Can I call a function by name in f#? - f#

Is there any way to call a function by name in F#? Given a string, I want to pluck a function value from the global namespace (or, in general, a given module), and call it. I know the type of the function already.
Why would I want to do this? I'm trying to work around fsi not having an --eval option. I have a script file that defines many int->() functions, and I want to execute one of them. Like so:
fsianycpu --use:script_with_many_funcs.fsx --eval "analyzeDataSet 1"
My thought was to write a trampoline script, like:
fsianycpu --use:script_with_many_funcs.fsx trampoline.fsx analyzeDataSet 1
In order to write "trampoline.fsx", I'd need to look up the function by name.

There is no built-in function for this, but you can implement it using .NET reflection. The idea is to search through all types available in the current assembly (this is where the current code is compiled) and dynamically invoke the method with the matching name. If you had this in a module, you'd have to check the type name too.
// Some sample functions that we might want to call
let hello() =
printfn "Hello world"
let bye() =
printfn "Bye"
// Loader script that calls function by name
open System
open System.Reflection
let callFunction name =
let asm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
for t in asm.GetTypes() do
for m in t.GetMethods() do
if m.IsStatic && m.Name = name then
m.Invoke(null, [||]) |> ignore
// Use the first command line argument (after -- in the fsi call below)
callFunction fsi.CommandLineArgs.[1]
This runs hello world when called by:
fsi --use:C:\temp\test.fsx --exec -- "hello"

You can use reflection to get the functions as MethodInfo's by FSharp function name
open System
open System.Reflection
let rec fsharpName (mi:MemberInfo) =
if mi.DeclaringType.IsNestedPublic then
sprintf "%s.%s" (fsharpName mi.DeclaringType) mi.Name
else
mi.Name
let functionsByName =
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes()
|> Seq.filter (fun t -> t.IsPublic || t.IsNestedPublic)
|> Seq.collect (fun t -> t.GetMethods(BindingFlags.Static ||| BindingFlags.Public))
|> Seq.filter (fun m -> not m.IsSpecialName)
|> Seq.groupBy (fun m -> fsharpName m)
|> Map.ofSeq
|> Map.map (fun k v -> Seq.exactlyOne v)
You can then invoke the MethodInfo
functionsByName.[fsharpFunctionNameString].Invoke(null, objectArrayOfArguments)
But you probably need to do more work to parse your string arguments using the MethodInfo.GetParameters() types as a hint.

You could also use FSharp.Compiler.Service to make your own fsi.exe with an eval flag
open System
open Microsoft.FSharp.Compiler.Interactive.Shell
open System.Text.RegularExpressions
[<EntryPoint>]
let main(argv) =
let argAll = Array.append [| "C:\\fsi.exe" |] argv
let argFix = argAll |> Array.map (fun a -> if a.StartsWith("--eval:") then "--noninteractive" else a)
let optFind = argv |> Seq.tryFind (fun a -> a.StartsWith "--eval:")
let evalData = if optFind.IsSome then
optFind.Value.Replace("--eval:",String.Empty)
else
String.Empty
let fsiConfig = FsiEvaluationSession.GetDefaultConfiguration()
let fsiSession = FsiEvaluationSession(fsiConfig, argFix, Console.In, Console.Out, Console.Error)
if String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(evalData) then
fsiSession.Run()
else
fsiSession.EvalInteraction(evalData)
0
If the above was compiled into fsieval.exe it could be used as so
fsieval.exe --load:script_with_many_funcs.fsx --eval:analyzeDataSet` 1

Related

F# Invoke Function in Module

I'm trying to write an installer for my application that runs (mostly) a bunch of database migrations.
I have a very simple start here, I'm just trying to figure out what invokeMethod should equal.
let RunMigration (fsModule: System.Type) =
fsModule.GetProperties()
|> Array.filter (fun property -> property.Name = "run")
|> Array.map(fun property -> property |> invokeMethod ; "Ran successfully")
|> String.concat "<br/>"
let RunAllMigrations =
Assembly
.GetExecutingAssembly()
.GetTypes()
|> Array.filter FSharpType.IsModule
|> Array.filter (fun fsModule -> fsModule.Namespace = "DredgePos.Migrations")
|> Array.map RunMigration
|> String.concat "<br/><hr/>"
At the moment as you can see it is a fairly simple process of
Get all the types in the assembly
Getting all modules in the Migrations namespace.
Then if that module has a function named run, I want to invoke it.
How do I invoke it?
EDIT:
The run method will always be Unit -> Unit
let run () = ()
In your RunMigration method, you are getting a list of properties of the type - but a function declared as in your example should be compiled as a method. For example, if I have the following module in the current assembly:
module XX =
let run () = printfn "hello!"
It should be possible to invoke this if the RunMigration function first finds the run method and then calls the Invoke operation with no arguments (and null as the instance, since this is a static method):
let RunMigration (fsModule: System.Type) =
let mi = fsModule.GetMethod("run")
mi.Invoke(null,[||]) |> ignore
This returns obj value, which will be null (as the method returns unit) and so you can typically ignore the result.

implementing an equivalent of the C#'s null test in F#

I'm using quite a lot this piece of code:
let inline (||>) (a: 'a option) (b: 'a -> unit) = if a.IsSome then b a.Value
so I can do things like
myData ||> DoSomethingWithIt
without having to test if myData is Some or None since there are many functions that don't generally need to test for an option. This avoid to put the test in the function itself.
I would like to extend this to methods of a type where I could do like C#'s:
myData?.DoSomethingWithIt
essentially replacing:
if myData.IsSome then myData.Value.DoSomethingWithIt
with some syntactic sugar.
but I have no idea how I could do the operator so that it allows to get access to the type's method in the expression. Is that possible in F#?
I'm also open to learn about why it could be a bad idea if it is :)
Depending on your return type of DoSomethingWithIt the F# library offers a few standard functions for working with Options that can be turned into operators.
let x = Some 1
let aPrinter a = printfn "%i" a
let add1 a = a + 1
let (|?>) opt f = Option.iter f opt
let (|??>) opt f = Option.map f opt
x |?> aPrinter
let y = x |??> add1
You can also consider redefining your DoSomethingWithIt to work with an option by partial application.
let DoSomethingWithIt' = Option.iter DoSomethingWithIt
let something' = Option.iter (fun (b:B) -> b.DoSomethingWithIt()) //For instance methods
That may end up being a lot of work depending how many functions you are dealing with.
Ultimately you shouldn't try to hide the fact you are working with Options. By making something an Option you are telling the compiler that you aren't sure whether it exists or not. It is trying to help you by forcing you to deal with the None case. If there are lots of cases in your code where you know your Option is Some then there's probably a larger architectural issue in your code and you should try to lift all your Option<'T> to just T prior to doing work with them. e.g.:
let lift xs =
[
for x in xs do
match x with
| Some x -> yield x
| None -> ()
]
Have a look at Option.iter. It has the same signature as your operator.
There is no analogical syntax for such constructions but F# have alternatives.
The easiest way is to use FSharpx.Extras library and FSharpx.Option.maybe computation expression which will allow you to use Option related operations.
open FSharpx.Option
let a = Some 1
let b = maybe {
let! v = a
return v + 3
} // b is (Some 4)
let c : int option = None
let d = maybe {
let! v = c
return v + 3 // this line won't be reached
} // d is None
I believe that the ?. operator in c# is a syntactic sugar that hides the if statement checking for null before invoking a member of the type. Even if you could make it work the way you plan, I feel that it would go against the FP principles and could cause more problems down the line.
The Option module contains probably most of what you need already. The iter function allows to call a function on the value of the Option if that value is present (Some).
If you have situation that your input parametes can be nulls, but not options, you can use the Option.ofObj function that will convert the parameter to an Option with Some if the parameter is not null, else None.
So assuming that your function DoSomethingWithit accepts a string and returns unit:
let DoSomethingWithIt = //(string -> unit)
printf "%s; "
You can use this more verbose syntax to (for example) iterate over nullable values in your list:
let lst = [ "data"; "data 2"; null; "data3" ]
lst
|> List.iter (fun v -> v |> Option.ofObj |> Option.iter DoSomethingWithIt)
Alternatively you can compose the Optioni.ofObj and Option.iter DoSomethingWithIt functions and do something like
let SafeDoSomethingWithIt = //(string -> unit)
Option.ofObj >> Option.iter DoSomethingWithIt
This gives you safe invocation:
let lst2 = [ "data"; "data 2"; null; "data3" ]
lst2
|> List.iter SafeDoSomethingWithIt
You can generalize the combination of the functions returning unit (but not only)
let makeSafe fn =
Option.ofObj >> Option.iter fn
Then you can create a series of safe functions:
let SafeDoSomethingWithIt = makeSafe DoSomethingWithIt
let safePrint = makeSafe (printf "%s; ")
//...etc
Then this still works:
lst2
|> List.iter SafeDoSomethingWithIt
lst2
|> List.iter safePrint
You can also write a wrapper for functions returning values using Option.bind function.
let makeSafeReturn fn = //(string -> string option)
Option.ofObj >> Option.bind fn

Calling the File.ReadAllBytes method in F#

Here is a sample of my code:
let getAllBooks bookDirectory =
seq {yield! Directory.GetFiles(bookDirectory)}
|> Seq.map (fun eachFile -> eachFile.ReadAllBytes)
It fails to work. What is wrong? What should I write instead?
Like you said in the title, the function is called File.ReadAllBytes ;)
It is a static method of the System.IO.File class, and therefore has to be called on the File type, not some instance:
open System.IO
let getAllBooks bookDirectory =
seq {yield! Directory.GetFiles (bookDirectory) }
|> Seq.map (fun eachFile -> File.ReadAllBytes eachFile)
Btw, this code could be improved, since the result of GetFiles is an array, which is also a seq:
open System.IO
let getAllBooks bookDirectory =
Directory.GetFiles bookDirectory
|> Seq.map (fun eachFile -> File.ReadAllBytes eachFile)
Furthermore, you could simply pass the ReadAllBytes function directly to map:
open System.IO
let getAllBooks bookDirectory =
Directory.GetFiles bookDirectory
|> Seq.map File.ReadAllBytes
Finally, you can get rid of the function parameter as well, if you like:
open System.IO
let getAllBooks =
Directory.GetFiles
>> Seq.map File.ReadAllBytes
Update for the comment:
I have an additional question: How may I convert a byte array into its numeric equivalent?
You may use the static methods in the System.BitConverter class, for example System.BitConverter.ToInt32:
open System
let array = [| 0x00uy; 0x10uy; 0x00uy; 0x00uy |]
BitConverter.ToInt32 (array, 0)
|> printfn "Array as Int32: %d"
// Prints: Array as Int32: 4096
Don't overlook the ToString method in there, which can convert a byte array to a hex string:
BitConverter.ToString array
|> printfn "%s"
// Prints: 00-10-00-00
All available conversion methods can be found on MSDN.

F# how to list functions with custom attribute?

I'm trying to create some kind of interface, but i cannot find how to use custom attributes in F# as MSDN only shows usage of CLR attributes. This is what i want to achieve:
open System
type Command (name : string) =
inherit Attribute()
member this.Name = name
[<Command("something")>]
let doSomething () =
Console.Write("I'm doing something")
[<Command("somethingElse")>]
let doSomethingElse () =
Console.Write("I'm doing something else")
[<EntryPoint>]
let main args =
let command = Console.ReadLine()
// find function where Command.Name = command and call it
Console.Read()
0
To extend on your answer, a more generic approach would be to get all the types and then filter the functions that have the attribute you're looking for (as your approach would break down once your application grows and no longer has everything "packed" into the Program class):
let getCommands () =
let types = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes()
let commands =
types
|> Array.collect (fun typ -> typ.GetMethods())
|> Array.choose (fun mi ->
mi.CustomAttributes
|> Seq.tryFind (fun attr -> attr.AttributeType = typeof<Command>)
|> Option.map (fun attr -> attr, mi))
let commandsMap =
commands
|> Seq.map (fun (attr, mi) ->
let name =
let arg = attr.ConstructorArguments.[0]
unbox<string> arg.Value
name, mi)
|> Map.ofSeq
commandsMap
This gets all the functions from all the types in the executing assembly, then filters out everything that doesn't have command attribute. Then it builds a map where the key is the attribute argument and the value is the MethodInfo of the function.
Ok, found it.
Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetType("Program").GetMethods()
Program typename is not viable in code so it cannot be used in typeof<Program>, but this type exists and can be taken from assembly.

F# custom type provider: "Container type already set" error

Recently I attended a tutorial by Keith Battochi on type providers, in which he introduced a variant of the MiniCsv type provider in the MSDN tutorial. Unfortunately, my laptop wasn't available, so I had to write down the code by hand as well as I could. I believe I've recreated the type provider, but I'm getting
error FS3033: The type provider 'CsvFileTypeProvider+CsvFileTypeProvider' reported an error: container type for 'CsvFileProvider.Row' was already set to 'CsvFileProvider.CsvFile,Filename="events.csv"
When I look at the code, I can't see how I'm adding the Row type to the container twice (or to some other container). Removing selected lines of the code doesn't help.
Here's how I'm calling the code in fsi:
#r "CsvFileTypeProvider.dll"
open CsvFileProvider
let eventInfos = new CsvFile<"events.csv">() ;;
And here's the code itself:
module CsvFileTypeProvider
open Samples.FSharp.ProvidedTypes
open Microsoft.FSharp.Core.CompilerServices
let getType str =
if System.DateTime.TryParse(str, ref Unchecked.defaultof<_>) then
typeof<System.DateTime>, (fun (str:Quotations.Expr) -> <## System.DateTime.Parse(%%str) ##>)
elif System.Int32.TryParse(str, ref Unchecked.defaultof<_>) then
typeof<System.Int32>, (fun (str:Quotations.Expr) -> <## System.Int32.Parse(%%str) ##>)
elif System.Double.TryParse(str, ref Unchecked.defaultof<_>) then
typeof<System.Double>, (fun (str:Quotations.Expr) -> <## System.Double.Parse(%%str) ##>)
else
typeof<string>, (fun (str:Quotations.Expr) -> <## %%str ##>)
[<TypeProvider>]
type CsvFileTypeProvider() =
inherit TypeProviderForNamespaces()
let asm = typeof<CsvFileTypeProvider>.Assembly
let ns = "CsvFileProvider"
let csvFileProviderType = ProvidedTypeDefinition(asm, ns, "CsvFile", None)
let parameters = [ProvidedStaticParameter("Filename", typeof<string>)]
do csvFileProviderType.DefineStaticParameters(parameters, fun tyName [| :? string as filename |] ->
let rowType = ProvidedTypeDefinition(asm, ns, "Row", Some(typeof<string[]>))
let lines = System.IO.File.ReadLines(filename) |> Seq.map (fun line -> line.Split(','))
let columnNames = lines |> Seq.nth 0
let resultTypes = lines |> Seq.nth 1 |> Array.map getType
for idx in 0 .. (columnNames.Length - 1) do
let col = columnNames.[idx]
let ty, converter = resultTypes.[idx]
let prop = ProvidedProperty(col, ty)
prop.GetterCode <- fun [row] -> converter <## (%%row:string[]).[idx] ##>
rowType.AddMember(prop)
let wholeFileType = ProvidedTypeDefinition(asm, ns, tyName, Some(typedefof<seq<_>>.MakeGenericType(rowType)))
wholeFileType.AddMember(rowType)
let ctor = ProvidedConstructor(parameters = []) // the *type* is parameterized but the *constructor* gets no args
ctor.InvokeCode <- //given the inputs, what will we get as the outputs? Now we want to read the *data*, skip the header
fun [] -> <## System.IO.File.ReadLines(filename) |> Seq.skip 1 |> Seq.map (fun line -> line.Split(',')) ##>
wholeFileType.AddMember(ctor)
wholeFileType
)
do base.AddNamespace(ns, [csvFileProviderType])
[<TypeProviderAssembly>]
do()
Thanks for any help!
you need to use another constructor when defining 'Row' type. Existing ProvidedTypeDefinition type exposes two constructors:
(assembly, namespace, typename, base type) - defines top level type whose container is namespace.
(typename, basetype) - defines nested type that should be added to some another type.
Now Row type is defined using first constructor so it is treated as top level type. Exception is raised when this type is later added to wholeFileType as nested.

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