README.md

⋱ CONTAINMENT PATTERNS ⋱

⋱ Capture Contexts with Composable Continuations

This library implements several match-expanders which can be used anywhere racket/match pattern-matching is available. ⋱ , ⋱+ , and ⋱1 are match-expanders which implement containment patterns. These descend into s-expressions to capture arbitrarily deep matches and their multi-holed contexts.

⋱ Why

I implemented containment patterns to write concise updates on nested structures for syntax-rewriting purposes in structured-editing and algebraic-stepper prototypes. See fructure for an actual use case, or for something simpler, this toy stepper. These are also integrated into fructerm.

⋱ How

Technically: an n-holed context is a captured composable continuation which can be used in a match template as a normal n-ary procedure. These continuations are captured as the pattern-matcher left-to-right preorder-traverses the target looking for matches.

Explicitly: The pattern (⋱ <context-name> <pattern>) binds a procedure to <context-name> and a <match> to <pattern> satisfying (equal? (<context> <matches>) target). ⋱+ is similar, but it binds a list of all matches instead of just the first result, and ⋱1 insists that the match should be unique.

Caveat: If you're using any matchers which have side-effects, note that the inner pattern is evaluated twice for each successful match.

⋱ Installation and Usage Instructions

• Execute raco pkg install git://github.com/disconcision/containment-patterns
• Add (require containment-patterns)
• Insert a ⋱ in Dr. Racket by typing \ddo (diagonal dots) and then pressing alt+\

⋱ Usage Examples

See the tests in main.rkt for more examples and additional secret bonus features (which may not yet have found their final forms):

1. Check if an item is contained in a nested list:

(check-true
  (match `(0 (0 1) 2 3)
    [(⋱ 1) #t]))

2. Extracting data from a nested context:

(check-equal?
  (match `(0 (1 zap) 2 3)
    [(⋱ `(1 ,a)) a])
  `zap)

3. Making an update in a nested context:

(check-equal?
  (match '(0 0 (0 (0 0 (▹ 1)) 0 0))
    [(⋱ context `(▹ ,a))
     (⋱ context `(▹ ,(add1 a))])
  '(0 0 (0 (0 0 (▹ 2)) 0 0))

4. Serial substitutions: (note how ⋱+ is optional in the template; a context is just a function)

(match '(0 1 (0 1 (1 0)) 0 1)
  [(⋱+ c 1)
   (c 3 4 5 6)])

5. Moving a cursor ▹ through a traversal in a nested list of 0s and 1s:

(check-equal?
  (match '(0 1 (0 1 (1 (▹ 0))) 0 1)
    [(⋱+ c (and a (or `(▹ ,_) (? number?))))
     (⋱+ c (match a [`(,x ... (▹ ,y) ,z ,w ...)
                      `(,@x ,y (▹ ,z) ,@w)]))])
  '(0 1 (0 1 (1 0)) (▹ 0) 1))