F# Tuples with a base type - f#

Is it possible to use tuples and class hierarchies together?
I cannot get a function to accept a tuple parameter which is an abstract type:
[<AbstractClass>]
type XBase () =
member val Name="" with get, set
type X () =
inherit XBase ()
type Y () =
inherit XBase ()
//fine without tuples
let f(values:seq<XBase>) =
printf "ok."
f [new X(); new Y()]
//this function won't work
let f1<'V when 'V :> XBase>(keysAndValues:seq<'V * string>) =
printf "ok."
//compiler error: This expression was expected to have type X but here it has type Y
//f1 [(new X(), ""); (new Y(), "")]
System.Console.ReadLine()

Tuples in your commented sequence are not derived from the same base class. Tuple of type (XBase * string) is not a base class for tuple class (X * string) or (Y * string) So these concrete instances of 2 different types cannot be put in the collection together. I think it's true for any .NET language (C#, VB) also.
So you cannot create this sequence:
let tuples = [(new X(), ""); (new Y(), "")]
But you can invoke your f1 functions with these 2 sequences:
f1 [(new X(), ""); (new X(), "")]
f1 [(new Y(), ""); (new Y(), "")]

Related

What does the :> operator do in F#?

What does the :> operator do in F#?
e.g.
myFunction x :> System.Object
It converts a type to type that is higher in the hierarchy. So it's a conversion operator.
See the following example (take from here and the previous definition too) :
type Base1() =
abstract member F : unit -> unit
default u.F() =
printfn "F Base1"
type Derived1() =
inherit Base1()
override u.F() =
printfn "F Derived1"
let d1 : Derived1 = Derived1()
// Upcast to Base1.
let base1 = d1 :> Base1
Converts a type to type that is higher in the hierarchy.
Source: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd233228.aspx
--
Like casting an Entity type to Player type.

F# "Stateful" Computation Expression

I'm currently learning F# and hitting a few stumbling blocks; I think a lot of it is learning to think functionally.
One of the things I'm learning at the moment are computation expressions, and I want to be able to define a computation expression that handles some tracking state, e.g:
let myOptions = optionListBuilder {
let! opt1 = {name="a";value=10}
let! opt2 = {name="b";value=12}
}
I want to be able to have it so that myOptions is a Option<'T> list, so each let! bind operation effectively causes the builder to "track" the defined options as it goes along.
I don't want to have to do it using mutable state - e.g. having a list maintained by the builder and updated with each bind call.
Is there some way of having it so that this is possible?
Update: The resultant Option<'T> list type is just representative, in reality I'll likely have an OptionGroup<'T> type to contain a list as well as some additional information - so as Daniel mentioned below, I could use a list comprehension for a simple list.
I wrote a string builder computation expression here.
open System.Text
type StringBuilderUnion =
| Builder of StringBuilder
| StringItem of string
let build sb =
sb.ToString()
type StringBuilderCE () =
member __.Yield (txt : string) = StringItem(txt)
member __.Yield (c : char) = StringItem(c.ToString())
member __.Combine(f,g) = Builder(match f,g with
| Builder(F), Builder(G) ->F.Append(G.ToString())
| Builder(F), StringItem(G)->F.Append(G)
| StringItem(F),Builder(G) ->G.Append(F)
| StringItem(F),StringItem(G)->StringBuilder(F).Append(G))
member __.Delay f = f()
member __.Zero () = StringItem("")
member __.For (xs : 'a seq, f : 'a -> StringBuilderUnion) =
let sb = StringBuilder()
for item in xs do
match f item with
| StringItem(s)-> sb.Append(s)|>ignore
| Builder(b)-> sb.Append(b.ToString())|>ignore
Builder(sb)
let builder1 = new StringBuilderCE ()
Noticed the underlying type is immutable (the contained StringBuilder is mutable, but it doesn't have to be). Instead of updating the existing data, each yield combines the current state and the incoming input resulting in a new instance of StringBuilderUnion You could do this with an F# list since adding an element to the head of the list is merely the construction of a new value rather than mutating the existing values.
Using the StringBuilderCE looks like this:
//Create a function which builds a string from an list of bytes
let bytes2hex (bytes : byte []) =
string {
for byte in bytes -> sprintf "%02x" byte
} |> build
//builds a string from four strings
string {
yield "one"
yield "two"
yield "three"
yield "four"
} |> build
Noticed the yield instead of let! since I don't actually want to use the value inside the computation expression.
SOLUTION
With the base-line StringBuilder CE builder provided by mydogisbox, I was able to produce the following solution that works a charm:
type Option<'T> = {Name:string;Item:'T}
type OptionBuilderUnion<'T> =
| OptionItems of Option<'T> list
| OptionItem of Option<'T>
type OptionBuilder () =
member this.Yield (opt: Option<'t>) = OptionItem(opt)
member this.Yield (tup: string * 't) = OptionItem({Name=fst tup;Item=snd tup})
member this.Combine (f,g) =
OptionItems(
match f,g with
| OptionItem(F), OptionItem(G) -> [F;G]
| OptionItems(F), OptionItem(G) -> G :: F
| OptionItem(F), OptionItems(G) -> F :: G
| OptionItems(F), OptionItems(G) -> F # G
)
member this.Delay f = f()
member this.Run (f) = match f with |OptionItems items -> items |OptionItem item -> [item]
let options = OptionBuilder()
let opts = options {
yield ("a",12)
yield ("b",10)
yield {Name = "k"; Item = 20}
}
opts |> Dump
F# supports list comprehensions out-of-the-box.
let myOptions =
[
yield computeOptionValue()
yield computeOptionValue()
]

Why does this computation expression builder expect "unit" in my for loop?

This is a follow-up question to this question.
I'm trying to create a computation expression builder that accumulates a value through custom operations, and also supports standard F# language constructs at the same time. For the purposes of having a simple example to talk about, I'm using a computation expression that builds F# lists. Thanks to suggestions from kvb and Daniel I'm further along, but still having trouble with for loops.
The builder:
type Items<'a> = Items of 'a list
type ListBuilder() =
member x.Yield(vars) = Items [], vars
member x.Run(l,_) = l
member x.Zero() = Items [], ()
member x.Delay f = f()
member x.ReturnFrom f = f
member x.Combine((Items curLeft, _), (Items curRight, vars)) =
(Items (curLeft # curRight), vars)
member x.Bind(m: Items<'a> * 'v, f: 'v -> Items<'a> * 'o) : Items<'a> * 'o =
let (Items current, vals) = m
x.Combine(m, f vals)
member x.While(guard, body) =
if not (guard()) then
x.Zero()
else
x.Bind(body, fun () -> x.While(guard, body))
member x.TryWith(body, handler) =
try
x.ReturnFrom(body())
with e ->
handler e
member x.TryFinally(body, compensation) =
try
x.ReturnFrom(body())
finally
compensation()
member x.Using(disposable:#System.IDisposable, body) =
let body' = fun() -> body disposable
x.TryFinally(body', fun () ->
match disposable with
| null -> ()
| disp -> disp.Dispose())
member x.For(xs:seq<'a>, body) =
x.Using(xs.GetEnumerator(), fun enum ->
x.While(enum.MoveNext, x.Delay(fun () -> body enum.Current)))
[<CustomOperation("add", MaintainsVariableSpace=true)>]
member x.Add((Items current, vars), [<ProjectionParameter>] f) =
Items (current # [f vars]), vars
[<CustomOperation("addMany", MaintainsVariableSpace=true)>]
member x.AddMany((Items current, vars), [<ProjectionParameter>] f) =
Items (current # f vars), vars
let listBuilder = ListBuilder()
let build (Items items) = items
This version allows for things I could not do before, such as:
let stuff =
listBuilder {
let x = 5 * 47
printfn "hey"
add x
addMany [x .. x + 10]
} |> build
However, I'm still getting a compiler error on this one:
let stuff2 =
listBuilder {
for x in 1 .. 50 do
add x
} |> build
In this case, the IDE is underlining the x in for x in and telling me, "This expression was expected to have type unit, but here has type int."
It's not really clear to me why it's expecting the loop variable to be of type unit. Clearly I've got the wrong method signature somewhere, and I suspect I'm not passing through my accumulated state in every place I should be, but the compiler error is really not helping me narrow down where I went wrong. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
The immediate cause is that your While function constrains the type of body. However, in general you can't use both custom operations and also control flow operators in the same computation expression, so I don't think you'll ever be able to do exactly what you want even if you fix the signature.

IEnumerable and array comprehension

I wonder why the second line reports a compiler error
the type Relations is not compatible with seq<'a>
while the first infers a type Relation for r.
type Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access.Dao.Database with
member x.f() =
let relations = [for r in x.Relations -> r]
let relations2 = x.Relations |> Seq.map id
()
What precise property makes it possible to loop over Relations using for?
// Edit reproduction step :
I create a blank solution in VS2012, add a reference to Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access.Dao, and paste the code below.
module toto =
type Class1() =
member this.X = "F#"
type Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access.Dao.Database with
member x.f() =
let relations = [for r in x.Relations -> r]
let relations2 = x.Relations |> Seq.map id
()
r is typed as Relation, and not obj
This doesn't entirely mesh with what you've said, but one scenario in which a sequence expression would work but not Seq.map is when a type implements System.Collections.IEnumerable but not System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<'T> (aka seq<'T>). For example, in this code t is inferred as obj list, but the next line doesn't compile.
type T() =
interface System.Collections.IEnumerable with
member x.GetEnumerator() = (Seq.init 10 id).GetEnumerator() :> _
let t = [for x in T() -> x]
let t2 = T() |> Seq.map id //ERROR: The type 'T' is not compatible with the type 'seq<'a>'
This scenario is especially common for libraries created prior to .NET 2.0.

F# unbox<int> returns obj

Perhaps a silly question, but why does the return value from unbox appear (in my F# Interactive session) to be typed as obj instead of the concrete type int? As far as I can understand (trying to apply existing knowledge from C#) if it's typed as obj then it's still boxed. Example follows:
> (unbox<int> >> box<int>) 42;;
val it : obj = 42
> 42;;
val it : int = 42
Function composition (f >> g) v means g (f (v)), so you're actually calling box<int> at the end (and the call to unbox<int> is not necessary):
> box<int> (unbox<int> 42);;
val it : obj = 42
> box<int> 42;;
val it : obj = 42
The types are box : 'T -> obj and unbox : obj -> 'T, so the functions convert between boxed (objects) and value types (int). You can call unbox<int> 42, because F# automatically inserts conversion from int to obj when calling a function.
On a related note: such a method is actually quite useful. I use it to deal with "the type of an object expression is equal to the initial type" behavior.
let coerce value = (box >> unbox) value
type A = interface end
type B = interface end
let x =
{ new A
interface B }
let test (b:B) = printf "%A" b
test x //doesn't compile: x is type A (but still knows how to relax)
test (coerce x) //works just fine

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