How to spawn process with arguments from erlang shell - erlang

Question

I do not know what overload of spawn to use when launching a process from the erlang shell , since i need to pass arguments.
A=spawn(
fun(TID)->
receive {FROM,MSG}->
FROM ! {self(),MSG}
after 0 ->
TID !{self(),timeouted}
end
end,
TID
).
There is no overload for just the function and arguments.
What is the module name when launching from shell ?
I have also tried:
A=spawn(?MODULE,fun()->....,TID).
P.S
In my case as you can see i need to provide arguments to the spawn method , while running it directly from the erlang shell.

Answer 1

Just embed the definition in a fun:
A = fun(X) ->
TID = X,
spawn(
fun()->
receive {FROM,MSG}->
FROM ! {self(),MSG}
after 0 ->
TID !{self(),timeouted}
end
end
)
end.
and then you can use A(YourParam).

Answer 2

Typically, you define a function in a module:
-module(a).
-compile(export_all).
go(X)->
receive {From, Msg}->
From ! {self(), Msg}
after 0 ->
io:format("~s~n", [X])
end.
Then do this:
9> c(a).
a.erl:2: Warning: export_all flag enabled - all functions will be exported
{ok,a}
10> Pid = spawn(a, go, ["hello"]).
hello
<0.95.0>
Defining functions in the shell is too much of a pain in the ass.
Response to comment:
Here's how you can do simple testing in erlang:
-module(a).
-compile(export_all).
-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
do(Y) ->
Y.
go(X)->
receive {From, Msg}->
From ! {self(), Msg}
after 0 ->
X
end.
do_test() ->
10 = do(10).
go_test() ->
"hello" = go("hello").
In the shell:
1> c(a).
2> a:test().
2 tests passed.
ok
Here's what happens when a test fails:
5> a:test().
a: go_test...*failed*
in function a:go_test/0 (a.erl, line 18)
**error:{badmatch,"hello"}
output:<<"">>
=======================================================
Failed: 1. Skipped: 0. Passed: 1.
error
6>
You don't even need to use eunit because you can simply do:
go_test() ->
"hello" = go("hello").
Then in the shell:
1> c(a).
a.erl:2: Warning: export_all flag enabled - all functions will be exported
2> a:go_test().
You'll get a bad match error if go("hello") doesn't return "hello":
** exception error: no match of right hand side value "hello"
in function a:go_test/0 (a.erl, line 18)
The advantage of using eunit is that with one command, a:test(), you can execute all the functions in the module that end in _test.