is well-typed. In particular, it seems like the implicit argument of refl must be both f x and f y. To make things more clear, I wrote a non-implicit version of equality, and attempted to replicate the proof:
data Eq : (A : Set) -> A -> A -> Set where
refl : (A : Set) -> (x : A) -> Eq A x x
cong : (A : Set) -> (B : Set) -> (f : A -> B) ->
(x : A) -> (y : A) -> (e : Eq A x y) -> Eq B (f x) (f y)
cong A B f x y e = refl B (f x)
This results in a type error:
x != y of type A when checking that the expression refl B (f x) has type Eq B (f x) (f y)
As one would expect. What could I possibly have instead of (f x)? Am I missing something?
Dependent pattern matching at your service.
If we make a hole in your cong
cong : (A : Set) -> (B : Set) -> (f : A -> B) ->
(x : A) -> (y : A) -> (e : Eq A x y) -> Eq B (f x) (f y)
cong A B f x y e = {!refl B (f x)!}
and look into it, we'll see
Goal: Eq B (f x) (f y)
Have: Eq B (f x) (f x)
so the values are indeed different. But once you pattern match on e:
cong : (A : Set) -> (B : Set) -> (f : A -> B) ->
(x : A) -> (y : A) -> (e : Eq A x y) -> Eq B (f x) (f y)
cong A B f x y (refl .A .x) = {!refl B (f x)!}
the fact that x is the same thing as y is revealed and the context is silently rewritten: each occurrence of y is replaced by x, so looking into the hole we now see
Goal: Eq B (f x) (f x)
Have: Eq B (f x) (f x)
Note that we can write
cong A B f x .x (refl .A .x) = refl B (f x)
i.e. do not bind y at all and just say that it's the same as x via a dot-pattern. We gained this information by pattern matching on e : Eq A x y, because once the match is performed we know that it's e : Eq A x x actually, because that's what the type signature of refl says. Unification of Eq A x y and Eq A x x results in a trivial conclusion: y equals x and the whole context is adjusted accordingly.
That's the same logic as with Haskell GADTs:
data Value a where
ValueInt :: Int -> Value Int
ValueBool :: Bool -> Value Bool
eval :: Value a -> a
eval (ValueInt i) = i
eval (ValueBool b) = b
when you match on ValueInt and get i of type Int, you also reveal that a equals Int and add this knowledge to the context (via an equality constraint) which makes a and Int unifiable later. That is how we're able to return i as a result: because a from the type signature and Int unify perfectly as we know from the context.

Problems on data type indices that uses list concatenation

I'm having a nasty problem with a formalisation of a theorem that uses a data type that have some constructors whose indices have list concatenation. When I try to use emacs mode to case split, Agda returns the following error message:
I'm not sure if there should be a case for the constructor
o-success, because I get stuck when trying to solve the following
unification problems (inferred index ≟ expected index):
e₁ o e'' , x₁ ++ x'' ++ y₁ ≟ e o e' , x ++ x' ++ y
suc (n₂ + n'') , x₁ ++ x'' ≟ m' , p''
when checking that the expression ? has type
suc (.n₁ + .n') == .m' × .x ++ .x' == p'
Since the code is has more than a small number of lines, I put it on the following gist:
https://gist.github.com/rodrigogribeiro/976b3d5cc82c970314c2
Any tip is appreciated.
Best,
There was a similar question.
However you want to unify xs1 ++ xs2 ++ xs3 with ys1 ++ ys2 ++ ys3, but _++_ is not a constructor — it's a function, and it's not injective. Consider this simplified example:
data Bar {A : Set} : List A -> Set where
bar : ∀ xs {ys} -> Bar (xs ++ ys)
ex : ∀ {A} {zs : List A} -> Bar zs -> Bar zs -> List A
ex (bar xs) b = {!!}
b is of type Bar (xs ++ .ys), but b is not necessarily equal to bar .xs, so you can't pattern-match like this. Here are two Bars, which have equal types but different values:
ok : ∃₂ λ (b1 b2 : Bar (tt ∷ [])) -> b1 ≢ b2
ok = bar [] , bar (tt ∷ []) , λ ()
This is because xs1 ++ xs2 ≡ ys1 ++ ys2 doesn't imply xs1 ≡ ys1 × xs2 ≡ ys2 in general.
But it's possible to generalize an index. You can use the technique described by Vitus at the link above, or you can use this simple combinator, which forgets the index:
generalize : ∀ {α β} {A : Set α} (B : A -> Set β) {x : A} -> B x -> ∃ B
generalize B y = , y
E.g.
ex : ∀ {A} {zs : List A} -> Bar zs -> Bar zs -> List A
ex {A} (bar xs) b with generalize Bar b
... | ._ , bar ys = xs ++ ys
After all, are you sure your lemma is true?
UPDATE
Some remarks first.
Your empty case states
empty : forall x -> G :: (emp , x) => (1 , x)
that the empty parser parses the whole string. It should be
empty : forall x -> G :: (emp , x) => (1 , [])
as in the paper.
Your definition of o-fail1 contains this part:
(n , fail ∷ o)
but fail fails everything, so it should be (n , fail ∷ []). With this representation you would probably need decidable equality on A to finish the lemma, and proofs would be dirty. Clean and idiomatic way to represent something, that can fail, is to wrap it in the Maybe monad, so here is my definition of _::_=>_:
data _::_=>_ {n} (G : Con n) : Foo n × List A -> Nat × Maybe (List A) -> Set where
empty : ∀ {x} -> G :: emp , x => 1 , just []
sym-success : ∀ {a x} -> G :: sym a , (a ∷ x) => 1 , just (a ∷ [])
sym-failure : ∀ {a b x} -> ¬ (a == b) -> G :: sym a , b ∷ x => 1 , nothing
var : ∀ {x m o} {v : Fin (suc n)}
-> G :: lookup v G , x => m , o -> G :: var v , x => suc m , o
o-success : ∀ {e e' x x' y n n'}
-> G :: e , x ++ x' ++ y => n , just x
-> G :: e' , x' ++ y => n' , just x'
-> G :: e o e' , x ++ x' ++ y => suc (n + n') , just (x ++ x')
o-fail1 : ∀ {e e' x x' y n}
-> G :: e , x ++ x' ++ y => n , nothing
-> G :: e o e' , x ++ x' ++ y => suc n , nothing
o-fail2 : ∀ {e e' x x' y n n'}
-> G :: e , x ++ x' ++ y => n , just x
-> G :: e' , x' ++ y => n' , nothing
-> G :: e o e' , x ++ x' ++ y => suc (n + n') , nothing
Here is the lemma:
postulate
cut : ∀ {α} {A : Set α} -> ∀ xs {ys zs : List A} -> xs ++ ys == xs ++ zs -> ys == zs
mutual
aux : ∀ {n} {G : Con n} {e e' z x x' y n n' m' p'}
-> z == x ++ x' ++ y
-> G :: e , z => n , just x
-> G :: e' , x' ++ y => n' , just x'
-> G :: e o e' , z => m' , p'
-> suc (n + n') == m' × just (x ++ x') == p'
aux {x = x} {x'} {n = n} {n'} r pr1 pr2 (o-success {x = x''} pr3 pr4) with x | n | lemma pr1 pr3
... | ._ | ._ | refl , refl rewrite cut x'' r with x' | n' | lemma pr2 pr4
... | ._ | ._ | refl , refl = refl , refl
aux ...
lemma : ∀ {n m m'} {G : Con n} {f x p p'}
-> G :: f , x => m , p -> G :: f , x => m' , p' -> m == m' × p == p'
lemma (o-success pr1 pr2) pr3 = aux refl pr1 pr2 pr3
lemma ...
The proof proceeds as follows:
We generalize the type of lemma's pr3 in an auxiliary function as in the Vitus' answer. Now it's possible to pattern-match on pr3.
We prove, that the first parser in lemma's pr3 (called also pr3 in the aux) produces the same output as pr1.
After some rewriting, we prove that the second parser in lemma's pr3 (called pr4 in the aux) produces the same output as pr2.
And since pr1 and pr3 produce the same output, and pr2 and pr4 produce the same output, o-success pr1 pr2 and o-success pr3 pr4 produce the same output, so we put refl , refl.
The code. I didn't prove the o-fail1 and o-fail2 cases, but they should be similar.
UPDATE
Amount of boilerplate can be reduced by
Fixing the definitions of the fail cases, which contain redundant information.
Returning Maybe (List A) instead of Nat × Maybe (List A). You can compute this Nat recursively, if needed.
Using the inspect idiom instead of auxiliary functions.
I don't think there is a simpler solution. The code.

≡-Reasoning and 'with' patterns

I was proving some properties of filter and map, everything went quite good until I stumbled on this property: filter p (map f xs) ≡ map f (filter (p ∘ f) xs). Here's a part of the code that's relevant:
open import Relation.Binary.PropositionalEquality
open import Data.Bool
open import Data.List hiding (filter)
import Level
filter : ∀ {a} {A : Set a} → (A → Bool) → List A → List A
filter _ [] = []
filter p (x ∷ xs) with p x
... | true = x ∷ filter p xs
... | false = filter p xs
Now, because I love writing proofs using the ≡-Reasoning module, the first thing I tried was:
open ≡-Reasoning
open import Function
filter-map : ∀ {a b} {A : Set a} {B : Set b}
(xs : List A) (f : A → B) (p : B → Bool) →
filter p (map f xs) ≡ map f (filter (p ∘ f) xs)
filter-map [] _ _ = refl
filter-map (x ∷ xs) f p with p (f x)
... | true = begin
filter p (map f (x ∷ xs))
≡⟨ refl ⟩
f x ∷ filter p (map f xs)
-- ...
But alas, that didn't work. After trying for one hour, I finally gave up and proved it in this way:
filter-map (x ∷ xs) f p with p (f x)
... | true = cong (λ a → f x ∷ a) (filter-map xs f p)
... | false = filter-map xs f p
Still curious about why going through ≡-Reasoning didn't work, I tried something very trivial:
filter-map-def : ∀ {a b} {A : Set a} {B : Set b}
(x : A) xs (f : A → B) (p : B → Bool) → T (p (f x)) →
filter p (map f (x ∷ xs)) ≡ f x ∷ filter p (map f xs)
filter-map-def x xs f p _ with p (f x)
filter-map-def x xs f p () | false
filter-map-def x xs f p _ | true = -- not writing refl on purpose
begin
filter p (map f (x ∷ xs))
≡⟨ refl ⟩
f x ∷ filter p (map f xs)
∎
But typechecker doesn't agree with me. It would seem that the current goal remains filter p (f x ∷ map f xs) | p (f x) and even though I pattern matched on p (f x), filter just won't reduce to f x ∷ filter p (map f xs).
Is there a way to make this work with ≡-Reasoning?
Thanks!
The trouble with with-clauses is that Agda forgets the information it learned from pattern match unless you arrange beforehand for this information to be preserved.
More precisely, when Agda sees a with expression clause, it replaces all the occurences of expression in the current context and goal with a fresh variable w and then gives you that variable with updated context and goal into the with-clause, forgetting everything about its origin.
In your case, you write filter p (map f (x ∷ xs)) inside the with-block, so it goes into scope after Agda has performed the rewriting, so Agda has already forgotten the fact that p (f x) is true and does not reduce the term.
You can preserve the proof of equality by using one of the "Inspect"-patterns from the standard library, but I'm not sure how it can be useful in your case.

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