mercury/doc/reference_manual.texi

\input texinfo
@setfilename mercury_ref.info
@settitle The Mercury Language Reference Manual

@c --- texi2html doesn't support the @dir commands yet
@c @dircategory The Mercury Programming Language
@c @direntry
@c * Mercury Language: (mercury_ref).  The Mercury Language Reference Manual.
@c @end direntry

@c Uncomment the line below to enable documentation of the Aditi interface.
@c @set aditi

@c @smallbook
@c @cropmarks
@finalout
@setchapternewpage off
@ifinfo
This file documents the Mercury programming language.

Copyright (C) 1995-2000 The University of Melbourne.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

@ignore
Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
(this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).

@end ignore
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
@end ifinfo

@titlepage
@title The Mercury Language Reference Manual
@author Fergus Henderson
@author Thomas Conway
@author Zoltan Somogyi
@author David Jeffery
@author Peter Schachte
@author Simon Taylor
@author Chris Speirs
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
Copyright @copyright{} 1995-2000 The University of Melbourne.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
@end titlepage
@page
@c ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ifinfo
@node Top,,, (mercury)
@top
@end ifinfo
@c XXX Move to after Determinism
@c * Assertions::        Assertion declarations allow you to declare laws
@c                       that hold.
@menu
* Introduction::      A brief introduction to Mercury.
* Syntax::            Mercury's syntax is similar to ISO Prolog.
* Types::             Mercury has a strong parametric polymorphic type system.
* Modes::             Modes allow you to specify the direction of data flow.
* Unique modes::      Unique modes allow you to specify when there is only one
                      reference to a particular value, so the compiler can
                      safely use destructive update to modify that value.
* Determinism::       Determinism declarations let you specify that a predicate
                      should never fail or should never succeed more than once.
* Equality preds::    User-defined types can have user-defined equality
                      predicates.
* Higher-order::      Mercury supports higher-order predicates and functions,
                      with closures, lambda expressions, and currying.
* Modules::           Modules allow you to divide a program into smaller parts.
* Type classes::      Constrained polymorphism.
* Existential types:: Support for data abstraction and heterogeneous
                      collections.
* Semantics::         Declarative and operational semantics of Mercury
                      programs.
* C interface::       The C interface allows C code to be called
                      from Mercury code, and vice versa.
* Impurity::          Users can write impure Mercury code.
* Pragmas::           Various compiler directives, used for example to
                      control optimization.
* Implementation-dependent extensions::       
                      The University of Melbourne Mercury implementation
                      supports several extensions to the Mercury language.
* Bibliography::      References for further reading.
@end menu

@node Introduction
@chapter Introduction

Mercury is a new general-purpose programming language, designed
and implemented by a small group of researchers at the University
of Melbourne, Australia.  Mercury is based on the paradigm of
purely declarative programming, and was designed to be
useful for the development of large and robust ``real-world'' applications.
It improves on existing logic programming languages by providing
increased productivity, reliability and efficiency, and by avoiding the
need for non-logical program constructs.  Mercury provides the
traditional logic programming syntax, but also allows the
syntactic convenience of user-defined functions, smoothly integrating
logic and functional programming into a single paradigm.

Mercury requires programmers to supply
type, mode and determinism declarations for the predicates
and functions they write.
The compiler checks these declarations,
and rejects the program if it cannot prove
that every predicate or function satisfies its declarations.
This improves reliability,
since many kinds of errors simply cannot happen
in successfully compiled Mercury programs.
It also improves productivity,
since the compiler pinpoints many errors
that would otherwise require manual debugging to locate.
The fact that declarations are checked by the compiler
makes them much more useful than comments
to anyone who has to maintain the program.
The compiler also exploits the guaranteed correctness of the declarations
for significantly improving the efficiency of the code it generates.

To facilitate programming-in-the-large, to allow separate compilation,
and to support encapsulation, Mercury has a simple module system.
Mercury's standard library has a variety of pre-defined modules
for common programming tasks --- see the Mercury Library Reference Manual.

@node Syntax
@chapter Syntax

@menu
* Syntax Overview::
* Tokens::
* Terms::
* Items::
* Declarations::
* Facts::
* Rules::
* Goals::
* DCG-rules::
* DCG-goals::
* Data-terms::
* Implicit quantification::
* Elimination of double negation::
@end menu

@node Syntax Overview
@section Syntax overview

Mercury's syntax is similar to the syntax of Prolog, with some
additional declarations for types, modes, determinism, the module system,
and pragmas, and with the distinction that function symbols may stand also
for invocations of user-defined functions as well as for data constructors.

A Mercury program consists of a set of modules.  Each module is a file
containing a sequence of items (declarations and clauses).  Each item
is a term followed by a period.  Each term is composed of a sequence
of tokens, and each token is composed of a sequence of characters.
Like Prolog, Mercury has the Definite Clause Grammar (DCG) notation
for clauses.

@node Tokens
@section Tokens

Tokens in Mercury are the same as in ISO Prolog.
The only differences are the @samp{#@var{line}} token, which
is used as a line number directive (see below) and the
@samp{backquote (`)} token.

The different tokens are as follows.  Tokens may be separated by
whitespace or line number directives.

@table @emph

@item line number directive
A line number directive consists of the character @samp{#},
a positive integer specifying the line number, and then a newline.
A @samp{#@var{line}} directive's only role is to
specifying the line number; it is otherwise ignored by the syntax.
Line number directives may occur anywhere a token may occur.
They are used in conjunction with the @samp{pragma source_file}
declaration to indicate that the Mercury code following was
generated by another tool; they serve to associate each line
in the Mercury code with the source file name and line number of
the original source from which the Mercury code was derived,
so that the Mercury compiler can issue more informative error
messages using the original source code locations.
A @samp{#@var{line}} directive specifies the line number
for the immediately following line.  Line numbers for lines
after that are incremented as usual, so the second line
after a @samp{#100} directive would be considered to be line
number 101.

@item string
A string is a sequence of characters enclosed in double quotes (@code{"}).
Within a string, two adjacent double quotes stand for a single double quote.
For example, the string @samp{ """" } is a string of length one, containing
a single double quote: the outermost pair of double quotes encloses the
string, and the innermost pair stand for a single double quote.
Strings may also contain backslash escapes.  @samp{\a} stands for ``alert''
(a beep character), @samp{\b} for backspace, @samp{\r} for carriage-return,
@samp{\f} for form-feed, @samp{\t} for tab, @samp{\n} for newline,
@samp{\v} for vertical-tab.  An escaped backslash, single-quote, or
double-quote stands for itself.  The sequence @samp{\x} introduces
a hexadecimal escape; it must be followed by a sequence of hexadecimal
digits and then a closing backslash.  It is replaced
with the character whose character code is identified by the hexadecimal
number.  Similarly, a backslash followed by an octal digit is the
beginning of an octal escape; as with hexadecimal escapes, the sequence
of octal digits must be terminated with a closing backslash.
A backslash followed immediately by a newline is deleted; thus an
escaped newline can be used to continue a string over more than one
source line.  (String literals may also contain embedded newlines.)

@item name
A name is either an unquoted name or a quoted name.
An unquoted name is a lowercase letter followed by zero or more letters,
underscores, and digits.  A quoted name is any sequence of zero or more
characters enclosed in single quotes (@code{'}). 
Within a quoted name, two adjacent single quotes stand for a single
single quote.  Quoted names can also contain
backslash escapes of the same form as for strings.

@item variable
A variable is an uppercase letter or underscore followed by zero or
more letters, underscores, and digits. 
A variable token consisting of single underscore is treated
specially: each instance of @samp{_} denotes a distinct variable.
(In addition, variables starting with an underscore are presumed to be
``don't-care'' variables; the compiler will issue a warning if a
variable that does not start with an underscore occurs only once, or if
a variable starting with an underscore occurs more than once in the
same scope.)

@item integer
An integer is either a decimal, binary, octal, hexadecimal, or character-code
literal.
A decimal literal is any sequence of decimal digits.
A binary literal is @samp{0b} followed by any sequence of binary digits.
An octal literal is @samp{0o} followed by any sequence of octal digits.
A hexadecimal literal is @samp{0x} followed by any sequence of hexadecimal
digits.
A character-code literal is @samp{0'} followed by any single character.

@item float
A floating point literal consists of a sequence of decimal digits,
a decimal point and a sequence of digits (the fraction part), and
the letter @samp{E} and another sequence of decimal digits (the exponent).
The fraction part or the exponent (but not both) may be omitted.

@item open_ct
A left parenthesis, @samp{(}, that is not preceded by whitespace.

@item open
A left parenthesis, @samp{(}, that is preceded by whitespace.

@item close
A right parenthesis, @samp{)}.

@item open_list
A left square bracket, @samp{[}.

@item close_list
A right square bracket, @samp{]}.

@item open_curly
A left curly bracket, @samp{@{}.

@item close_curly
A right curly bracket, @samp{@}}.

@item ht_sep
A ``head-tail separator'', i.e. a vertical bar, @samp{|}.

@item comma
A comma, @samp{,}.

@item end
A full stop (period), @samp{.}.

@item eof
The end of file.

@end table

@node Terms
@section Terms

Syntactically, terms in Mercury are exactly the same as in ISO Prolog,
except that as extensions we permit higher-order terms and the
introduction of infix operators by the use of grave accents (backquotes)
, as described below.
However, the meaning of some terms in Mercury is different to that
in Prolog.  @xref{Data-terms}.

A term is either a variable or a functor.

A functor is an integer, a float, a string, a name, a compound term,
or a higher-order term.

A compound term is a name followed without any intervening
whitespace by an open parenthesis (i.e. an open_ct token),
a sequence of argument terms separated by commas, and a close
parenthesis.  Compound terms may also be specified using
operator notation, as in Prolog.

Operators can also be formed by enclosing an variable or name between grave
accents (backquotes).  Any variable or name may
be used as an operator in this way.  If @var{fun} is a variable or name,
then a term of the form @code{@var{X} `@var{fun}` @var{Y}} is equivalent to 
@code{@var{fun}(@var{X}, @var{Y})}.  The operator is treated as having the
highest precedence possible and is left associative.

A higher-order term is a variable followed without any intervening
whitespace by an open parenthesis (i.e. an open_ct token),
a sequence of argument terms separated by commas, and a close
parenthesis.  A higher-order term is equivalent to a compound term
whose functor is the empty name, and whose arguments are the 
the variable followed by the arguments of the higher-order term.
That is, a term such as @code{Var(Arg1, @dots{}, ArgN)} is
parsed as @code{''(Var, Arg1, @dots{}, ArgN)},

@node Items
@section Items

Each item in a Mercury module is either a declaration or a clause.
If the top-level functor of the term is @samp{:-/1},
the item is a declaration, otherwise it is a clause.
There are three types of clauses.
If the top-level functor of the item is @samp{:-/2}, the item is a rule.
If the top-level functor is @samp{-->/2}, the item is a DCG rule.
Otherwise, the item is a fact.
There are two types of rules and facts.
If the top-level functor of the head of a rule is @samp{=/2}, the rule
is a function rule, otherwise it is a predicate rule.
If the top-level functor of the head of a fact is @samp{=/2}, the fact
is a function fact, otherwise it is a predicate fact.

@node Declarations
@section Declarations

The allowed declarations are:

@example
:- type
:- pred
:- func
:- inst
:- mode
:- typeclass
:- instance
:- pragma
:- promise
:- module
:- interface
:- implementation
:- import_module
:- use_module
:- include_module
:- end_module
@end example

The @samp{type}, @samp{pred} and @samp{func} declarations are used for the
type system,
the @samp{inst} and @samp{mode} declarations are for the mode system,
the @samp{pragma} declarations are for the C interface, and for
compiler hints about inlining, and the remainder are for the module system. 
They are described in more detail in their respective chapters.

(The current implementation also allows @samp{when/2} declarations,
but ignores them.
This helps when one wants to write a program
that is both a Mercury program and an NU-Prolog program.)

@node Facts
@section Facts

A function fact is an item of the form @samp{@var{Head} = @var{Result}}.
A predicate fact is an item of the form @samp{@var{Head}},
where the top-level functor of @var{Head}
is not @code{:-/1}, @code{:-/2}, @code{-->/2}, or @code{=/2}.
In both cases, the @var{Head} term must not be a variable.
The top-level functor of the @var{Head}
determines which predicate or function the fact belongs to;
the predicate or function must have been declared
in a preceding @samp{pred} or @samp{func} declaration in this module.
The arguments of the head must be valid data-terms.
A fact is equivalent to a rule whose body is @samp{true}.

@node Rules
@section Rules

A function rule is an item of the form
@samp{@var{Head} = @var{Result} :- @var{Body}}.
A predicate rule is an item of the form
@samp{@var{Head} :- @var{Body}} where the top-level
functor of @samp{Head} is not @code{=/2}.
In both cases, the @var{Head} term must not be a variable. 
The top-level functor of the @var{Head} determines which predicate or
function the clause belongs to; the predicate or function must have
been declared in a preceding @samp{pred} or @samp{func} declaration in
this module.
The arguments of the head must be valid data-terms.
The @var{Body} must be a valid goal.

@node Goals
@section Goals

A goal is a term of one of the following forms:

@table @asis
@item @code{some @var{Vars} @var{Goal}}
An existential quantification.
@var{Vars} must be a list of variables.
@var{Goal} must be a valid goal.

Each existential quantification introduces a new scope.
The variables in @var{Vars} are local to the goal @var{Goal}:
for each variable named in @var{Vars},
any occurrences of variables with that name in @var{Goal}
are considered to name a different variable than any
variables with the same name that occur outside of the
existential quantification.

Operationally, existential quantification has no effect,
so apart from its effect on variable scoping,
@samp{some @var{Vars} @var{Goal}} is the
same as @samp{@var{Goal}}.

Mercury's rules for implicit quantification (@pxref{Implicit quantification})
mean that variables are often implicitly existentially quantified.
There is usually no need to write existential quantifiers explicitly.

@item @code{all @var{Vars} @var{Goal}}
A universal quantification.
@var{Vars} must be a list of variables.
@var{Goal} must be a valid goal.
This is an abbreviation for @samp{not (some @var{Vars} not @var{Goal})}.

@item @code{@var{Goal1}, @var{Goal2}}
A conjunction.
@var{Goal1} and @var{Goal2} must be valid goals.

@item @code{@var{Goal1} ; @var{Goal2}}
where @var{Goal1} is not of the form @samp{Goal1a -> Goal1b}:
a disjunction.
@var{Goal1} and @var{Goal2} must be valid goals.

@item @code{true}
The empty conjunction.
Always succeeds.

@item @code{fail}
The empty disjunction.
Always fails.

@item @code{not @var{Goal}}
@itemx @code{\+ @var{Goal}}
A negation.
The two different syntaxes have identical semantics.
@var{Goal} must be a valid goal.
Both forms are equivalent to @samp{if @var{Goal} then fail else true}.

@item @code{@var{Goal1} => @var{Goal2}}
An implication.
This is an abbreviation for @samp{not (@var{Goal1}, not @var{Goal2})}.

@item @code{@var{Goal1} <= @var{Goal2}}
A reverse implication.
This is an abbreviation for @samp{not (@var{Goal2}, not @var{Goal1})}.

@item @code{@var{Goal1} <=> @var{Goal2}}
A logical equivalence.
This is an abbreviation for
@samp{(@var{Goal1} => @var{Goal2}), (@var{Goal1} <= @var{Goal2}}).

@item @code{if @var{CondGoal} then @var{ThenGoal} else @var{ElseGoal}}
@itemx @code{@var{CondGoal} -> @var{ThenGoal} ; @var{ElseGoal}}
An if-then-else.
The two different syntaxes have identical semantics.
@var{CondGoal}, @var{ThenGoal}, and @var{ElseGoal} must be valid goals.
Note that the ``else'' part is @emph{not} optional.

The declarative semantics of an if-then-else is given by
@code{( @var{CondGoal}, @var{ThenGoal} ; not(@var{CondGoal}), @var{ElseGoal})},
but the operational semantics are different, and it is treated
differently for the purposes of determinism inference (@pxref{Determinism}).
Operationally, it executes the @var{CondGoal}, and if that succeeds, then
execution continues with the @var{ThenGoal}; otherwise, i.e. if @var{CondGoal}
fails, it executes the @var{ElseGoal}.  Note that @var{CondGoal} can be
nondeterministic -- unlike Prolog, Mercury's if-then-else does not commit
to the first solution of the condition if the condition succeeds.

@item @code{@var{Term1} = @var{Term2}}
A unification.
@var{Term1} and @var{Term2} must be valid data-terms.

@item @code{@var{Term1} \= @var{Term2}}
An inequality. 
@var{Term1} and @var{Term2} must be valid data-terms.
This is an abbreviation for @samp{not (@var{Term1} = @var{Term2})}.

@item @code{call(Closure)}
@itemx @code{call(Closure1, Arg1)}
@itemx @code{call(Closure2, Arg1, Arg2)}
@itemx @code{call(Closure3, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3)}
@itemx @dots{}
A higher-order predicate call.  
The closure and arguments must be valid data-terms.
@samp{call(Closure)} just calls
the specified closure.  The other forms append the specified
arguments onto the argument list of the closure before calling it.
@xref{Higher-order}.

@item @code{Var}
@itemx @code{Var(Arg1)}
@itemx @code{Var(Arg2)}
@itemx @code{Var(Arg2, Arg3)}
@itemx @dots{}
A higher-order predicate call.
@var{Var} must be a variable.
The semantics are exactly the same as for the corresponding
higher-order call using the @code{call/N} syntax, i.e.
@samp{call(Var)}, @samp{call(Var, Arg1)}, etc.

@ifset aditi

@item @code{aditi_bulk_delete(@dots{})}
@item @code{aditi_bulk_insert(@dots{})}
@item @code{aditi_delete(@dots{})}
@item @code{aditi_insert(@dots{})}
@item @code{aditi_modify(@dots{})}
These goal forms are used for the Aditi database interface.
@xref{Aditi update syntax}.

@end ifset
@c aditi

@item @code{@var{Call}}
Any goal which does not match any of the above forms
must be a predicate call.
The top-level functor of the term
determines the predicate called;
the predicate must be declared in a @code{pred} declaration
in the module or in the interface of an imported module.
The arguments must be valid data-terms.

@end table

@node DCG-rules
@section DCG-rules

DCG-rules in Mercury have identical syntax and semantics to
DCG-rules in Prolog.

A DCG-rule is an item of the form @samp{@var{Head} --> @var{Body}}.
The @var{Head} term must not be a variable.  
A DCG-rule is an abbreviation for an ordinary rule with two
additional implicit arguments appended to the arguments of @var{Head}.
These arguments are fresh variables which we shall call
@var{V_in} and @var{V_out}.
The @var{Body} must be a valid DCG-goal,
and is an abbreviation for an ordinary goal.
The next section defines a mathematical function
@samp{DCG-transform(@var{V_in}, @var{V_out}, @var{DCG-goal})}
which specifies the semantics of how DCG goals are transformed into
ordinary goals.  (The @samp{DCG-transform} function is purely for the
purposes of exposition, to define the semantics --- it is not part of the
language.)

@node DCG-goals
@section DCG-goals

A DCG-goal is a term of one of the following forms:

@table @code
@item some @var{Vars} @var{DCG-goal}
A DCG existential quantification.
@var{Vars} must be a list of variables.
@var{DCG-goal} must be a valid DCG-goal.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, some Vars DCG_goal) = 
some Vars transform(V_in, V_out, DCG_goal)
@end example

@item all @var{Vars} @var{DCG-goal}
A DCG universal quantification.
@var{Vars} must be a list of variables.
@var{DCG-goal} must be a valid DCG-goal.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, all Vars DCG_goal) = 
all Vars transform(V_in, V_out, DCG_goal)
@end example

@item @var{DCG-goal1}, @var{DCG-goal2}
A DCG sequence.
Intuitively, this means ``parse DCG-goal1 and then parse DCG-goal2''
or ``do DCG-goal1 and then do DCG-goal2''.
(Note that the only way this construct actually forces the desired sequencing
is by the modes of the implicit DCG arguments.)
@var{DCG-goal1} and @var{DCG-goal2} must be valid DCG-goals.

Semantics:
@c XXX too indented
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, (DCG-goal1, DCG-goal2)) =
(transform(V_in, V_new, DCG_goal1),
 transform(V_new, V_out, DCG_goal2))
@end example
where V_new is a fresh variable.

@item @var{DCG-goal1} ; @var{DCG-goal2}
A disjunction.  @var{DCG-goal1} and @var{DCG-goal2} must be valid goals.
@var{DCG-goal1} must not be of the form @samp{DCG-goal1a -> DCG-goal1b}.
(If it is, then the goal is an if-then-else, not a disjunction.)

Semantics:
@c XXX too indented
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, (DCG_goal1 ; DCG_goal2)) =
( transform(V_in, V_out, DCG_goal1)
; transform(V_in, V_out, DCG_goal2) )
@end example

@item @{ @var{Goal} @}
A brace-enclosed ordinary goal.
@var{Goal} must be a valid goal.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, @{ Goal @}) = (Goal, V_out = V_in)
@end example

@itemx [@var{Term}, @dots{}]
A DCG input match.
Unifies the implicit DCG input variable V_in,
which must have type @samp{list(_)},
with a list whose initial elements are the terms specified
and whose tail is the implicit DCG output variable V_out.
The terms must be valid data-terms.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, [Term1, @dots{}]) = (V_in = [Term, @dots{} | V_Out])
@end example

@item []
The null DCG goal (an empty DCG input match).
Equivalent to @samp{@{ true @}}.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, []) = (V_out = V_in)
@end example

@item not @var{DCG-goal}
@itemx \+ @var{DCG-goal}
A DCG negation.
The two different syntaxes have identical semantics.
@var{Goal} must be a valid goal.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, not DCG_goal) =
(not transform(V_in, V_new, DCG_goal), V_out = V_in)
@end example
where V_new is a fresh variable.

@item if @var{CondGoal} then @var{ThenGoal} else @var{ElseGoal}
@itemx @var{CondGoal} -> @var{ThenGoal} ; @var{ElseGoal}
A DCG if-then-else.
The two different syntaxes have identical semantics.
@var{CondGoal}, @var{ThenGoal}, and @var{ElseGoal} must be valid DCG-goals.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, if CondGoal then ThenGoal else ElseGoal) =
if transform(V_in, V_cond, CondGoal) then
        transform(V_cond, V_out, ThenGoal)
else
        transform(V_in, V_out, ElseGoal)
@end example

@item =(@var{Term})
A DCG unification.  Unifies @var{Term} with the implicit DCG argument.
@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, =(Term)) = (Term = V_in, V_out = V_in)
@end example

@item :=(@var{Term})
A DCG output unification.  Unifies @var{Term} with the implicit DCG output
argument, ignoring the input DCG argument.
@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, :=(Term)) = (V_out = Term)
@end example

@item @var{Term} =^ @var{field1} ^ @dots{} ^ @var{fieldN}
A DCG field selection.
Unifies @var{Term} with the result of applying the functions
@var{field1} @dots{} @var{fieldN} to the implicit DCG argument.
@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.
For each @var{field} in @w{@var{field1} @dots{} @var{fieldN}} there must be
a visible function named @samp{@var{field}/1}.
@xref{Record syntax}.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, Term =^ field1 ^ @dots{} ^ fieldN) =
        (Term = V_in ^ field1 ^ @dots{} ^ fieldN, V_out = V_in)
@end example

@item ^ @var{field} := @var{Term}
A DCG field update.
Replaces a field in the implicit DCG argument. 
@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.
For each @var{field} in @w{@var{field1} @dots{} @var{fieldN}} there must be
visible functions named @samp{@var{field}/1} and @samp{'@var{field}:='/2}.
@xref{Record syntax}.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, ^ field1 ^ @dots{} ^ fieldN := Term) =
        (V_out = V_in ^ field1 ^ @dots{} ^ fieldN := Term)
@end example

@item @var{DCG-call}
Any term which does not match any of the above forms
must be a DCG predicate call.
If the term is a variable @var{Var},
it is treated as if it were @samp{call(@var{Var})}.
Then, the two implicit DCG arguments are appended to the specified arguments.

Semantics:
@example
transform(V_in, V_out, p(A1, @dots{}, AN)) =
p(A1, @dots{}, AN, V_in, V_out)
@end example

@end table

@node Data-terms
@section Data-terms

Syntactically, a data-term is just a term.

There are a couple of differences from Prolog.
The first one is that double-quoted strings are atomic in
Mercury, they are not abbreviations for lists of character codes.
The second is that Mercury terms may contain function applications,
higher-order function applications, and lambda expressions.

A data-term is either a variable, a data-functor,
a conditional expression, a lambda expression,
or a higher-order function application.

@menu
* Data-functors::
* Record syntax::
* Conditional expressions::
* Lambda expressions::
* Higher-order function applications::
@end menu

@node Data-functors
@subsection Data-functors

A data-functor is an integer, a float, a string, a character literal
(any single-character name), a name, or a compound data-term.
A compound data-term is a compound term whose form
does not match the form of a lambda expression or higher-order
function application and whose arguments are data-terms.
If a data-functor is a name or a compound data-term, its top-level functor
must name a function, predicate, or data constructor declared
in the program or in the interface of an imported module.

@node Record syntax
@subsection Record syntax

Record syntax provides a convenient way to select or update fields
of data constructors, independent of the definition of the constructor.

Record syntax expressions are transformed into sequences of calls
to field selection or update functions (@pxref{Field access functions}).

@table @code
@item @var{Term} ^ @var{field}

A field selection, equivalent to @code{@var{field}(@var{Term})}.

@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.
@var{field} must be the name of a visible unary function, possibly a
function generated for a labelled field of a data constructor.

Field selections may be chained, as in @code{Term ^ field1 ^ field2},
which is equivalent to @code{field2(field1(Term))}.

@item @var{Term} ^ @var{field1} ^ @dots{} ^ @var{fieldN} := @var{FieldValue}

A field update.

@var{Term} must be a valid data-term.
For each @var{field} in @w{@var{field1} @dots{} @var{fieldN}} there must be
visible functions named @samp{@var{field}/1} and @samp{'@var{field}:='/2}.
Typically, these functions will be automatically generated by the compiler
for a labelled field of a data constructor, although they may be supplied
by the user.

The term @code{Term ^ field := FieldValue} is equivalent
to @code{'field:='(Term, FieldValue)}.

The general case above is equivalent to the code:
@example
OldField1 = @var{field1}(Term),
OldField2 = @var{field2}(OldField1),
@dots{}
OldField_N_Minus_1 = @var{field_N_Minus_2}(OldField_N_Minus_2),
NewField_N_Minus_1 = '@var{fieldN}:='(OldField_N_Minus_1, FieldValue),
@dots{}
NewField1 = '@var{field2}:='(OldField1, NewField2),
Result = '@var{field1}:='(Term, NewField1)
@end example

@end table

@node Conditional expressions
@subsection Conditional expressions

A conditional expression is an expression of either of the two following
forms

@example
(if @var{Goal} then @var{Expression1} else @var{Expression2})
(@var{Goal} -> @var{Expression1} ; @var{Expression2})
@end example

@noindent
@var{Goal} is a goal; @var{Expression1} and @var{Expression2} are
both data-terms. The semantics of a conditional expression is that
if @var{Goal} is true, then the expression has the meaning of
@var{Expression1}, else the expression has the meaning of @var{Expression2}.

@node Lambda expressions
@subsection Lambda expressions

A lambda expression is a compound term of one of the following forms

@example
lambda([Arg1::Mode1, Arg2::Mode2, @dots{}] is Det, Goal)
pred(Arg1::Mode1, Arg2::Mode2, @dots{}) is Det :- Goal
pred(Arg1::Mode1, Arg2::Mode2, @dots{}, DCGMode0, DCGMode1) is Det --> DCGGoal
func(Arg1::Mode1, Arg2::Mode2, @dots{}) = (Result::Mode) is Det :- Goal
func(Arg1, Arg2, @dots{}) = Result :- Goal
@end example

@noindent
where Arg1, Arg2, @dots{} are zero or more data-terms,
Result is a data-term,
Mode1, Mode2, @dots{} are zero or more modes (@pxref{Modes}),
DCGMode0 and DCGMode1 are modes (@pxref{Modes}),
Det is a determinism (@pxref{Determinism}),
Goal is a goal (@pxref{Goals}),
and DCGGoal is a DCG Goal (@pxref{DCG-goals}). 
The @samp{:- Goal} part is optional;
if it is not specified, then @samp{:- true} is assumed.
A lambda expression denotes a higher-order predicate or function term
whose value is the predicate or function of the specified arguments
determined by the specified goal.  @xref{Higher-order}.

A lambda expression introduces a new scope: any variables occurring in
the arguments Arg1, Arg2, ... are locally quantified, i.e.
any occurrences of variables with that name in the lambda
expression are considered to name a different variable than any
variables with the same name that occur outside of the
lambda expression.  For variables which occur in Result or Goal,
but not in the arguments, the usual Mercury rules for implicit
quantification apply (@pxref{Implicit quantification}).

The form of lambda expression using @samp{lambda} as its top level functor
is deprecated; please use the form using @samp{pred} instead.

The form of lambda expression using @samp{-->} as its top level functor
is a syntactic abbreviation: an expression of the form

@example
pred(Var1::Mode1, Var2::Mode2, @dots{}, DCGMode0, DCGMode1) is Det --> DCGGoal
@end example

@noindent
is equivalent to

@example
pred(Var1::Mode1, Var2::Mode2, @dots{},
    DCGVar0::DCGMode0, DCGVar1::DCGMode1) is Det :- Goal
@end example

@noindent
where DCGVar0 and DCGVar1 are fresh variables,
and Goal is the result of @samp{DCG-transform(DCGVar0, DCGVar1, DCGGoal)}
where DCG-transform is the function specified in @ref{DCG-goals}.

@node Higher-order function applications
@subsection Higher-order function applications

A higher-order function application is a compound term of one
of the following two forms

@example
apply(@var{Func}, @var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}, @var{ArgN})
@var{FuncVar}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}, @var{ArgN})
@end example

@noindent
where @var{N} >= 0, @var{Func} is a term of type
@samp{func(T1, T2, @dots{}, Tn) = T}, @var{FuncVar} is a variable
of that type, and
@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}, @var{ArgN} are terms of types
@samp{T1}, @samp{T2}, @dots{}, @samp{Tn}. 
The type of the higher-order function application term is @var{T}.
It denotes the result of applying the specified function to the
specified arguments.  @xref{Higher-order}.

@node Implicit quantification
@section Implicit quantification

The rule for implicit quantification in Mercury
is not the same as the usual one in mathematical logic.
In Mercury, variables that do not occur in the head of a clause
are implicitly existentially quantified around their closest enclosing scope
(in a sense to be made precise in the following paragraphs).
This allows most existential quantifiers to be omitted,
and leads to more concise code.

An occurrence of a variable is @dfn{in a negated context}
if it is in a negation,
in a universal quantification,
in the condition of an if-then-else,
in an inequality,
or in a lambda expression.

Two goals are @dfn{parallel}
if they are different disjuncts of the same disjunction,
or if one is the ``else'' part of an if-then-else
and the other goal is either the ``then'' part or the condition
of the if-then-else,
or if they are the goals of disjoint (distinct and non-overlapping)
lambda expressions.

If a variable occurs in a negated context
and does not occur outside of that negated context other than in parallel goals
(and in the case of a variable in the condition of an if-then-else,
other than in the ``then'' part of the if-then-else),
then that variable is implicitly existentially quantified inside the negation.

@node Elimination of double negation
@section Elimination of double negation

The treatment of inequality, universal quantification,
implication, and logical equivalence as abbreviations
can cause the introduction of double negations
which could make otherwise well-formed code mode-incorrect.
To avoid this problem, the language specifies that
after syntax analysis, and before mode analysis is performed,
the implementation must delete any double negations
and must replace any negations of conjunctions of negations
with disjunctions.  (Both of these transformations
preserve the logical meaning and type-correctness of the code,
and they preserve or improve mode-correctness:
they never transform code fragments that would be
well-moded into ones that would be ill-moded.)

@node Types
@chapter Types

The type system is based on many-sorted logic, and supports polymorphism,
type classes (@pxref{Type classes}), and existentially quantified types
(@pxref{Existential types}).

@menu
* Builtin types::
* User-defined types::
* Predicate and function type declarations::
* Field access functions::
@end menu

@node Builtin types
@section Builtin types

Certain special types are builtin, or are defined in the Mercury library:

@table @asis
@item Primitive types: @code{char}, @code{int}, @code{float}, @code{string}.
There is a special syntax for constants of type @code{int}, @code{float},
and @code{string}.  (For @code{char}, the standard syntax suffices.)

@item Predicate types: @code{pred}, @code{pred(T)}, @code{pred(T1, T2)}, @dots{}
@itemx Function types: @code{(func) = T}, @code{func(T1) = T},
@itemx @code{func(T1, T2) = T}, @dots{}
These higher-order function and predicate types are used to pass procedure
addresses and closures to other predicates.  @xref{Higher-order}.

@item The universal type: @code{univ}.
The type @code{univ} is defined in the standard library module @code{std_util},
along with the predicates @code{type_to_univ/2} and @code{univ_to_type/2}.
With those predicates, any type can be converted to the universal type
and back again.
The universal type is useful for situations
where you need heterogeneous collections.

@item The ``state-of-the-world'' type: @code{io__state}.
The type @code{io__state} is defined in the standard library module @code{io},
and represents the state of the world.
Predicates which perform I/O are passed the old state of the world
and produce a new state of the world.
In this way, we can give a declarative semantics to code that performs I/O.

@end table

@node User-defined types
@section User-defined types

New types can be introduced with @samp{:- type} declarations.
There are several categories of derived types:

@menu
* Discriminated unions::
* Equivalence types::
* Abstract types::
@end menu

@node Discriminated unions
@subsection Discriminated unions

These encompass both enumeration and record types in other languages.
A derived type is defined using @samp{:- type @var{type} ---> @var{body}}. 
(Note there are @emph{three} dashes in that arrow.
It should not be confused with the two-dash arrow used for DCGs
or the one-dash arrow used for if-then-else.)
If the @var{type} term is a functor of arity zero
(i.e. one having zero arguments),
it names a monomorphic type.
Otherwise, it names a polymorphic type;
the arguments of the functor must be distinct type variables.
The @var{body} term is defined as
a sequence of constructor definitions separated by semi-colons.

Ordinarily, each constructor definition must be a functor whose arguments
(if any) are types.  Ordinary discriminated union definitions must be
@dfn{transparent}: all type variables occurring in the @var{body} must
also occur in the @var{type}.  

However, constructor definitions can optionally be existentially typed.
In that case, the functor will be preceded by an existential type
quantifier and can optionally be followed by an existential type
class constraint.  For details, see @ref{Existential types}.
Existentially typed discriminated union definitions need not be
transparent.

The arguments of constructor definitions may be labelled.
These labels cause the compiler to generate functions which can
be used to conveniently select and update fields of a term
in a manner independent of the definition of the type
(@pxref{Field access functions}). A labelled argument is of the
form @w{@code{@var{fieldname} :: @var{Type}}}. It is an error for
two fields in the same module to have the same label.

Here are some examples of discriminated union definitions:

@example
:- type fruit
        --->    apple
        ;       orange
        ;       banana
        ;       pear.

:- type strange
        --->    foo(int)
        ;       bar(string).

:- type employee
        --->    employee(
                       name        :: string,
                       age         :: int,
                       department  :: string
                ).

:- type tree
        --->    empty
        ;       leaf(int)
        ;       branch(tree, tree).

:- type list(T)
        --->    []
        ;       [T | list(T)].

:- type pair(T1, T2)
        --->    T1 - T2.
@end example

If the body of a discriminated union type definition
contains a term whose top-level functor is @code{';'/2},
the semi-colon is normally assumed to be a separator.
This makes it difficult to define a type
whose constructors include @code{';'/2}.
To allow this, curly braces can be used to quote the semi-colon.
It is then also necessary to quote curly braces.
The following example illustrates this:

@example
:- type tricky
        --->    @{ int ; int @}
        ;       @{ @{ int @} @}.
@end example

This defines a type with two constructors, @code{';'/2} and @code{'@{@}'/1},
whose argument types are all @code{int}.

Each discriminated union type definition introduces a distinct type.
Mercury considers two discriminated union types that have the same bodies
to be distinct types (name equivalence).
Having two different definitions of a type with the same name and arity in
the same module is an error.

Constructors may be overloaded among different types:
there may be any number of constructors with a given name and arity,
so long as they all have different types.
However, there must not be more than one constructor
with the same name, arity, and result type in the same module.
(There is no particularly good reason for this restriction;
in the future we may allow several such functors
as long as they have different argument types.)
Note that excessive overloading of constructors can slow down type checking
and can make the program confusing for human readers,
so overloading should not be over-used.

@node Equivalence types
@subsection Equivalence types

These are type abbreviations.
They are defined using @samp{==} as follows.
They may be polymorphic.

@example
:- type money == int.
:- type assoc_list(KeyType, ValueType)
        == list(pair(KeyType, ValueType)).
@end example

Equivalence type definitions must be transparent.
Unlike discriminated union type definitions,
equivalence type definitions must not be cyclic;
that is, the type on the left hand side of the @samp{==}
(@samp{assoc_list} and @samp{money} in the examples above)
must not occur on the right hand side of the @samp{==}.

Mercury treats an equivalence type
as an abbreviation for the type on the right hand side of the definition;
the two are equivalent in all respects
in scopes where the equivalence type is visible.

@node Abstract types
@subsection Abstract types

These are types whose implementation is hidden.
The type declarations

@example
:- type t1.
:- type t2(T1, T2).
@end example

@noindent
declare types @code{t1/0} and @code{t2/2} to be abstract types.
Such declarations are only useful in the interface section of a module.
This means that the type names will be exported,
but the constructors (functors) for these types will not be exported.
The implementation section of a module
must have give the definition of all the abstract types
named in the interface section of the module.
Abstract types may be defined as either discriminated union types
or as equivalence types.

@node Predicate and function type declarations
@section Predicate and function type declarations

The argument types of each predicate
must be explicitly declared with a @samp{:- pred} declaration.
The argument types and return type of each function must be
explicitly declared with a @samp{:- func} declaration.
For example:

@example
:- pred is_all_uppercase(string).

:- func strlen(string) = int.
@end example

Predicates and functions can be polymorphic; that is, their
declarations can include type variables.  For example:

@example
:- pred member(T, list(T)).

:- func length(list(T)) = int.
@end example

Type variables in predicate and function declarations
are implicitly universally quantified by default;
that is, the predicate or function may be called with arguments
and (in the case of functions) return value
whose actual types are any instance of the types
specified in the declaration.  For example,
the function @samp{length/1} declared above
could be called with the argument having
type @samp{list(int)}, or @samp{list(float)},
or @samp{list(list(int))}, etc.

Type variables in predicate and function declarations can
also be existentially quantified; this is discussed in
@ref{Existential types}.

There must only be one predicate with a given name and arity in each module,
and only one function with a given name and arity in each module.
It is an error to declare the same predicate or function twice.

Note that a predicate defined using DCG notation (@pxref{DCG-rules})
will appear to be defined with two fewer arguments than it is declared
with.  It will also appear to be called with two fewer arguments when
called from predicates defined using DCG notation.  However, when called
from an ordinary predicate or function, it must have all the arguments
it was declared with.

The compiler infers the types of data-terms, and in particular the types
of variables and overloaded constructors, functions, and predicates.
A @dfn{type assignment} is an assignment of a type
to every variable and of a particular constructor, function, or predicate
to every name in a clause.
A type assignment is @dfn{valid} if it satisfies the following conditions.

Each constructor in a clause
must have been declared in at least one visible type declaration.
The type assigned to each constructor term
must match one of the type declarations for that constructor,
and the types assigned to the arguments of that constructor
must match the argument types specified in that type declaration.

The type assigned to each function call term
must match the return type of one of the @samp{:- func} declarations
for that function, and the types assigned to the arguments of that function
must match the argument types specified in that type declaration.

The type assigned to each predicate argument must match
the type specified in one of the @samp{:- pred} declarations for that predicate.
The type assigned to each head argument in a predicate clause must exactly match
the argument type specified in the corresponding @samp{:- pred} declaration.

The type assigned to each head argument in a function clause must exactly match
the argument type specified in the corresponding @samp{:- func} declaration,
and the type assigned to the result term in a function clause must exactly
match the result type specified in the corresponding @samp{:- func} declaration.

(Here ``match'' means to be an instance of,
i.e. to be identical to for some substitution of the type parameters,
and ``exactly match'' means to be identical up to renaming of type parameters.)

One type assignment @var{A} is said to be
@dfn{more general} than another type assignment @var{B}
if there is a binding of the type parameters in A
that makes it identical (up to renaming of parameters) to B.
If there is more than one valid type assignment,
the compiler must choose the most general one.
If there are two valid type assignments which are not identical up to renaming
and neither of which is more general than the other,
then there is a type ambiguity, and compiler must report an error.
A clause is @dfn{type-correct}
if there is a unique (up to renaming) most general valid type assignment.
Every clause in a Mercury program must be type-correct.

@node Field access functions
@section Field access functions

Fields of constructors of discriminated union types may be
labelled (@pxref{Discriminated unions}). These labels cause the
compiler to generate functions which can be used to select and update
fields of a term in a manner independent of the definition of the type.

The Mercury language includes syntactic sugar to make it more convenient
to select and update fields inside nested terms (@pxref{Record syntax})
and to select and update fields of the DCG arguments of a
clause (@pxref{DCG-goals}).

@menu
* Field selection::
* Field update::
* User-supplied field access function declarations::
* Field access examples::
@end menu

@node Field selection 
@subsection Field selection

@example
@var{field}(@var{Term})
@end example

Each field label @samp{@var{field}} in a constructor causes generation
of a field selection function @samp{@var{field}/1}, which takes a data-term
of the same type as the constructor and returns the value of the
labelled field, failing if the top-level constructor of the argument
is not the constructor containing the field.

If the declaration of the field is in the interface section of the module,
the corresponding field selection function is also exported from the module.

By default, this function has no declared modes --- the modes are inferred at
each call to the function. However, the modes of this function may be
explicitly declared, in which case it will have only the declared modes.

To create a higher-order term from a field selection function, an
explicit lambda expression must be used, unless a single mode
declaration is supplied for the field selection function.

@node Field update
@subsection Field update

@example
'@var{field}:='(@var{Term}, @var{ValueTerm})
@end example

Each field label @samp{@var{field}} in a constructor causes generation
of a field update function @samp{'@var{field}:='/2}.
The first argument of this function is a data-term of the same type as the
constructor. The second argument is a data-term of the same type as the
labelled field. The return value is a copy of the first argument with
value of the labelled field replaced by the second argument.
@samp{'@var{field}:='/2} fails if the top-level constructor of the
first argument is not the constructor containing the labelled field.

If the declaration of the field is in the interface section of the module,
the corresponding field update function is also exported from the module.

By default, this function has no declared modes --- the modes are inferred at
each call to the function. However, the modes of this function may be
explicitly declared, in which case it will have only the declared modes.

To create a higher-order term from a field update function, an
explicit lambda expression must be used, unless a single mode
declaration is supplied for the field update function.

Some fields cannot be updated using field update functions.
For the constructor @samp{unsettable/2} below, neither field may be updated
because the resulting term would not be well-typed. A future release
may allow multiple fields to be updated by a single expression to avoid
this problem.

@example
:- type unsettable
        ---> some [T] unsettable(
                unsettable1 :: T,
                unsettable2 :: T
        ).
@end example

@node User-supplied field access function declarations
@subsection User-supplied field access function declarations

Type and mode declarations for compiler-generated field access functions
for fields of constructors local to a module may be placed in the interface
section of the module. This allows the implementation of a type to be hidden
while still allowing client modules to use record syntax to manipulate values
of the type. Supplying a single mode declaration also allows higher-order
terms to be created from a field access function without using explicit
lambda expressions.

Declarations for field access functions for fields occurring in the interface
section of a module must also occur in the interface section.

Declarations and clauses for field access functions can also be supplied
for fields which are not a part of any type. This is useful when the data
structures of a program change so that a value which was previously stored
as part of a type is now computed each time it is requested. It also
allows record syntax to be used for type class methods.

@node Field access examples
@subsection Field access examples

The examples make use of the following type declarations:

@example
:- type type1
        ---> type1(
                field1 :: type2,
                field2 :: string
        ).

:- type type2
        ---> type2(
                field3 :: int,
                field4 :: int
        ).

@end example

The compiler generates some field access functions for @samp{field1}.
The functions generated for the other fields are similar.

@example
:- func field1(type1) = type2.
field1(type1(Field1, _)) = Field1.

:- func 'field1:='(type1, type2) = type1.
'field1:='(type1(_, Field2), Field1) = type1(Field1, Field2).
@end example

Using these functions and the syntactic sugar described in
@ref{Record syntax}, programmers can write code such as

@example
:- func increment_field3(type1) = type1.

increment_field3(Term0) =
        Term0^field1^field3 := Term0^field1^field3 + 1.
@end example

The compiler expands this into

@example
incremental_field3(Term0) = Term :-
        OldField3 = field3(field1(Term0)),

        OldField1 = field1(Term0),
        NewField1 = 'field3:='(OldField1, OldField3 + 1),
        Term = 'field1:='(Term0, NewField1).
@end example

@node Modes
@chapter Modes

The @dfn{mode} of a predicate, or function, is a mapping
from the initial state of instantiation of the arguments of the predicate,
or the arguments and result of a function,
to their final state of instantiation.
To describe states of instantiation,
we use information provided by the type system.
Types can be viewed as regular trees with two kinds of nodes:
or-nodes representing types
and and-nodes representing constructors.
The children of an or-node are the constructors
that can be used to construct terms of that type;
the children of an and-node are the types
of the arguments of the constructors.
We attach mode information to the or-nodes of type trees.

An @dfn{instantiatedness tree} is an assignment
of an @dfn{instantiatedness} --- either @dfn{free} or @dfn{bound} ---
to each or-node of a type tree,
with the constraint that all descendants of a free node must be free.

A term is @dfn{approximated by} an instantiatedness tree
if for every node in the instantiatedness tree,

@itemize @bullet
@item
if the node is ``free'',
then the corresponding node in the term (if any)
is a free variable that does not share with any other variable
(we call such variables @dfn{distinct});

@item
if the node is ``bound'',
then the corresponding node in the term (if any)
is a function symbol.

@end itemize

When an instantiatedness tree tells us that a variable is bound,
there may be several alternative function symbols to which it could be bound.
The instantiatedness tree does not tell us which of these it is bound to;
instead for each possible function symbol it tells us exactly
which arguments of the function symbol will be free and which will be bound.
The same principle applies recursively to these bound arguments.

Mercury's mode system allows users
to declare names for instantiatedness trees using declarations such as

@example
:- inst listskel = bound( [] ; [free | listskel] ).
@end example

This instantiatedness tree describes lists
whose skeleton is known but whose elements are distinct variables.
As such, it approximates the term @code{[A,B]}
but not the term @code{[H|T]} (only part of the skeleton is known),
the term @code{[A,2]} (not all elements are variables),
or the term @code{[A,A]} (the elements are not distinct variables).

As a shorthand, the mode system provides @samp{free} and @samp{ground}
as names for instantiatedness trees
all of whose nodes are free and bound respectively.
The shape of these trees is determined by
the type of the variable to which they apply.

As execution proceeds, variables may become more instantiated.
A @dfn{mode mapping} is a mapping
from an initial instantiatedness tree to a final instantiatedness tree,
with the constraint that no node of the type tree
is transformed from bound to free.
Mercury allows the user to specify mode mappings directly
by expressions such as @code{inst1 -> inst2},
or to give them a name using declarations such as

@example
:- mode m :: inst1 -> inst2.
@end example

Two standard shorthand modes are provided,
corresponding to the standard notions of inputs and outputs:

@example
:- mode in :: ground -> ground.
:- mode out :: free -> ground.
@end example

Prolog fans who want to use the symbols @samp{+} and @samp{-}
can do so by simply defining them using a mode declaration:

@example
:- mode (+) :: in.
:- mode (-) :: out.
@end example

These two modes are enough for most functions and predicates.
Nevertheless, Mercury's mode system is sufficiently
expressive to handle more complex data-flow patterns,
including those involving partially instantiated data structures.  
(The current implementation does not handle
partially instantiated data structures yet.)

For example, consider an
interface to a database that associates data with keys, and provides
read and write access to the items it stores.  To represent accesses to
the database over a network, you would need declarations such as

@example
:- type operation
        --->    lookup(key, data)
        ;       set(key, data).
:- inst request =
        bound(  lookup(ground, free)
        ;       set(ground, ground)
        ).
:- mode create_request :: free -> request.
:- mode satisfy_request :: request -> ground.
@end example

@samp{inst} and @samp{mode} declarations can be parametric.
For example, the following declaration 

@example
:- inst listskel(Inst) = bound( [] ; [Inst | listskel(Inst)] ).
@end example

@noindent
defines the inst @samp{listskel(Inst)} to be a list skeleton
whose elements have inst @samp{Inst}; you can the use insts
such as @samp{listskel(listskel(free))}, which represents
the instantiation state of a list of lists of free variables.
The standard library provides the parametric modes

@example
:- mode in(Inst) :: Inst -> Inst.
:- mode out(Inst) :: free -> Inst.
@end example

@noindent
so that for example the mode @samp{create_request} defined above
could have be defined as

@example
:- mode create_request :: out(request).
@end example

There must not be more than one inst definition with the same name
and arity in the same module.  Similarly, there must not be more
than one mode definition with the same name and arity in the same module.

A @dfn{predicate mode declaration}
assigns a mode mapping to each argument of a predicate.
A @dfn{function mode declaration}
assigns a mode mapping to each argument of a function,
and a mode mapping to the function result.
Each mode of a predicate or function is called a @dfn{procedure}.
For example, given the mode names defined by

@example
:- mode out_listskel ::
        free -> listskel.
:- mode in_listskel ::
        listskel -> listskel.
@end example

the (type and) mode declarations of the function length and predicate append
are as follows:

@example
:- func length(list(T)) = int.
:- mode length(in_listskel) = out.
:- mode length(out_listskel) = in.

:- pred append(list(T), list(T), list(T)).
:- mode append(in, in, out).
:- mode append(out, out, in).
@end example

Note that functions may have more than one mode, just like predicates;
functions can be reversible.

Alternately, the mode declarations for @samp{length} could use
the standard library modes @samp{in/1} and @samp{out/1}:

@example
:- func length(list(T)) = int.
:- mode length(in(listskel)) = out.
:- mode length(out(listskel)) = in.
@end example

If a predicate or function has only one mode, the @samp{pred} and @samp{mode}
declaration can be combined:

@example
:- func length(list(T)::in) = (int::out).
:- pred append(list(T)::in, list(T)::in, list(T)::out).
@end example

If there is no mode declaration for a function, the compiler assumes
a default mode for the function in which all the arguments have mode @samp{in}
and the result of the function has mode @samp{out}.  (However, there
is no requirement that a function have such a mode; if there is any
explicit mode declaration, it overrides the default.)

A function or predicate mode declaration is an assertion by the programmer
that for all possible argument terms and (if applicable) result term
for the function or predicate
that are approximated (in our technical sense)
by the initial instantiatedness trees of the mode declaration
and all of whose free variables are distinct,
if the function or predicate succeeds then
the resulting binding of those argument terms and (if applicable)
result term will in turn be approximated
by the final instantiatedness trees of the mode declaration,
with all free variables again being distinct.
We refer to such assertions as @dfn{mode declaration constraints}.
These assertions are checked by the compiler,
which rejects programs if it cannot prove
that their mode declaration constraints are satisfied.

Note that with the usual definition of append, the mode

@example
:- mode append(in_listskel, in_listskel, out_listskel).
@end example

would not be allowed, since it would create aliasing between the
different arguments --- on success of the predicate, the list elements
would be free variables but they would not be distinct.

In Mercury it is always possible to call a procedure with an
argument that is is more bound than the initial inst specified for that
argument in the procedure's mode declaration.  In such cases, the
compiler will insert additional unifications to ensure that the
argument actually passed to the procedure will have the inst specified.
For example, if the predicate @code{p/1} has mode @samp{p(out)}, you
can still call @samp{p(X)} if @code{X} is ground.  The compiler will
transform this code to @samp{p(Y), X = Y} where @code{Y} is a fresh
variable.  It is almost as if the predicate @code{p/1} has another mode
@samp{p(in)}; we call such modes ``implied modes''.

To make this concept precise, we introduce the following definition.
A term @dfn{satisfies} an instantiatedness tree
if for every node in the instantiatedness tree,

@itemize @bullet
@item
if the node is ``free'',
then the corresponding node in the term (if any)
is either a distinct free variable,
or a function symbol.

@item
if the node is ``bound'',
then the corresponding node in the term (if any)
is a function symbol.

@end itemize

The @dfn{mode set} for a predicate or function
is the set of mode declarations for the predicate or function.
A mode set is an assertion by the programmer
that the predicate should only be called with argument terms
that satisfy the initial instantiatedness trees
of one of the mode declarations in the set
(i.e. the specified modes and the modes they imply
are the only allowed modes for this predicate or function).
We refer to the assertion associated with a mode set
as the @dfn{mode set constraint};
these are also checked by the compiler.

A predicate or function @var{p} is @dfn{well-moded
with respect to a given mode declaration}
if given that the predicates and functions called by @var{p}
all satisfy their mode declaration constraints,
there exists an ordering of the literals in the definition of @var{p}
such that

@itemize @bullet
@item
@var{p} satisfies its mode declaration constraint, and
@item
@var{p} satisfies the mode set constraint of all of the predicates and
functions it calls
@end itemize

We say that a predicate or function is well-moded
if it is well-moded with respect to
all the mode declarations in its mode set,
and we say that a program is well-moded
if all its predicates and functions are well-moded.

The mode analysis algorithm checks one procedure at a time.
It abstractly interprets the definition of the predicate or function,
keeping track of the instantiatedness of each variable,
and selecting a mode for each call and unification in the definition.
To ensure that
the mode set constraints of called predicates and functions are satisfied,
the compiler may reorder the elements of conjunctions;
it reports an error if no satisfactory order exists.
Finally it checks that
the resulting instantiatedness of the procedure's arguments
is the same as the one given by the procedure's declaration.

The mode analysis algorithm annotates each call with the mode used.

@node Unique modes
@chapter Unique modes

Mode declarations can also specify so-called ``unique modes''.
Mercury's unique modes are similar to ``linear types'' in some
functional programming languages such as Clean.  They allow you to
specify when there is only one reference to a particular value, and
when there will be no more references to that value.  If the compiler
knows there will be no more references to a value, it can perform
``compile-time garbage collection'' by automatically inserting code
to deallocate the storage associated with that value.  Even more
importantly, the compiler can also simply reuse the storage immediately,
for example by destructively updating one element of an array rather
than making a new copy of the entire array in order to change one element.
Unique modes are also the mechanism Mercury uses to provide declarative I/O.

We have not yet implemented unique modes fully, and the details are
still in a state of flux.  So the following should be considered
tentative.

@menu
* Destructive update::
* Backtrackable destructive update::
* Limitations of the current implementation::
@end menu

@node Destructive update
@section Destructive update

In addition to the insts mentioned above (@samp{free}, @samp{ground},
and @samp{bound(@dots{})}), Mercury also provides ``unique'' insts
@samp{unique} and @samp{unique(@dots{})} which are like @samp{ground}
and @samp{bound(@dots{})} respectively, except that they carry the
additional constraint that there can only be one reference to the
corresponding value.  There is also an inst @samp{dead} which means
that there are no references to the corresponding value, so the compiler
is free to generate code that reuses that value.
There are three standard modes for manipulation unique values:

@example
% unique output
:- mode uo :: free -> unique.

% unique input
:- mode ui :: unique -> unique.

% destructive input
:- mode di :: unique -> dead.
@end example

Mode @samp{uo} is used to create a unique value.
Mode @samp{ui} is used to inspect a unique value without
losing its uniqueness.
Mode @samp{di} is used to deallocate or reuse the memory
occupied by a value that will not be used.

Note that a value is not considered @samp{unique} if it might be
needed on backtracking.  This means that unique modes are generally
only useful for code whose determinism is @samp{det} or @samp{cc_multidet}
(@pxref{Determinism}).

@node Backtrackable destructive update
@section Backtrackable destructive update

@quotation
``Well it just so happens that your friend here is only @emph{mostly} dead.
@*There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead@dots{}
@*Now, mostly dead is slightly alive.
@*Now, all dead --- well, with all dead, there's usually only
one thing that you can do.''

``What's that?''

``Go through his clothes and look for loose change!''

--- from the movie ``The Princess Bride''.
@end quotation

To allow for backtrackable destructive updates --- that is, updates
whose effect is undone on backtracking, perhaps by recording the
overwritten values on a ``trail'' so that they can be restored
after backtracking --- Mercury also provides ``mostly unique''
modes.  The insts @samp{mostly_unique} and @samp{mostly_dead}
are equivalent to @samp{unique} and @samp{dead},
except that only references which will be encountered during 
forward execution are counted - it is OK for @samp{mostly_unique} or
@samp{mostly_dead} values to be needed again on backtracking.

Mercury defines some standard modes for manipulating ``mostly unique''
values, just as it does for unique values:

@example
% mostly unique output
:- mode muo :: free -> mostly_unique.

% mostly unique input
:- mode mui :: mostly_unique -> mostly_unique.

% mostly destructive input
:- mode mdi :: mostly_unique -> mostly_dead.
@end example

@node Limitations of the current implementation
@section Limitations of the current implementation

The implementation of the mode analysis algorithm is not quite complete;
as a result, it is not possible to use nested unique modes, i.e.
modes in which anything but the top level of a variable is unique.
If you do, you will get unique mode errors when you try
to get a unique field of a unique data structure.
It is also not possible to use unique-input modes;
only destructive-input and unique-output modes work.

The Mercury compiler does not (yet) reuse @samp{dead}
values.  The only destructive update in the current implementation occurs
in library modules, e.g. for I/O and arrays.  We do however plan to
implement structure reuse and compile-time garbage collection
in the very near future.

@node Determinism
@chapter Determinism

@menu
* Determinism categories::
* Determinism checking and inference::
* Replacing compile-time checking with run-time checking::
* Interfacing nondeterministic code with the real world::
* Committed choice nondeterminism::
@end menu

@node Determinism categories
@section Determinism categories

For each mode of a predicate or function,
we categorise that mode according to how many times it can succeed,
and whether or not it can fail before producing its first solution.

@itemize @bullet
@item
If all possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
have exactly one solution,
then that mode is @dfn{deterministic} (@code{det}).

@item
If all possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
either have no solutions or have one solution,
then that mode is @dfn{semideterministic} (@code{semidet}).

@item
If all possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
have at least one solution but may have more,
then that mode is @dfn{multisolution} (@code{multi}).

@item
If some possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
have no solution but other calls may have more than one solution,
then that mode is @dfn{nondeterministic} (@code{nondet}).

@item
If all possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
fail without producing a solution,
then that mode has a determinism of @code{failure}.

@item
If all possible calls to a particular mode of a predicate or function
lead to a runtime error, i.e. neither succeed nor fail,
then that mode has a determinism of @code{erroneous}.
@end itemize

The determinism annotation @code{erroneous} is used on the library
predicate @samp{error/1}, but apart from that those last two determinism
annotations are generally not needed.

To summarize:

@example
                Maximum number of solutions
Can fail?       0               1               > 1
no              erroneous       det             multi
yes             failure         semidet         nondet
@end example

(Note: the "Can fail?" column here indicates only whether the procedure
can fail before producing at least one solution; attempts to find a
@emph{second} solution to a particular call, e.g. for a procedure
with determinism @samp{multi}, are always allowed to fail.)

The determinism of each mode of a predicate or function
is indicated by an annotation on the mode declaration.
For example:

@example
:- pred append(list(T), list(T), list(T)).
:- mode append(in, in, out) is det.
:- mode append(out, out, in) is multi.
:- mode append(in, in, in) is semidet.

:- func length(list(T)) = int.
:- mode length(in) = out is det.
:- mode length(in(list_skel)) = out is det.
:- mode length(in) = in is semidet.
@end example

An annotation of @samp{det} or @samp{multidet} is an assertion that
for every value each of the inputs, there exists at least one value
of the outputs for which the predicate is true, or (in the case
of functions) for which the function term is equal to the result term.
Conversely, an annotation of @samp{det} or @samp{semidet} is an assertion
that for every value each of the inputs, there exists at most one value
of the outputs for which the predicate is true, or (in the case
of functions) for which the function term is equal to the result term.
These assertions are called the @dfn{mode-determinism assertions};
they can play a role in the semantics, because in certain 
circumstances they may allow an implementation to perform optimizations
that would not otherwise be allowed, such as optimizing away a goal
with no outputs even though it might infinitely loop.

If the mode of the predicate is given in the @code{:- pred} declaration
rather than in a separate @code{:- mode} declaration,
then the determinism annotation goes on the @code{:- pred} declaration
(and similarly for functions).
In particular, this is necessary
if a predicate does not have any argument variables.
For example:

@example
:- pred loop(int::in) is erroneous.
loop(X) :- loop(X).

:- pred p is det.
p.

:- pred q is failure.
q :- fail.
@end example

If there is no mode declaration for a function, then the default
mode for that function is considered to have been declared as @samp{det}.
If you want to write a partial function, i.e. one whose determinism
is @samp{semidet}, then you must explicitly declare the mode and determinism.

In Mercury, a function is supposed to be a true mathematical function
of its arguments; that is, the value of the function's result should
be determined only by the values of its arguments.  Hence, for
any mode of a function that specifies that all the arguments are fully
input (i.e. for which the initial inst of all the arguments is a ground inst),
the determinism of that mode can only be
@samp{det}, @samp{semidet}, @samp{erroneous}, or @samp{failure}.

The determinism categories form this lattice:

@example
             erroneous
              /     \
          failure   det
             \     /   \
             semidet  multi
                 \     /
                  nondet
@end example

The higher up this lattice a determinism category is,
the more the compiler knows about the number of solutions
of procedures of that determinism.

@node Determinism checking and inference
@section Determinism checking and inference

The determinism of goals
is inferred from the determinism of their component parts,
according to the rules below.
The inferred determinism of a procedure is just the inferred
determinism of the procedure's body.

For procedures that are local to a module,
the determinism annotations may be omitted;
in that case, their determinism will be inferred.
(To be precise, the determinism of procedures without a determinism annotation
is defined as the least fixpoint of the transformation which,
given an initial assignment
of the determinism @code{det} to all such procedures,
applies those rules to infer
a new determinism assignment for those procedures.)

It is an error to omit the determinism annotation
for procedures that are exported from their containing module.

If a determinism annotation is supplied for a procedure,
the declared determinism is compared against the inferred determinism.
If the declared determinism is greater than or not comparable to the
inferred determinism (in the partial ordering above), it is an error.
If the declared determinism is less than the inferred determinism,
it is not an error, but the implementation may issue a warning.

The determinism category of each goal
is inferred according to the following rules.
These rules work with the two components of determinism category:
whether the goal can fail without producing a solution,
and the maximum number of solutions of the goal (0, 1, or more).
If the inference process below reports that a goal can succeed more than once,
but the goal generates no outputs that are visible from outside the goal,
and the goal is not impure (@pxref{Impurity}),
then the final determinism of the goal
will be based on the goal succeeding at most once,
since the compiler will implicitly prune away any duplicate solutions.

@table @asis
@item Calls
The determinism category of a call is the determinism
declared or inferred for the called mode of the called procedure.

@item Unifications
The determinism of a unification
is either @code{det}, @code{semidet}, or @code{failure},
depending on its mode.

A unification that assigns the value of one variable to another
is deterministic.
A unification that constructs a structure and assigns it to a variable
is also deterministic.
A unification that tests whether a variable has a given top function symbol
is semideterministic,
unless the compiler knows the top function symbol of that variable,
in which case its determinism is either det or failure
depending on whether the two function symbols are the same or not.
A unification that tests two variables for equality
is semideterministic,
unless the compiler knows that the two variables are aliases for one another,
in which case the unification is deterministic,
or unless the compiler knows that the two variables
have different function symbols in the same position,
in which case the unification has a determinism of failure.

The compiler knows the top function symbol of a variable
if the previous part of the procedure definition
contains a unification of the variable with a function symbol,
or if the variable's type has only one function symbol.

@item Conjunctions
The determinism of the empty conjunction (the goal @samp{true})
is @code{det}.
The conjunction @samp{(@var{A}, @var{B})} can fail
if either @var{A} can fail, or if @var{A} can succeed at least once,
and @var{B} can fail.
The conjunction can succeed at most zero times
if either @var{A} or @var{B} can succeed at most zero times.
The conjunction can succeed more than once
if either @var{A} or @var{B} can succeed more than once
and both @var{A} and @var{B} can succeed at least once.
(If e.g. @var{A} can succeed at most zero times,
then even if @var{B} can succeed many times
the maximum number of solutions of the conjunction is still zero.)
Otherwise, i.e. if both @var{A} and @var{B} succeed at most once,
the conjunction can succeed at most once.

@item Switches
A disjunction is a @emph{switch}
if each disjunct has near its start a unification that
tests the same bound variable against a different function symbol.
For example, consider the common pattern

@example
(
        L = [], empty(Out)
;
        L = [H|T], nonempty(H, T, Out)
)
@end example

If L is input to the disjunction, then the disjunction is a switch on L.

A switch can fail
if the various arms of the switch do not cover
all the function symbols in the type of the switched-on variable,
or if the code in some arms of the switch can fail,
bearing in mind that in each arm of the switch,
the unification that tests the switched-on variable
against the function symbol of that arm is considered to be deterministic.
A switch can succeed several times
if some arms of the switch can succeed several times,
possibly because there are multiple disjuncts
that test the switched-on variable against the same function symbol.
A switch can succeed at most zero times
only if all arms of the switch can succeed at most zero times.

Only unifications may occur before the test of the switched-on variable
in each disjunct. Tests of the switched-on variable may occur within
existential quantification goals.

The following example is a switch.

@example
(
        Out = 1, L = []
;
        some [H, T] (
                L = [H|T],
                nonempty(H, T, Out)
        )
)
@end example

The following example is not a switch because the call in the first
disjunct occurs before the test of the switched-on variable.

@example
(
        empty(Out), L = []
;
        L = [H|T], nonempty(H, T, Out)
)
@end example

@item Disjunctions
The determinism of the empty disjunction (the goal @samp{fail})
is @code{failure}.
A disjunction @samp{(@var{A} ; @var{B})} that is not a switch
can fail if both @var{A} and @var{B} can fail.
It can succeed at most zero times
if both @var{A} and @var{B} can succeed at most zero times.
It can succeed at most once
if one of @var{A} and @var{B} can succeed at most once
and the other can succeed at most zero times.
Otherwise, i.e. if either @var{A} or @var{B} can succeed more than once,
or if both @var{A} and @var{B} can succeed at least once,
it can succeed more than once.

@c The local determinism of a disjunction is @code{nondet} unless the
@c compiler can detect that the disjunction is actually a switch and
@c hence @dfn{index} the disjunction.
@c Precisely describing the rules for detecting switches is somewhat tricky,
@c and I won't attempt to do so, but they are
@c reasonable easy to understand in practice.
@c The compiler can index on any input variable to a disjunction
@c (not just the first head variable).  It can also index on more than
@c one variable, since after indexing on the first one, switch detection is
@c applied to all sub-disjunctions.  It can index on any functor, not
@c just the top-most one.

@item If-then-else

If the condition of an if-then-else cannot fail, the if-then-else
is equivalent to the conjunction of the condition and the ``then'' part,
and its determinism is computed accordingly.
Otherwise, 
an if-then-else can fail if either the ``then'' part or the ``else'' part
can fail.
It can succeed at most zero times
if the ``else'' part can succeed at most zero times
and if at least one of the condition and the ``then'' part
can succeed at most zero times.
It can succeed more than once
if any one of the condition, the ``then'' part and the ``else'' part
can succeed more than once.

@item Negations

If the determinism of the negated goal is @code{erroneous},
then the determinism of the negation is @code{erroneous}.
If the determinism of the negated goal is @code{failure},
the determinism of the negation is @code{det}.
If the determinism of the negated goal is @code{det} or @code{multi},
the determinism of the negation is @code{failure}.
Otherwise, the determinism of the negation is @code{semidet}.

@end table

@node Replacing compile-time checking with run-time checking
@section Replacing compile-time checking with run-time checking

Note that ``perfect'' determinism inference is an undecidable problem,
because it requires solving the halting problem.
(For instance, in the following example

@example
:- pred p(T, T).
:- mode p(in, out) is det.

p(A, B) :-
        (
                something_complicated(A, B)
        ;
                B = A
        ).
@end example

@noindent
@samp{p/2} can have more than one solution
only if @samp{something_complicated} can succeed.)
Sometimes, the rules specified by the Mercury language
for determinism inference will infer a determinism
that is not as precise as you would like.
However, it is generally easy to overcome such problems.
The way to do this is to replace the compiler's static checking
with some manual run-time checking.
For example, if you know that a particular goal should never fail,
but the compiler infers that goal to be @code{semidet},
you can check at runtime that the goal does succeed,
and if it fails, call the library predicate @samp{error/1}.

@example
:- pred q(T, T).
:- mode q(in, out) is det.

q(A, B) :-
        ( goal_that_should_never_fail(A, B0) ->
                B = B0
        ;
                error("goal_that_should_never_fail failed!")
        ).
@end example

@noindent
The predicate @code{error/1} has determinism @code{erroneous},
which means the compiler knows that it will never succeed or fail,
so the inferred determinism for the body of @code{q/2} is @code{det}.
(Checking assumptions like this is good coding style anyway.
The small amount of up-front work that Mercury requires
is paid back in reduced debugging time.)
Mercury's mode analysis knows that
computations with determinism erroneous can never succeed,
which is why it does not require the ``else'' part to generate
a value for @samp{B}.
The introduction of the new variable @samp{B0} is necessary
because the condition of an if-then-else is a negated context,
and can export the values it generates
only to the ``then'' part of the if-then-else,
not directly to the surrounding computation.
(If the surrounding computations had direct access
to values generated in conditions,
they might access them even if the condition failed.)

@node Interfacing nondeterministic code with the real world
@section Interfacing nondeterministic code with the real world

Normally, attempting to call
a @code{nondet} or @code{multi} mode of a predicate
from a predicate declared as @code{semidet} or @code{det}
will cause a determinism error.
So how can we call nondeterministic code from deterministic code?
There are several alternative possibilities.

If you just want to see if a nondeterministic goal is satisfiable or not,
without needing to know what variable bindings it produces,
then there is no problem -
determinism analysis considers @code{nondet} and @code{multi} goals
with no non-local output variables to be
@code{semidet} and @code{det} respectively.

If you want to use the values of output variables,
then you need to ask yourself
which one of possibly many solutions to a goal do you want?
If you want all of them, you need to use the predicate
@samp{solutions/2} in the standard library module @samp{std_util},
which collects all of the solutions to a goal into a list --
@pxref{Higher-order}.

If you just want one solution and don't care which,
the calling predicate should be declared @code{nondet} or @code{multi}.
The nondeterminism should then be propagated up the call tree
to the point at which it can be pruned.
In Mercury, pruning can be achieved in several ways.

The first way is the one mentioned above:
if a goal has no non-local output variables
then the implementation will only attempt to satisfy the goal once.
Any potential duplicate solutions will be implicitly pruned away.

The second way is to rely on the fact that
the implementation will only seek a single solution to @samp{main/2},
so alternative solutions to @samp{main/2}
(and hence also to @code{nondet} or @code{multi} predicates
called directly or indirectly from @samp{main/2})
are implicitly pruned away.
This is one way to achieve ``don't care'' style nondeterminism in Mercury.

The other situation in which you may want pruning
and committed choice style nondeterminism
is when you know that all the solutions returned will be equivalent.
For example, you might want to find the maximum element in a set
by iterating over the elements in the set.
Iterating over the elements in a set in an unspecified order is a
nondeterministic operation,
but no matter which order you remove them,
the maximum value in the set should be the same.

We may eventually extend Mercury to allow users to write

@example
unique [X] Goal
@end example

@noindent
as a special quantifier, meaning
``there exists a unique @code{X} for which @samp{Goal} is true''.
This would allow the implementation
to prune alternative solutions for @samp{Goal}
if @samp{X} was the only output variable of @samp{Goal}.  

Note that specifying a user-defined equivalence relation
as the equality predicate for user-defined types (@pxref{Equality preds})
means that the @samp{unique} quantifier
could be used to express more general forms of equivalence.
For example, if you define a set type which represents sets as unsorted lists,
you would want to define a user-defined equivalence relation for that type,
which could sort the lists before comparing them.
The @samp{unique} quantifier could then be used for sets
even though the lists used to represent the sets
might not be in the same order in every solution.

Currently the language does not support the @samp{unique} quantifier. 
(However, it is possible to achieve a similar effect by using the C interface
to type-cast a higher-order predicate term.)

@node Committed choice nondeterminism
@section Committed choice nondeterminism

In addition to the determinism annotations described earlier, there are
``committed choice'' versions of @code{multi}
and @code{nondet}, called @code{cc_multi} and @code{cc_nondet}.
These can be used instead of @code{multi} or @code{nondet} if all calls
to that mode of the predicate (or function) occur in a context in
which only one solution is needed.

Such single-solution contexts are determined as follows.

@itemize @bullet
@item
The body of any procedure declared @code{cc_multi} or
@code{cc_nondet} is in a single-solution context.
For example, the program entry point @samp{main/2} may
be declared @code{cc_multi}, and in that case the clauses
for @code{main} are in a single-solution context.

@item
Any goal with no output variables is in a single-solution context.

@item
If a conjunction is in a single-solution context, then 
the right-most conjunct is in a single-solution context,
and if the right-most conjunct cannot fail,
then rest of the conjunction is also in a single-solution
context. 
("Right-most" here refers to the order @emph{after} mode reordering.)

@item
If an if-then-else is in a single-solution context, then the
``then'' part and the ``else'' part are in single-solution contexts,
and if the ``then'' part cannot fail, then the condition of the
if-then-else is also in a single-solution context.

@item
For other compound goals, i.e. disjunctions, negations, and
(explicitly) existentially quantified goals, if the compound goal
is in a single-solution context, then the immediate sub-goals of that
compound goal are also in single-solution contexts.

@end itemize

The compiler will check that all calls to a committed-choice
mode of a predicate (or function) do indeed occur in a single-solution context.

You can declare two different modes of a predicate (or function) which differ
only in ``cc-ness'' (i.e. one being @samp{multi} and the other
@samp{cc_multi}, or one being @samp{nondet} and the other @samp{cc_nondet}).
In that case, the compiler will select the appropriate one for each
call depending on whether the call comes from a single-solution context
or not.  Calls from single-solution contexts will call the committed
choice version, while calls which are not from single-solution contexts
will call the backtracking version.

There are several reasons to use committed choice determinism annotations.
One reason is for efficiency: committed choice annotations allow
the compiler to generate much more efficient code.
Another reason is for doing I/O, which is allowed only in @samp{det}
or @samp{cc_multi} predicates, not in @samp{multi} predicates.
Another is for dealing with types that use non-canonical representations
(@pxref{Equality preds}).
And there are a variety of other applications.

@c XXX fix semantics for I/O + committed choice + mode inference 

@c @node Assertions
@c @chapter Assertions
@c 
@c Mercury supports the declaration of laws that hold for predicates and
@c functions.  
@c These laws are only checked for type-correctness,
@c it is the responsibility of the programmer to ensure overall correctness.
@c The behaviour of programs with incorrect laws is undefined.
@c 
@c A new law is introduced with the @samp{:- assertion} declaration.
@c 
@c Here are some examples of @samp{:- assertion} declarations.
@c The following example declares the function @samp{+} to be commutative.
@c 
@c @example
@c :- assertion
@c     all [A,B,R] (
@c         R = A + B
@c     <=>
@c         R = B + A
@c     ).
@c @end example
@c 
@c Note that each variable in the declaration was explicitly quantified.
@c The current Mercury compiler requires that each assertion begins with
@c an @samp{all} quantification, and that every variable is explicitly
@c quantified.
@c 
@c Here is a more complicated declaration. It declares that @samp{append} is
@c associative.
@c 
@c @example
@c :- assertion
@c     all [A,B,C,ABC] (
@c         (some [AB] (append(A, B, AB), append(AB, C, ABC)))
@c     <=>
@c         (some [BC] (append(B, C, BC), append(A, BC, ABC)))
@c     ).
@c @end example

@node Equality preds
@chapter User-defined equality predicates

When defining abstract data types, 
often it is convenient to use a non-canonical representation ---
that is, one for which a single abstract value may have more than
one different possible concrete representations.
For example, you may wish to implement an abstract type @samp{set}
by representing a set as an (unsorted) list. 

@example
:- module set_as_unsorted_list.
:- interface.
:- type set(T).

:- implementation.
:- import_module list.
:- type set(T) ---> set(list(T)).
@end example

@noindent
In this example, the concrete representations @samp{set([1,2])} and
@samp{set([2,1])} would both represent the same abstract value, namely
the set containing the elements 1 and 2.

For types such as this, which do not have a canonical representation,
the standard definition of equality is not the desired one; we want equality on
sets to mean equality of the abstract values, not equality of their
representations.  To support such types, Mercury allows programmers to
specify a user-defined equality predicate for user-defined types:

@example
:- type set(T) ---> set(list(T))
        where equality is set_equals.
@end example

@noindent
Here @samp{set_equals} is the name of a user-defined predicate that
is used for equality on the type @samp{set(T)}.  It could for example
be defined in terms of a @samp{subset} predicate.

@example
:- pred set_equals(set(T)::in, set(T)::in) is semidet.
set_equals(S1, S2) :-
        subset(S1, S2),
        subset(S2, S1).
@end example

A type declaration for a type @samp{foo(T1, @dots{}, TN)} may contain a
@samp{where equality is @var{equalitypred}} specification only
if the following conditions are satisfied:

@itemize @bullet
@item
The type @samp{foo(T1, @dots{}, TN)} must be a discriminated union type;
it may not be an equivalence type

@item
@var{equalitypred} must be the name of a predicate which can
be called with two ground arguments of type @samp{pred(foo(T1, @dots{}, TN))},
and whose determinism in that mode is @samp{semidet}.
Typically the equality predicate would have type
@samp{pred(foo(T1, @dots{}, TN), foo(T1, @dots{}, TN)}
and mode @samp{(in, in) is semidet}, but it is also legal
for the type, mode and determinism to be more permissive:
the type or the mode's initial insts may be more general
(e.g. the type could be just the polymorphic type @samp{pred(T, T)})
and the mode's final insts or the determinism may be more
specific (e.g. the determinism could be any of @samp{det},
@samp{failure} or @samp{erroneous}).
The equality predicate must also be ``pure'' (@pxref{Impurity}).

@end itemize

Types with user-defined equality can only be used in limited ways.
Because there multiple representations for the same abstract
value, any attempt to examine the representation of such a value
is a conceptually non-deterministic operation.  
In Mercury this is modelled using committed choice nondeterminism.

The semantics of a specifying @samp{where equality is @var{equalitypred}} 
on the type declaration for a type @var{T} are as follows:

@itemize @bullet
@item
If the program contains any deconstruction unification or switch
on a variable of type @var{T} that could fail, other than unifications
with mode @samp{(in, in)}, then it is a compile-time error.

@item
If the program contains any deconstruction unification or switch
on a variable of type @var{T} that cannot fail, then that operation
has determinism @samp{cc_multi}.

@item
Any attempts to examine the representation of a variable of type @var{T}
using facilities of the standard library (e.g. @samp{argument}/3
and @samp{functor/3} in @samp{std_util}) that do not have determinism
@samp{cc_multi} or @samp{cc_nondet} will result in a run-time error.

@item
In addition to the usual equality axioms,
the declarative semantics of the program will contain the axiom
@samp{@var{X} = @var{Y} <=> @var{equalitypred}(X, Y)} for all
@var{X} and @var{Y} of type @samp{T}.

@item
Any @samp{(in, in)} unifications for type @var{T} are computed using the
specified predicate @var{equalitypred}.

@item
@var{equalitypred} should be an equivalence relation; that is, it must be
symmetric, reflexive, and transitive.  However, the compiler is not required
to check this@footnote{If @var{equalitypred} is not an equivalence relation,
then the program is inconsistent: its declarative semantics 
contains a contradiction, because the additional axioms for the user-defined
equality contradict the standard equality axioms.  That implies that the
implementation may compute any answer at all (@pxref{Semantics}),
i.e. the behaviour of the program is undefined.}.

@end itemize

@node Higher-order
@chapter Higher-order programming

Mercury supports higher-order functions and predicates with currying,
closures, and lambda expressions. 
(To be pedantic, it would be more accurate to
say that Mercury supports higher-order procedures: in Mercury, when you
construct a higher-order term, you only get one mode of
a predicate or function; if you want multiple modes, you must pass multiple
higher-order procedures.)

@menu
* Creating higher-order terms::
* Calling higher-order terms::
* Higher-order modes::
@end menu

@node Creating higher-order terms
@section Creating higher-order terms
@c NB. This section is pointed to by an error message in compiler/typecheck.m,
@c so if you change the section name, you need to update that error message.

To create a higher-order predicate or function term, you can use
a lambda expression, or, if the predicate or function has only one
mode and it is not a zero-arity function, you can just use its name.
For example, if you have declared a predicate

@example
:- pred sum(list(int), int).
:- mode sum(in, out) is det.
@end example

@noindent
the following three unifications have the same effect:

@example
X = lambda([List::in, Length::out] is det, sum(List, Length))
Y = (pred(List::in, Length::out) is det :- sum(List, Length))
Z = sum
@end example

In the above example, the type of @samp{X}, @samp{Y}, and @samp{Z} is
@samp{pred(list(int), int)}, which means a predicate of two
arguments of types @samp{list(int)} and @samp{int} respectively.

The syntax using @samp{lambda} is deprecated;
please use the syntax using @samp{pred} instead.
[The syntax using @samp{lambda} was supported to enable programs to work
in both Mercury and Prolog, because the syntax using @samp{pred} 
can't be easily emulated in Prolog.  Now that we have implemented
better debugging environments for Mercury, there is no need for this.]

Similarly, given

@example
:- func scalar_product(int, list(int)) = list(int).
:- mode scalar_product(in, in) = out is det.
@end example

@noindent
the following three unifications have the same effect:

@example
X = (func(Num, List) = NewList :- NewList = scalar_product(Num, List))
Y = (func(Num::in, List::in) = (NewList::out) is det
        :- NewList = scalar_product(Num, List))
Z = scalar_product
@end example

In the above example, the type of @samp{X}, @samp{Y}, and @samp{Z} is
@samp{func(int, list(int)) = list(int)}, which means a function of two
arguments, whose types are @samp{int} and @samp{list(int)},
with a return type of @samp{int}.
As with @samp{:- func} declarations, if the modes and determinism
of the function are omitted in a higher-order function term, then
the modes default to @samp{in} for the arguments, @samp{out} for the
function result, and the determinism defaults to @samp{det}.

If the predicate or function has more than one mode, you must use an explicit
lambda expression to specify which mode you want.

You can also create higher-order function terms of non-zero arity
and higher-order predicate terms by ``currying'',
i.e. specifying the first few arguments to a predicate or function, but
leaving the remaining arguments unspecified.  For example, the
unification

@example
Sum123 = sum([1,2,3])
@end example

@noindent
binds @samp{Sum123} to a higher-order predicate term of type @samp{pred(int)}.
Similarly, the unification

@example
Double = scalar_product(2)
@end example

@noindent
binds @samp{Double} to a higher-order function term of type
@samp{func(list(int)) = list(int)}.

For higher-order predicate expressions that thread an accumulator
pair, we have syntax that allows you to use DCG notation in the
goal of the expression.  For example,

@example
Pred = (pred(Strings::in, Num::out, di, uo) is det -->
    io__write_string("The strings are: "),
    @{ list__length(Strings, Num) @},
    io__write_strings(Strings),
    io__nl
)
@end example

@noindent
is equivalent to

@example
Pred = (pred(Strings::in, Num::out, IO0::di, IO::uo) is det :-
    io__write_string("The strings are: ", IO0, IO1),
    list__length(Strings, Num),
    io__write_strings(Strings, IO1, IO2),
    io__nl(IO2, IO)
)
@end example

Higher-order function terms of zero arity can only be created using
an explicit lambda expression; you have to use e.g. @samp{(func) = foo}
rather than plain @samp{foo}, because the latter denotes the result
of evaluating the function, rather than the function itself.

Note that when constructing a higher-order term, you cannot just use
the name of a builtin language construct such as @samp{=}, @samp{\=},
@samp{call}, or @samp{apply}, and nor can such constructs be curried.  
Instead, you must either use an explicit lambda expression,
or you must write a forwarding predicate or function.
For example, instead of

@example
list__filter([1,2,3], \=(2), List)
@end example

@noindent
you must write either

@example
list__filter([1,2,3], (pred(X::in) is semidet :- X \= 2), List)
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
list__filter([1,2,3], not_equal(2), List)
@end example

@noindent
where you have defined @samp{not_equal} using

@example
:- pred not_equal(T::in, T::in) is semidet.
not_equal(X, Y) :- X \= Y.
@end example

Another case when this arises is when want to curry a higher-order
term.  Suppose, for example, that you have a higher-order predicate
term @samp{OldPred} of type @samp{pred(int, char, float)}, and you want
to construct a new higher-order predicate term @samp{NewPred} of type
@samp{pred(char, float)} from @samp{OldPred} by supplying a value for
for just the first argument.  The solution is the same: use
an explicit lambda expression or a forwarding predicate.
In either case, the body of the lambda expression or the forwarding
predicate must contain a higher-order call with all the arguments
supplied.

@node Calling higher-order terms
@section Calling higher-order terms

Once you have created a higher-order predicate term (sometimes known
as a closure), the next thing you want to do is to call it.  
For predicates, you use the builtin goal call/N:

@table @asis
@item @code{call(Closure)}
@itemx @code{call(Closure1, Arg1)}
@itemx @code{call(Closure2, Arg1, Arg2)}
@itemx @dots{}
A higher-order predicate call.  @samp{call(Closure)} just calls the
specified higher-order predicate term.  The other forms append the
specified arguments onto the argument list of the closure before
calling it. 
@end table

For example, the goal

@example
call(Sum123, Result)
@end example

@noindent
would bind @samp{Result} to the sum of @samp{[1, 2, 3]}, i.e. to 6.

For functions, you use the builtin expression apply/N:

@table @asis
@item @code{apply(Closure)}
@itemx @code{apply(Closure1, Arg1)}
@itemx @code{apply(Closure2, Arg1, Arg2)}
@itemx @dots{}
A higher-order function application.  Such a term denotes the
result of invoking the specified higher-order function term with
the specified arguments.
@end table

For example, given the definition of @samp{Double} above, the goal

@example
List = apply(Double, [1, 2, 3])
@end example

@noindent
would be equivalent to

@example
List = scalar_product(2, [1, 2, 3])
@end example

@noindent
and so for a suitable implementation of the function
@samp{scalar_product/2} this would bind @samp{List} to
@samp{[2, 4, 6]}.

One extremely useful higher-order predicate in the Mercury standard
library is @code{solutions/2}, which has the following declaration:

@example
:- pred solutions(pred(T), list(T)).
:- mode solutions(pred(out) is nondet, out) is det.
@end example

The term which you pass to @samp{solutions/2} is a higher-order
predicate term.  You can pass the name of a one-argument predicate,
or you can pass a several-argument predicate with all but one
of the arguments supplied (a closure).  The declarative semantics of
@samp{solutions/2} can be defined as follows:

@example
solutions(Pred, List) is true iff
        all [X] (call(Pred, X) <=> list__member(X, List))
        and List is sorted.
@end example

@noindent
where @samp{call(Pred, X)} invokes the higher-order predicate term
@samp{Pred} with argument @samp{X},
and where @samp{list__member/2} is the standard
library predicate for list membership.  In other words,
@samp{solutions(Pred, List)} finds all the values of @samp{X}
for which @samp{call(Pred, X)} is true, collects these solutions
in a list, sorts the list, and returns that list as its result.
Here's an example: the standard library defines a predicate
@samp{list__perm(List0, List)}

@example
:- pred list__perm(list(T), list(T)).
:- mode list__perm(in, out) is nondet.
@end example

@noindent
which succeeds iff List is a permutation of List0.
Hence the following call to solutions

@example
solutions(list__perm([3,1,2]), L)
@end example

@noindent
should return all the possible permutations of the list @samp{[3,1,2]}
in sorted order:

@example
L = [[1,2,3],[1,3,2],[2,1,3],[2,3,1],[3,1,2],[3,2,1]].
@end example

See also @samp{unsorted_solutions/2} and @samp{solutions_set/2}, which
are defined in the standard library module @samp{std_util} and documented
in the Mercury Library Reference Manual.

@node Higher-order modes
@section Higher-order modes

In Mercury, the mode and determinism of a higher-order predicate or function
term are part of that term's @emph{inst}, not its @emph{type}.
This allows a single higher-order predicate to work on argument
predicates of different modes and determinism, which is particularly
useful for library predicates such as @samp{list__map} and @samp{list__foldl}.

The language contains builtin @samp{inst} values

@example
pred is @var{Determinism}
pred(@var{Mode}) is @var{Determinism}
pred(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}) is @var{Determinism}
@dots{}
(func) = @var{Mode} is @var{Determinism}
func(@var{Mode1}) = @var{Mode} is @var{Determinism}
func(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}) = @var{Mode} is @var{Determinism}
@dots{}
@end example

These insts represent the instantiation state of variables bound
to higher-order predicate and function terms with the appropriate mode
and determinism.
For example, @samp{pred(out) is det} represents the instantiation state
of being bound to a higher-order predicate term which is @samp{det}
and accepts one output argument; the term @samp{sum([1,2,3])} from the
example above is one such higher-order predicate term which matches
this instantiation state.

As a convenience, the language also contains builtin @samp{mode} values
of the same name (and they are what we have been using in the examples
up to now).  These modes map from the corresponding @samp{inst} to
itself.  It is as if they were defined by

@example
:- mode (pred is @var{Determinism}) :: in(pred is @var{Determinism}).
:- mode (pred(@var{Inst}) is @var{Determinism}) ::
    in(pred(@var{Inst}) is @var{Determinism}).
@dots{}
@end example

@noindent
using the parametric inst @samp{in/1} mentioned in @ref{Modes}
which maps an inst to itself.

If you want to define a predicate which returns a higher-order predicate
term, you would use a mode such as @samp{free -> pred(@dots{}) is @dots{}},
or @samp{out(pred(@dots{}) is @dots{})}.  For example:

@example
:- pred foo(pred(int)).
:- mode foo(free -> pred(out) is det) is det.

foo(sum([1,2,3])).
@end example

Note that in Mercury it is an error to attempt to unify two
higher-order terms.  This is because equivalence of
higher-order terms is undecidable in the general case.

For example, given the definition of @samp{foo} above, the goal

@example
        foo((pred(X::out) is det :- X = 6))
@end example

@noindent
is illegal.  If you really want to compare higher-order predicates
for equivalence, you must program it yourself; for example,
the above goal could legally be written as

@example
        P = (pred(X::out) is det :- X = 6),
        foo(Q),
        all [X] (call(P, X) <=> call(Q, X)).
@end example

Note that the compiler will only catch direct attempts at higher-order
unifications; indirect attempts (via polymorphic predicates, for
example @samp{(list__append([], [P], [Q])} may result in an error at
run-time rather than at compile-time.

@node Modules
@chapter Modules

@menu
* The module system::
* An example module::
* Sub-modules::
@end menu

@node The module system
@section The module system

The Mercury module system is relatively simple and straightforward. 

Each module must start with a @samp{:- module @var{ModuleName}}
declaration, specifying the name of the module. 

An @samp{:- interface.} declaration indicates
the start of the module's interface section:
this section specifies the entities that are exported by this module.
Mercury provides support for abstract data types, by allowing the
definition of a type to be kept hidden, with the interface
only exporting the type name.
The interface section may contain definitions of types,
type classes, data constructors, instantiation states, and
modes, and declarations for abstract data types, abstract type class
instances, functions, predicates, and (sub-)modules.
The interface section may not contain definitions for functions or
predicates (i.e. clauses), or definitions of (sub-)modules. 

An @samp{:- implementation.} declaration indicates
the start of the module's implementation section. 
Any entities declared in this section are local to the module
(and its sub-modules) and cannot be used by other modules.
The implementation section must contain definitions
for all abstract data types, abstract instance declarations,
functions, predicates, and sub-modules exported by the module,
as well as for all local types, type class instances, functions,
predicates, and sub-modules.
The implementation section can be omitted if it is empty.

The module may optionally end with a @samp{:- end_module @var{ModuleName}}
declaration; the name specified in the @samp{end_module} must be the
same as that in the corresponding @samp{module} declaration.

@c should we mention multipart interfaces and implementations?
@c ===> no

If a module wishes to make use of entities exported by other modules,
then it must explicitly import those modules using one or more 
@samp{:- import_module @var{Modules}} or @samp{:- use_module @var{Modules}}
declarations, in order to make those declarations visible.
In both cases, @var{Modules} is a comma-separated list of
fully-qualified module names.
These declarations may occur either in the interface or the implementation 
section.  If the imported entities are used in the interface section,
then the corresponding @code{import_module} or @code{use_module}
declaration must also be in the interface section.  If the imported 
entities are only used in the implementation section, the 
@code{import_module} or @code{use_module} declaration should be in 
the implementation section.

The names of predicates, functions, constructors, constructor fields,
types, modes, insts, type classes,
and (sub-)modules can be explicitly module qualified using the @samp{:}
operator, e.g. @samp{module:name} or @samp{module:submodule:name}.
This is useful both for readability and for resolving name conflicts.
Uses of entities imported using @code{use_module} declarations
@emph{must} be explicitly module qualified.

Currently we also support @samp{__} as an alternative module qualifier,
so you can write @code{module__name} instead of @code{module:name}.
We are considering changing the module qualifier from @samp{:}
to @samp{.} in a future version, so that we can use @samp{:} as
a type qualifier instead.  Hence for the time being we recommend
that you use @samp{__} rather than @samp{:} as module qualifier.

Certain optimizations require information or source code for predicates
defined in other modules to be as effective as possible.  At the moment,
inlining and higher-order specialization are the only optimizations that
the Mercury compiler can perform across module boundaries.

One module must export a predicate @samp{main/2}, which
must be declared as either

@example
:- pred main(io__state::di, io__state::uo) is det.
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pred main(io__state::di, io__state::uo) is cc_multi.
@end example

@noindent
(or any declaration equivalent to one of the two above).

Mercury has a standard library which includes modules for
lists, stacks, queues, priority queues, sets, bags (multi-sets),
maps (dictionaries), random number generation, input/output
and filename and directory handling. 
See the Mercury Library Reference Manual for details.

@node An example module
@section An example module.

For illustrative purposes, here is the definition of a
simple module for managing queues:

@example
:- module queue.
:- interface.

% Declare an abstract data type.

:- type queue(T).

% Declare some predicates which operate on the abstract data type.

:- pred empty_queue(queue(T)).
:- mode empty_queue(out) is det.
:- mode empty_queue(in) is semidet.

:- pred put(queue(T), T, queue(T)).
:- mode put(in, in, out) is det.

:- pred get(queue(T), T, queue(T)).
:- mode get(in, out, out) is semidet.

:- implementation.

% Queues are implemented as lists. We need the `list' module
% for the declaration of the type list(T), with its constructors
% '[]'/0 % and '.'/2, and for the declaration of the predicate
% list__append/3.

:- import_module list.

% Define the queue ADT.

:- type queue(T) == list(T).

% Declare the exported predicates.

empty_queue([]).

put(Queue0, Elem, Queue) :-
         list__append(Queue0, [Elem], Queue).

get([Elem | Queue], Elem, Queue).

:- end_module queue.

@end example

@node Sub-modules
@section Sub-modules

As mentioned above, modules may contain sub-modules.
There are two kinds of sub-modules, called nested sub-modules
and separate sub-modules; the difference is that nested sub-modules
are defined in the same source file as the containing module,
whereas separate sub-modules are defined in separate source files.
Implementations should support separate compilation of separate sub-modules.

A module may not contain more than one sub-module with the same name.

@menu
* Nested sub-modules::
* Separate sub-modules::
* Visibility rules::
* Implementation bugs and limitations::
@end menu

@node Nested sub-modules
@subsection Nested sub-modules

Nested sub-modules within a module are delimited by
matching @samp{:- module} and @samp{:- end_module} declarations.
(Note that @samp{:- end_module} for nested sub-modules 
are mandatory, not optional, even if the nested sub-module
is the last thing in the source file.
Also note that the module name in a @samp{:- module} or @samp{:- end_module}
declaration need not be fully-qualified.)
The sequence of items thus delimited is known as a sub-module item sequence.

The interface and implementation parts of a nested sub-module
may be specified in two different sub-module declarations.
If a sub-module item sequence includes an interface section,
then it is a declaration of that sub-module;
if it includes an implementation section,
then it is a definition of that sub-module;
and if includes both, then it is both declaration and definition.

It is an error to declare a sub-module twice, or to define it twice.
It is an error to define a sub-module without declaring it.
If a sub-module is declared but not explicitly defined,
then there is an implicit definition with an empty implementation section
for that sub-module (this will result in an error, if the interface
section includes declarations but not definitions for any types,
predicates, modes, or (doubly) nested sub-modules).

@node Separate sub-modules
@subsection Separate sub-modules

Separate sub-modules are declared using
@samp{:- include_module @var{Modules}} declarations.
Each @samp{:- include_module} declaration specifies a comma-separated list
of sub-modules.

@example
:- include_module @var{Module1}, @var{Module2}, @dots{}, @var{ModuleN}.
@end example

Each of the named sub-modules in an @samp{:- include_module} declaration
must be defined in a separate source file.
The mapping between module names and source file names is
implementation-defined.  (For a module named @samp{foo:bar:baz},
The University of Melbourne Mercury implementation requires the source
to be located in a file named @file{foo.bar.baz.m}, @file{bar.baz.m},
or @file{baz.m}.) 
The separate source file must contain the declaration (interface)
and definition (implementation) of the sub-module.
It must start with a @samp{:- module} declaration
which matches that in the @samp{:- include_module} declaration
in the parent, followed by the interface and (if necessary)
implementation sections, and it may optionally end with a @samp{:- end_module}
declaration.  (Note: the module names in the @samp{:- module},
@samp{:- end_module}, and @samp{:- include_module} declarations
need not be fully-qualified.  However,
if the file name used for a particular module does
not include all the module qualifiers, then the University of Melbourne
Mercury implementation requires the module name in the @samp{:- module}
declaration for that module to be fully qualified.)

If an @samp{:- include_module} declaration occurs in the interface
section of a module, then only the declarations (interfaces) of the sub-modules
are included in the parent module's interface; the definitions
(implementations) of the sub-modules are considered to be implicitly
part of the parent module's implementation.

Apart from that, the semantics of separate sub-modules are
identical to those of nested sub-modules.

@node Visibility rules
@subsection Visibility rules

Any declarations in the parent module, including those in the
parent module's implementation section, are visible in the parent's
sub-modules, including indirect sub-modules (i.e. sub-sub-modules, etc.).
Similarly, declarations in the interfaces of any modules imported using an
@samp{:- import_module} or a @samp{:- use_module} in the parent module
are visible in the parent's sub-modules, including indirect sub-modules.
However, declarations in a child module are not visible in the parent
module or in "sibling" modules (other children of the same parent)
unless the child is explicitly imported using an @samp{:- import_module}
or @samp{:- use_module} declaration. 

Note that as mentioned previously, all @samp{:- import_module} and
@samp{:- use_module} declarations must use fully-qualified module
names.

@node Implementation bugs and limitations
@subsection Implementation bugs and limitations

The current implementation of sub-modules has a couple of minor
limitations.

@itemize @bullet
@item
The compiler sometimes reports spurious errors if you
define an equivalence type in a sub-module and export it
as abstract type.
@item
When using nested modules,
the Mercury build tool Mmake sometimes tries to build things in the
wrong order and hence reports spurious errors about @samp{.int*} files
not being found.  In these cases, simply typing @samp{mmake} again will
usually solve the problem.  (If it doesn't, the work-around is
to use separate sub-modules rather than nested sub-modules, i.e. put
the sub-modules in a separate source file.)
@item
Using @samp{mmake} to do parallel makes (e.g. @samp{mmake --jobs 2})
doesn't always work correctly if you're using nested sub-modules.
(The work-around is to use separate sub-modules instead of nested
sub-modules, i.e. to put the sub-modules in separate source files.)
@end itemize

@node Type classes
@chapter Type classes

Mercury supports constrained polymorphism in the form of type classes.  
Type classes allow the programmer to write predicates and functions which 
operate on variables of any type (or sequence of types) for which a certain
set of operations is defined.  

@menu
* Typeclass declarations::
* Instance declarations::
* Abstract instance declarations::
* Type class constraints on predicates and functions::
* Type class constraints on type class declarations::
* Type class constraints on instance declarations::
@end menu

@node Typeclass declarations
@section Typeclass declarations

A @dfn{type class} is a name for a set of types (or a set of sequences of
types) for which certain predicates and/or functions, called the @dfn{methods}
of that type class, are defined.
A @samp{typeclass} declaration defines a new type class, and
specifies the set of predicates and/or functions
that must be defined on a type (or sequence of types) for it (them) to be
considered to be an instance of that type class.

The @code{typeclass} declaration gives the name of the type class that
it is defining, the
names of the type variables which are parameters to the type class, and the
operations (i.e. methods) which form the interface of the type class.

For example,

@example
:- typeclass point(T) where [
        % coords(Point, X, Y):
        %       X and Y are the cartesian coordinates of Point
        pred coords(T, float, float),
        mode coords(in, out, out) is det,

        % translate(Point, X_Offset, Y_Offset) = NewPoint:
        %       NewPoint is Point translated X_Offset units in the X direction
        %       and Y_Offset units in the Y direction
        func translate(T, float, float) = T
].
@end example

@noindent
declares the type class @code{point}, which
represents points in two dimensional space. 

@code{pred}, @code{func} and @code{mode} declarations are the only legal
declarations inside a @code{typeclass} declaration.  The number of parameters 
to the type class (e.g. @code{T}) is not limited.  For example, the following 
is allowed:

@example
:- typeclass a(T1, T2) where [@dots{}].
@end example

The parameters must be distinct variables.

There must not be more than one type class declaration with the
same name and arity in the same module.

@node Instance declarations
@section Instance declarations

Once the interface of the type class has been defined in the @code{typeclass}
declaration, we can use an @code{instance} declaration to define how a
particular type (or sequence of types) satisfies the interface declared
in the @code{typeclass} declaration.

An instance declaration has the form

@example
:- instance @var{classname}(@var{typename}(@var{typevar}, @dots{}), @dots{})
        where [pred(@var{methodname}/@var{arity}) is @var{predname},
               func(@var{methodname}/@var{arity}) is @var{funcname},
               @dots{}].
@end example

An @samp{instance} declaration gives a type for each parameter of the
type class.  Each of these types must be either a type with no arguments, or 
a polymorphic type whose arguments are all distinct type variables.
For example @code{int}, @code{list(T)} and @code{bintree(K,V)} are allowed,
but @code{T}, @code{list(int)} and @code{bintree(T,T)} are not.
The types in an instance declaration must not be abstract types which
are elsewhere defined as equivalence types.
A program may not contain more than one @code{instance} declaration for a
particular type (or sequence of types, in the case of a multi-parameter
type class).  These restrictions ensure that there are no overlapping instance
declarations, ie. there is at most one instance declaration that may be 
applied to any type (or sequence of types).

Each entry in the @samp{where [@dots{}]} part of an @code{instance}
declaration defines the implementation of one of the class methods
for this instance.
The @var{predname} or @var{funcname} must name a function or
predicate of the specified arity whose type, modes, determinism, and
purity are at least as permissive as the declared type, modes,
determinism, and purity of the class method with the specified
@var{methodname} and @var{arity}, after the types of the arguments
in the instance declaration have been substituted in place of the
parameters in the type class declaration.
Each @samp{instance} declaration must define an implementation for
every method declared in the corresponding @samp{typeclass} declaration.
It is an error to define more than one implementation for the same
method within a single @samp{instance} declaration.

Any call to a method must have argument types (and in the case of functions,
return type) which are constrained to be a member of that method's
type class, or which match one of the instance declarations visible at
the point of the call.  A method call will invoke the 
predicate or function specified for that method in the
instance declaration that matches the types of the arguments
to the call.

Here's an example of some code using an instance declaration:

@example
:- type coordinate
        ---> coordinate(
                float,           % X coordinate
                float            % Y coordinate
        ).

:- instance point(coordinate) where [
        pred(coords/3) is coordinate_coords,
        func(translate/3) is coordinate_translate
].


:- pred coordinate_coords(coordinate, float, float).
:- mode coordinate_coords(in, out, out) is det.

coordinate_coords(coordinate(X, Y), X, Y).

:- func coordinate_translate(coordinate, float, float) = coordinate.

coordinate_translate(coordinate(X, Y), Dx, Dy) = coordinate(X + Dx, Y + Dy).
@end example

We have now made the @code{coordinate} type an instance of the @code{point}
type class.  If we introduce a new type, @code{coloured_coordinate} which
represents a point in two dimensional space with a colour associated with it, 
it can also become an instance of the type class:

@example
:- type rgb
        ---> rgb(
                int,
                int,
                int
        ).

:- type coloured_coordinate
        ---> coloured_coordinate(
                float,
                float,
                rgb
        ).

:- instance point(coloured_coordinate) where [
        pred(coords/3) is coloured_coordinate_coords,
        func(translate/3) is coloured_coordinate_translate
].


:- pred coloured_coordinate_coords(coloured_coordinate, float, float).
:- mode coloured_coordinate_coords(in, out, out) is det.

coloured_coordinate_coords(coloured_coordinate(X, Y, _), X, Y).

:- func coloured_coordinate_translate(coloured_coordinate, float, float) 
        = coloured_coordinate.

coloured_coordinate_translate(coloured_coordinate(X, Y, Colour), Dx, Dy) 
        = coloured_coordinate(X + Dx, Y + Dy, Colour).
@end example

If we call @samp{translate/3} with the first argument having type
@samp{coloured_coordinate}, this will invoke
@samp{coloured_coordinate_translate}.
Likewise, if we call @samp{translate/3} with the first argument having type
@samp{coordinate}, this will invoke @samp{coordinate_translate}.

Further instances of the type class could be made, e.g. a type which represents
the point using polar coordinates.

@node Abstract instance declarations
@section Abstract instance declarations

Abstract instance declarations are instance declarations whose
implementations are hidden.  An abstract instance declaration has the
same form as an instance declaration, but without the @samp{where
[@dots{}]} part.  An abstract instance declaration declares that
a sequence of types is an instance of a particular type class without
defining how the type class methods are implemented for those types.
Like abstract type declarations,
abstract instance declarations are only useful in the interface
section of a module.  Each abstract instance declaration must
be accompanied by a corresponding non-abstract instance declaration
that defines how the type class methods are implemented.

Here's an example:

@example
:- module hashable.
:- interface.
:- import_module int, string.

:- typeclass hashable(T) where [func hash(T) = int].
:- instance hashable(int).
:- instance hashable(string).

:- implementation.

:- instance hashable(int) where [func(hash/1) is hash_int].
:- instance hashable(string) where [func(hash/1) is hash_string].

:- func hash_int(int) = int.
hash_int(X) = X.

:- func hash_string(string) = int.
hash_string(S) = H :-
        % use the standard library predicate string__hash/2
        string__hash(S, H).

:- end_module hashable.
@end example

@node Type class constraints on predicates and functions
@section Type class constraints on predicates and functions

Mercury allows a type class constraint to appear as part of a predicate or
function's type signature.  This constrains the values that can be taken
by type variables in the signature to belong to particular type classes.

A type class constraint is of the form:

@example
        <= @var{Typeclass}(@var{TypeVariable}, @dots{}), @dots{}
@end example

where @var{Typeclass} is the name of a type class and @var{TypeVariable} is 
a type variable that appears in the predicate's or function's type signature.

For example

@example
:- pred distance(P1, P2, float) <= (point(P1), point(P2)).
:- mode distance(in, in, out) is det.

distance(A, B, Distance) :-
        coords(A, Xa, Ya),
        coords(B, Xb, Yb),
        XDist = Xa - Xb,
        YDist = Ya - Yb,
        Distance = sqrt(XDist*XDist + YDist*YDist).
@end example

In the above example, the @code{distance} predicate is able to calculate the
distance between any two points, regardless of their representation, as long
as the @code{coords} operation has been defined.  These
constraints are checked at compile time.

@node Type class constraints on type class declarations
@section Type class constraints on type class declarations

Type class constraints may also appear in @code{typeclass} declarations, 
meaning that one type class is a ``superclass'' of another. 

The variables that appear as arguments to the type classes in the constraints
must also be arguments to the type class in question.

For example, the following declares the @samp{ring} type class, which describes
types with a particular set of numerical operations defined:

@example
:- typeclass ring(T) where [
        func zero = (T::out) is det,                    % '+' identity
        func one = (T::out) is det,                     % '*' identity
        func plus(T::in, T::in) = (T::out) is det,      % '+'/2 (forward mode)
        func mult(T::in, T::in) = (T::out) is det,      % '*'/2 (forward mode)
        func negative(T::in) = (T::out) is det          % '-'/1 (forward mode)
].
@end example

We can now add the following declaration:

@example
:- typeclass euclidean(T) <= ring(T) where [
        func div(T::in, T::in) = (T::out) is det,
        func mod(T::in, T::in) = (T::out) is det
].
@end example

This introduces a new type class, @code{euclidean}, of which @code{ring} is a
superclass.  The operations defined by the @code{euclidean} type class are
@code{div}, @code{mod}, as well as all those defined by the @code{ring}
type class.  Any type declared to be an instance of @code{euclidean} must also 
be declared to be an instance of @code{ring}.

Typeclass constraints on type class declarations gives rise to a superclass
relation.  This relation must be acyclic.  That is, it is an error if a type 
class is its own (direct or indirect) superclass.

@node Type class constraints on instance declarations
@section Type class constraints on instance declarations

Typeclass constraints may also be placed upon instance declarations.  The
variables that appear as arguments to the type classes in the constraints must
all be type variables that appear in the types in the instance declarations.

For example, consider the following declaration of a type class of types that 
may be printed:

@example
:- typeclass portrayable(T) where [
        pred portray(T::in, io__state::di, io__state::uo) is det
].
@end example

The programmer could declare instances such as

@example
:- instance portrayable(int) where [
        pred(portray/3) is io__write_int
].

:- instance portrayable(char) where [
        pred(portray/3) is io__write_char
].
@end example

However, when it comes to writing the instance declaration for a type such as
@code{list(T)}, we want to be able print out the list elements using the
@code{portray/3} for the particular type of the list elements.  This can be
achieved by placing a type class constraint on the @code{instance} declaration,
as in the following example:

@example
:- instance portrayable(list(T)) <= portrayable(T) where [
        pred(portray/3) is portray_list
].

:- pred portray_list(list(T), io__state, io__state) <= portrayable(T).
:- mode portray_list(in, di, uo) is det.

portray_list([]) --> 
        [].
portray_list([X|Xs]) --> 
	portray(X),
	io__write_char(' '),
	portray_list(Xs).
@end example

For abstract instance declarations, the type class constraints on an
abstract instance declaration must exactly match the type class
constraints on the corresponding non-abstract instance declaration that
defines that instance.
@c XXX The current implementation does not enforce that rule.

@node Existential types
@chapter Existential types

Existentially quantified type variables (or simply "existential types"
for short) are useful tools for data abstraction.  In combination with
type classes, they allow you to write code in an "object oriented"
style that is similar to the use of interfaces in Java or abstract
base classes in C++.

Mercury supports existential type quantifiers on predicate and function
declarations, and in data type definitions.  You can put type class
constraints on existentially quantified type variables.

@menu
* Existentially typed predicates and functions::
* Existential class constraints::
* Existentially typed data types::
* Some idioms using existentially quantified types::
* Known bugs in the current implementation::
@end menu

@node Existentially typed predicates and functions
@section Existentially typed predicates and functions

@menu
* Syntax for explicit type qualifiers::
* Semantics of type qualifiers::
* Examples of correct code using type quantifiers::
* Examples of incorrect code using type quantifiers::
@end menu

@node Syntax for explicit type qualifiers
@subsection Syntax for explicit type qualifiers

Type variables in type declarations for polymorphic predicates or functions
are normally universally quantified.  
However, it is also possible to existentially quantify such
type variables, by using an explicit existential quantifier of
the form @samp{some @var{Vars}} before the @samp{pred} or @samp{func}
declaration, where @var{Vars} is a list of variables.

For example:

@example
% Here the type variables `T' is existentially quantified
:- some [T] pred foo(T).

% Here the type variables `T1' and `T2' are existentially quantified.
:- some [T1, T2] func bar(int, list(T1), set(T2)) = pair(T1, T2).

% Here the type variable `T2' is existentially quantified,
% but the type variables `T1' and `T3' are universally quantified.
:- some [T2] pred foo(T1, T2, T3).
@end example

Explicit universal quantifiers, of the form @samp{all @var{Vars}},
are also permitted on @samp{pred} and @samp{func} declarations,
although they are not necessary, since universal quantification is
the default.  (If both universal and existential quantifiers
are present, the universal quantifiers must precede the existential
quantifiers.)  For example:

@example
% Here the type variable `T2' is existentially quantified,
% but the type variables `T1' and `T3' are universally quantified.
:- all [T3] some [T2] pred foo(T1, T2, T3).
@end example

@node Semantics of type qualifiers
@subsection Semantics of type qualifiers

If a type variable in the type declaration for a polymorphic predicate
or function is universally quantified, this means the caller will
determine the value of the type variable, and the callee must be defined
so that it will work for @emph{all} types which are an instance of its
declared type.

For an existentially quantified type variable, the situation is the
converse: the @emph{callee} must determine the value of the type variable,
and all @emph{callers} must be defined so as to work for all types
which are an instance of the called procedure's declared type.

When type checking a predicate or function, if a variable has a type
that occurs as a universally quantified type variable in the predicate
or function declaration, or a type that occurs as an existentially
quantified type variable in the declaration of one of the predicates
or functions that it calls, then its type is treated as an opaque type.
This means that there are very few things which it is legal to do with
such a variable -- basically you can only pass it to another procedure
expecting the same type, unify it with another value of the same
type, put it in a polymorphic data structure, or pass it to a
polymorphic procedure whose argument type is universally quantified.
(Note, however, that the standard library includes some quite powerful
procedures such as `io__write' which can be useful in this context.)

A non-variable type is considered @emph{more general} than an
existentially quantified type variable.  Type inference will therefore
never infer an existentially quantified type for a predicate or
function unless that predicate or function calls (directly or indirectly)
a predicate or function which was explicitly declared to have an
existentially quantified type.

For procedures involving calls to existentially-typed predicates or functions,
the compiler's mode analysis must take account of the modes for type
variables in all polymorphic calls.
Universally quantified type variables have mode @samp{in},
whereas existentially quantified type variables have mode @samp{out}.
As usual, the compiler's mode analysis will attempt to reorder the
elements of conjunctions in order to satisfy the modes.

@node Examples of correct code using type quantifiers
@subsection Examples of correct code using type quantifiers

Here are some examples of type-correct code using universal and
existential types.

@example
/* simple examples */

:- pred foo(T).
foo(_).
	% ok

:- pred call_foo.
call_foo :- foo(42).
	% ok (T = int)

:- some [T] pred e_foo(T).
e_foo(X) :- X = 42.
	% ok (T = int)

:- pred call_e_foo.
call_e_foo :- e_foo(_).
	% ok

/* examples using higher-order functions */

:- func bar(T, T, func(T) = int) = int.
bar(X, Y, F) = F(X) + F(Y).
	% ok

:- func call_bar = int.
call_bar = bar(2, 3, (func(X) = X*X)).
	% ok (T = int)
	% returns 13 (= 2*2 + 3*3)

:- some [T] pred e_bar(T, T, func(T) = int).
:-          mode e_bar(out, out, out(func(in) = out is det)).
e_bar(2, 3, (func(X) = X * X)).
	% ok (T = int)

:- func call_e_bar = int.
call_e_bar = F(X) + F(Y) :- e_bar(X, Y, F).
	% ok
	% returns 13 (= 2*2 + 3*3)

@end example

@node Examples of incorrect code using type quantifiers
@subsection Examples of incorrect code using type quantifiers

Here are some examples of code using universal and
existential types that contains type errors.

@example
/* simple examples */

:- pred bad_foo(T).
bad_foo(42).
	% type error

:- some [T] pred e_foo(T).
e_foo(42).
	% ok

:- pred bad_call_e_foo.
bad_call_e_foo :- e_foo(42).
	% type error

:- some [T] pred e_bar1(T).
e_bar1(42).
e_bar1(42).
e_bar1(43).
	% ok (T = int)

:- some [T] pred bad_e_bar2(T).
bad_e_bar2(42).
bad_e_bar2("blah").
	% type error (cannot unify types `int' and `string')

:- some [T] pred bad_e_bar3(T).
bad_e_bar3(X) :- e_foo(X).
bad_e_bar3(X) :- e_foo(X).
	% type error (attempt to bind type variable `T' twice)

@end example

@node Existential class constraints
@section Existential class constraints

Existentially quantified type variables are especially useful in
combination with type class constraints.

Type class constraints can be either universal or existential.
Universal type class constraints are written using "<=",
as described in @ref{Type class constraints on predicates and functions};
they signify a constraint that the @emph{caller} must satisfy.
Existential type class constraints are written in the same syntax
as universal constraints, but using "=>" instead of "<=";
they signify a constraint that the @emph{callee} must satisfy.
(If a declaration has both universal and existential constraints,
then the existential constraints must precede the universal constraints.)

For example:

@example
% Here `c1(T2)' and `c2(T1, T2)' are existential constraints,
% and `c3(T1)' is a universal constraint,
:- all [T1] some [T2] ((pred p(T1, T2) => (c1(T2), c2(T1, T2))) <= c3(T1)).
@end example

In general, constraints that constrain any existentially quantified
type variables should be existential constraints, and constraints that
constrain only universally quantified type variables should be
universal constraints.  (The only time exceptions to this rule would
make any sense at all would be if there were instance declarations that
were visible in the definition of the caller but which due to module
visibility issues were not in the definition of the callee, or vice
versa.  But even then, any exception to this rule would have to involve
a rather obscure coding style, which we do not recommend.)

@node Existentially typed data types
@section Existentially typed data types

Type variables occurring in the body of a discriminated union type
definition may be existentially quantified.  Constructor definitions
within discriminated union type definitions may be preceded by
an existential type quantifier and followed by one or more existential
type class constraints.

For example:

@example
% A simple heterogeneous list type
:- type list_of_any
	---> nil_any
	;    some [T] cons_any(T, list_of_any).

% A heterogeneous list type with a type class constraint
:- typeclass showable(T) where [ func show(T) = string ].
:- type showable_list
	---> nil
	;    some [T] (cons(T, list_of_any) => showable(T)).

% A different way of doing the same kind of thing, this
% time using the standard type list(T).
:- type showable ---> some [T] (s(T) => showable(T)).
:- type list_of_showable == list(showable).

% Here's an arbitrary example involving multiple
% type variables and multiple constraints
:- typeclass foo(T1, T2) where [ /* ... */ ].
:- type bar(T)
	---> f1
	;    f2(T)
	;    some [T]
	     f4(T)
	;    some [T1, T2]
	     (f4(T1, T2, T) => showable(T1), showable(T2))
	;    some [T1, T2]
	     (f5(list(T1), T2) => fooable(T1, list(T2)))
	.
@end example

Construction and deconstruction of existentially quantified data types
are inverses: when constructing a value of an existentially quantified
data type, the ``existentially quantified'' functor acts for purposes
of type checking like a universally quantified function: the caller
will determine the values of the type variables.
Conversely, for deconstruction the functor acts like an
existentially quantified function: the caller must be defined so
as to work for all possible values of the existentially quantified
type variables which satisfy the declared type class constraints.

In order to make this distinction clear to the compiler,
whenever you want to construct a value using an existentially
quantified functor, you must prepend @samp{new } onto the functor name.
This tells the compiler to treat it as though it were universally
quantified: the caller can bind that functor's existentially quantified
type variables to any type which satisfies the declared type class
constraints.  Conversely, any occurrence without the @samp{new } prefix
must be a deconstruction, and is therefore existentially quantified:
the caller must not bind the existentially quantified type variables,
but the caller is allowed to depend on those type variables satisfying
the declared type class constraints, if any.

For example, the function @samp{make_list} constructs a value of type
@samp{list_of_showable} containing a sequence of values of different types,
all of which are instances of the @samp{showable} class

@example
:- instance showable(int).
:- instance showable(float).
:- instance showable(string).

:- func make_list = showable_list.
make_list = List :-
	Int = 42,
	Float = 1.0,
	String = "blah",
	List =  'new cons'(Int,
		'new cons'(Float,
		'new cons'(String, nil))).
@end example

while the function @samp{process_list} below applies the @samp{show}
method of the @samp{showable} class to the values in such a list.

@example
:- func process_list(list_of_showable) = list(string).
process_list(nil) = "".
process_list(cons(Head, Tail)) = [show(Head) | process_list(Tail)].
@end example

@node Some idioms using existentially quantified types
@section Some idioms using existentially quantified types

The standard library module @samp{std_util} provides an abstract
type named @samp{univ} which can hold values of any type. 
You can form heterogeneous containers (containers that can hold values of
different types at the same time) by using data structures
that contain @code{univ}s, e.g. @samp{list(univ)}.

The interface to @samp{std_util} includes the following:

@example
% `univ' is a type which can hold any value.
:- type univ.

% The function univ/1 takes a value of any type and constructs
% a `univ' containing that value (the type will be stored along
% with the value)
:- func univ(T) = univ.

% The function univ_value/1 takes a `univ' argument and extracts
% the value contained in the `univ' (together with its type).
% This is the inverse of the function univ/1.
:- some [T] func univ_value(univ) = T.
@end example

The @samp{univ} type in the standard library is in fact a simple
example of an existentially typed data type.  It could be implemented
as follows:

@example
:- implementation.
:- type univ ---> some [T] mkuniv(T).
univ(X) = 'new mkuniv'(X).
univ_value(mkuniv(X)) = X.
@end example

An existentially typed procedure is not allowed to have different
types for its existentially typed arguments in different clauses or
or in different subgoals of a single clause.  For instance, both
of the following examples are illegal:

@example
:- some [T] pred bad_example(string, T).
bad_example("foo", 42).
bad_example("bar", "blah").
	% type error (cannot unify `int' and `string')

:- some [T] pred bad_example2(string, T).
bad_example2(Name, Value) :-
	( Name = "foo", Value = 42
	; Name = "bar", Value = "blah"
	).
	% type error (cannot unify `int' and `string')
@end example

However, using @samp{univ},
it is possible for an existentially typed function to return
values of different types at each invocation.

@example
:- some [T] pred good_example(string, T).
good_example(Name, univ_value(Univ)) :-
	( Name = "foo", Univ = univ(42)
	; Name = "bar", Univ = univ("blah")
	).
@end example

Using @samp{univ} doesn't work if you also want to use type class constraints.  
If you want to use type class constraints, then you must define your own
existentially typed data type, analogous to @samp{univ}, and use that:

@example
:- type univ_showable ---> some [T] (mkshowable(T) => showable(T)).

:- some [T] pred harder_example(string, T) => showable(T).
harder_example(Name, Showable) :-
	( Name = "bar", Univ = 'new mkshowable'(42)
	; Name = "bar", Univ = 'new mkshowable'("blah")
	),
	Univ = mkshowable(Showable).
@end example

@node Known bugs in the current implementation
@section Known bugs in the current implementation

The current implementation does not properly deal with most cases
that involve both existentially quantified constraints and
mode reordering due to the modes of type variables.
Note that this can easily arise if you're using nested function calls.
The symptom in such cases is usually spurious mode errors,
or sometimes internal compiler errors of the form

@example
Software error: map__lookup: key not found
Key Type: prog_data:class_constraint
Key Functor: constraint/2
Value Type: hlds_data:constraint_proof
@end example

@noindent
The work-around is to write such code in the correct order manually
rather than relying on the compiler's mode reordering.
For nested function calls, you may need to split them up using
temporary variables, e.g. instead of @samp{X = f(g(Y))},
write @samp{G = g(Y), X = f(G)}.

@node Semantics
@chapter Semantics

A legal Mercury program is one that complies with the syntax,
type, mode, determinism, and module system rules specified in earlier chapters.
If a program does not comply with those rules,
the compiler must report an error.

For each legal Mercury program,
there is an associated predicate calculus theory
whose language is specified by the type declarations in the program
and whose axioms are the completion of the clauses for all predicates
in the program,
plus the usual equality axioms extended with the completion of the
equations for all functions in the program,
plus axioms corresponding to the mode-determinism assertions
(@pxref{Determinism}),
plus axioms specifying the semantics of library predicates and functions.
The declarative semantics of a legal Mercury program
is specified by this theory.

Mercury implementations must be sound:
the answers they compute must be true in every model of the theory.
Mercury implementations are not required to be complete:
they may fail to compute an answer in finite time,
or they may exhaust the resource limitations of the execution
environment, even though an answer is provable in the theory.
However, there are certain minimum requirements that they
must satisfy with respect to completeness.

There is an operational semantics of Mercury programs called the
@dfn{strict sequential} operational semantics.  In this semantics,
the program is executed top-down, starting from @samp{main/2},
and function calls within a goal, conjunctions and disjunctions are all
executed in depth-first left-to-right order. 
Conjunctions and function calls are ``minimally'' reordered as required
by the modes:
the order is determined by selecting the first mode-correct sub-goal
(conjunct or function call),
executing that, then selecting the first of the remaining sub-goals
which is now mode-correct, executing that, and so on. 
(There is no interleaving of different individual conjuncts or function calls,
however; the sub-goals are reordered, not split and interleaved.)
Function application is strict, not lazy.
@c XXX should document the operational semantics of switches and if-then-elses

Mercury implementations are required to provide a method of processing
Mercury programs which is equivalent to the strict sequential
operational semantics.

There is another operational semantics of Mercury programs called
the @dfn{strict commutative} operational semantics.  This semantics
is equivalent to the strict sequential operational semantics except
that there is no requirement that function calls, conjunctions and disjunctions 
be executed left-to-right; they may be executed in any order, and may
even be interleaved.  Furthermore, the order may even be different each
time a particular goal is entered.

As well as providing the strict sequential operational semantics,
Mercury implementations may optionally provide additional
implementation-defined operational semantics, provided that
any such implementation-defined operational semantics are
at least as complete as the strict commutative operational
semantics.  An implementation-defined semantics
is ``at least as complete'' as the strict commutative 
semantics if and only if the implementation-defined 
semantics guarantees to compute an answer in finite time for
any program for which an answer would be computed in finite time for all
possible executions under the strict commutative semantics
(i.e. for all possible orderings of conjunctions and disjunctions).

Thus, to summarize, there are in fact a variety of different operational
semantics for Mercury.  In one of them, the strict sequential semantics, there
is no nondeterminism --- the behaviour is always specified exactly.
Programs are executed top-down using SLDNF (or something equivalent),
mode analysis does ``minimal'' reordering (in a precisely defined sense),
function calls, conjunctions and disjunctions are executed depth-first
left-to-right, and function evaluation is strict.  All implementations
are required to support the strict sequential semantics, so that a
program which works on one implementation using this semantics will be
guaranteed to work on any other implementation.  However,
implementations are also allowed to support other operational
semantics, which may have non-determinism, so long as they are sound
with respect to the declarative semantics, and so long as they meet a
minimum level of completeness (they must be at least as complete as the
strict commutative semantics, in the sense that every program which
terminates for all possible orderings must must also terminate in any
implementation-defined operational semantics).

This compromise allows Mercury to be used in several different ways.
Programmers who care more about ease of programming and portability
than about efficiency can use the strict sequential semantics, and
can then be guaranteed that if their program works on one correct
implementation, it will work on all correct implementations.  Compiler
implementors who want to write optimizing implementations that do lots
of clever code reorderings and other high-level transformations or that
want to offer parallelizing implementations which take maximum
advantage of parallelism can define different semantic models.
Programmers who care about efficiency more than portability can write
code for these implementation-defined semantic models.  Programmers who
care about efficiency @emph{and} portability can achieve this by writing
code for the commutative semantics.
Of course, this is not
quite as easy as using the strict sequential semantics, since it is
in general not sufficient to test your programs on just one
implementation if you are to be sure that it will be able to use the
maximally efficient operational semantics on any implementation.
However, if you do write code which works for all possible executions
under commutative semantics (i.e. for all possible orderings of
conjunctions and disjunctions), then you can be guaranteed that it
will work correctly on every implementation, under every possible
implementation-defined semantics.

The University of Melbourne Mercury implementation offers eight
different semantics, which can be selected with different
combinations of the @samp{--no-reorder-conj}, @samp{--no-reorder-disj},
and @samp{--fully-strict} options.  (The @samp{--fully-strict} option
prevents the compiler from improving completeness by optimizing away infinite
loops or calls to @code{error/1}.)  The default semantics are the
commutative semantics.  Enabling all of these options gives you the
the strict sequential semantics.  Enabling just some of them gives
you a semantics somewhere in between.

Future implementations of Mercury may wish to offer other operational semantics.
For example, they may wish to provide semantics in which function
evaluation is lazy, rather than strict; semantics with a guaranteed
fair search rule; and so forth.

@node C interface
@chapter C interface

@menu
* Calling C code from Mercury::         How to implement a Mercury predicate
                                        or function as a call to C code.
* Including C headers::                 Using functions with prototypes from a
                                        non-standard header file.
* Including C code::                    Including definitions of C
                                        functions in your Mercury code.
* Linking with C object files::         Linking with C object files and 
                                        libraries.
* Calling Mercury code from C::         How to export a Mercury function or
                                        predicate for use by C code.
* Passing data to and from C::          Exchanging simple data types between
                                        Mercury and C.
* Using C pointers::                    Maintaining a reference to C data
                                        structures in Mercury code.
* Memory management::                   Caveats about passing dynamically
                                        allocated memory to or from C.
* Trailing::                            Undoing side-effects on backtracking.
@end menu

The Mercury distribution includes a number of examples of the
use of the C interface that show how to interface C++ with Mercury
and how to set up @samp{Mmake} files to automate the build process.
See the @samp{samples/c_interface} directory in the Mercury distribution.

@node Calling C code from Mercury
@section Calling C code from Mercury

There are two slightly different mechanisms for calling C code from Mercury:
@samp{pragma import} and @samp{pragma c_code}.  @samp{pragma import}
allows you to call C functions from Mercury.  @samp{pragma c_code}
allows you to implement Mercury procedures using arbitrary fragments
of C code.  @samp{pragma import} is usually simpler, but
@samp{pragma c_code} is a bit more flexible.

@c
@c We can't use "@samp" or even "`...'" in node names -- if we use
@c either, then texi2dvi barfs.  So the node names are
@c e.g. "pragma import" rather than "@samp{pragma import}".
@c
@menu
* pragma import::             Importing C functions.
* pragma c_code::             Defining Mercury procedures using C code.
* Nondet pragma c_code::      Using @samp{pragma c_code} for Mercury procedures
                              that can have more than one solution.
* C code attributes::         Describing properties of C functions or C code.
* Purity and side effects::   Explains when side effects are allowed.
@end menu

@node pragma import
@subsection pragma import

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma import(@var{Pred}(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}, @dots{}),
                 @var{Attributes}, "@var{C_Name}").
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pragma import(@var{Func}(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}, @dots{}) = @var{Mode},
                 @var{Attributes}, "@var{C_Name}").
@end example

@noindent
imports a C function for use by Mercury.
@var{Pred} or @var{Func} must specify the name of a previously declared
Mercury predicate or function, and @var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}, @dots{},
and (for functions) @var{Mode} must specify one of the
modes of that predicate or function.  There must be no clauses
for the specified Mercury procedure; instead, any calls to that
procedure will be executed by calling the C function named
@var{C_Name}.  The @var{Attributes} argument is optional; if present,
it specifies properties of the given C function (@pxref{C code attributes}).

For example, the following code imports the C function @samp{cos()}
as the Mercury function @samp{cos/1}:

@example
:- func cos(float) = float.
:- pragma import(cos(in) = out, [will_not_call_mercury], "cos").
@end example

The interface to the C function for a given Mercury procedure is
determined as follows.  Mercury types are converted to C types
according to the rules in @ref{Passing data to and from C}.
Mercury arguments declared with input modes are passed by value to the
C function.  For output arguments, the Mercury implementation will pass
to the C function an address in which to store the result. 
If the Mercury procedure can fail, then its C function should return a
truth value of type @samp{Integer} indicating success or failure:
non-zero indicates success, and zero indicates failure.
If the Mercury procedure is a Mercury function that cannot fail, and
the function result has an output mode, then the C function should
return the Mercury function result value.
Otherwise the function result is appended as an extra argument.
Arguments of type @samp{io__state} or @samp{store__store(_)} are not
passed at all; that's because these types represent mutable state, and
in C modifications to mutable state are done via side effects, rather
than argument passing.

If you use @samp{pragma import} for a polymorphically typed Mercury procedure,
the compiler will prepend one @samp{type_info} argument to the parameters
passed to the C function for each polymorphic type variable in the
Mercury procedure's type signature.  The values passed in these arguments
will be the same as the values that would be obtained using the Mercury
@samp{type_of} function in the Mercury standard library module @samp{std_util}.
These values may be useful in case the C function wishes to in turn call
another polymorphic Mercury procedure (@pxref{Calling Mercury code from C}).

You may not give a @samp{pragma import} declaration for a procedure
with determinism @samp{nondet} or @samp{multi}.
(It is however possible to define a @samp{nondet} or @samp{multi} procedure
using @samp{pragma c_code} -- @pxref{Nondet pragma c_code}).

@node pragma c_code
@subsection pragma c_code

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma c_code(@var{Pred}(@var{Var1}::@var{Mode1}, @var{Var2}::@var{Mode2}, @dots{}),
        @var{Attributes}, @var{C_Code}).
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pragma c_code(@var{Func}(@var{Var1}::@var{Mode1}, @var{Var2}::@var{Mode2}, @dots{}) = (@var{Var}::@var{Mode}),
        @var{Attributes}, @var{C_Code}).
@end example

@noindent
means that any calls to the specified mode of @var{Pred} or @var{Func}
will result in execution of the C code given in @var{C_Code}.
The C code fragment may refer to the specified variables
(@var{Var1}, @var{Var2}, @dots{}, and @var{Var})
directly by name.  These variables will have C types corresponding
to their Mercury types, as determined by the rules specified in
@ref{Passing data to and from C}.  It is an error for a variable
to occur more than once in the argument list.

The C code fragment may declare local variables, but it should not
declare any labels or static variables unless there is also a Mercury
@samp{pragma no_inline} declaration (@pxref{Inlining}) for the procedure.
The reason for this is that otherwise the Mercury implementation may
inline the procedure by duplicating the C code fragment for each call.
If the C code fragment declared a static variable, inlining it in this
way could result in the program having multiple instances of the static
variable, rather than a single shared instance.  If the C code fragment
declared a label, inlining it in this way could result in an error due
to the same label being defined twice inside a single C function.

If there is a @code{pragma import} or @code{pragma c_code} declaration for a
mode of a predicate or function, then there must not be any clauses for that
predicate or function, and there must be a @code{pragma c_code} 
or @code{pragma import} declaration for every mode of the predicate or function.

For example, the following piece of code defines a Mercury function
@samp{sin/1} which calls the C function @samp{sin()} of the same name.

@example
:- func sin(float) = float.
:- pragma c_code(sin(X::in) = (Sin::out),
        [may_call_mercury],
        "Sin = sin(X);").
@end example

If the C code does not recursively invoke Mercury code,
as in the above example, then you can use @samp{will_not_call_mercury}
in place of @samp{may_call_mercury} in the declarations above.
This allows the compiler to use a slightly more efficient calling convention.
(If you use this form, and the C code @emph{does} invoke Mercury code,
then the behaviour is undefined --- your program may misbehave or crash.)

The C code in a @code{pragma c_code} declaration
for any procedure whose determinism indicates that it could fail
must assign a truth value to the macro @samp{SUCCESS_INDICATOR}.
For example:

@example
:- pred string__contains_char(string, character).
:- mode string__contains_char(in, in) is semidet.

:- pragma c_code(string__contains_char(Str::in, Ch::in),
        [will_not_call_mercury],
        "SUCCESS_INDICATOR = (strchr(Str, Ch) != NULL);").
@end example

@code{SUCCESS_INDICATOR} should not be used other than as the target of
an assignment.
(For example, it may be @code{#define}d to a register, so you should not
try to take its address.) 
Procedures whose determinism indicates that that they cannot fail
should not access @code{SUCCESS_INDICATOR}.

Arguments whose mode is input will have their values set by the
Mercury implementation on entry to the C code.  If the procedure
succeeds, the C code must set the values of all output arguments
before returning.  If the procedure fails, the C code need only
set @code{SUCCESS_INDICATOR} to false (zero).

@node Nondet pragma c_code
@subsection Nondet pragma c_code

For procedures that can return more than one result on backtracking,
i.e. those with determinism @samp{nondet} or @samp{multi},
the form of @samp{pragma c_code} declaration described previously
does not suffice.  Instead, you should use a declaration of the form
shown below:

@example
:- pragma c_code(@var{Pred}(@var{Var1}::@var{Mode1}, @var{Var2}::@var{Mode2}, @dots{}),
        @var{Attributes}, local_vars(@var{LocalVars}), first_code(@var{FirstCode}),
        retry_code(@var{RetryCode}), common_code(@var{CommonCode})).
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pragma c_code(@var{Func}(@var{Var1}::@var{Mode1}, @var{Var2}::@var{Mode2}, @dots{}) = (@var{Var}::@var{Mode}),
        @var{Attributes}, local_vars(@var{LocalVars}), first_code(@var{FirstCode}),
        retry_code(@var{RetryCode}), common_code(@var{CommonCode})).
@end example

@noindent
Here @var{FirstCode}, @var{RetryCode}, and @var{CommonCode} are all
Mercury strings containing C code.
@var{FirstCode} will be executed whenever the Mercury procedure is called.
@var{RetryCode} will be executed whenever a given call to the procedure
is re-entered on backtracking to find subsequent solutions.
The @samp{common_code(@var{CommonCode})} argument is optional; if present,
@var{CommonCode} will be executed after each execution of
@var{FirstCode} or @var{RetryCode}.

The code that is executed on each call or retry should finish by
executing one of the three macros @samp{FAIL}, @samp{SUCCEED}, or
@samp{SUCCEED_LAST}.  The @samp{FAIL} macro indicates that the call has
failed; the call will not be retried.  The @samp{SUCCEED} macro
indicates that the call has succeeded, and that there may be more
solutions; the call may be retried on backtracking.  The
@samp{SUCCEED_LAST} macro indicates that the call has succeeded, but
that there are no more solutions after this one; the call will not be
retried.

@var{LocalVars} is a sequence of struct member declarations which are
used to hold any state which needs to be preserved in case of backtracking
or passed between the different C code fragments.
The code fragments @var{FirstCode}, @var{RetryCode}, and @var{CommonCode}
may use the macro @samp{LOCALS}, which is defined to be a pointer to a struct
containing the fields specified by @var{LocalVars}, to access this saved state.

Note @var{RetryCode} and @var{CommonCode} may not access the input
variables -- only @var{FirstCode} should access the input variables.
If @var{RetryCode} or @var{CommonCode} need to access any of the input
variables, then @var{FirstCode} should copy the values needed to the
@var{LocalVars}.

The following example shows how you can use a state variable to
keep track of the next alternative to return.

@example
%
% This example implements the equivalent of
%     foo(X) :- X = 20 ; X = 10 ; X = 42 ; X = 99 ; fail.
%
:- pred foo(int).
:- mode foo(out) is multi.
:- pragma c_code(foo(X::out), [will_not_call_mercury, thread_safe],
        local_vars("
                int state;
        "),
        first_code("
                LOCALS->state = 1;
        "),
        retry_code("
                LOCALS->state++;
        "),
        common_code("
                switch (LOCALS->state) @{
                        case 1: X = 20; SUCCEED; break;
                        case 2: X = 10; SUCCEED; break;
                        case 3: X = 42; SUCCEED; break;
                        case 4: X = 99; SUCCEED; break;
                        case 5: FAIL; break;
                @}
        ")
).
@end example

@noindent
The next example is a more realistic example;
it shows how you could implement the reverse
mode of @samp{string__append}, which returns
all possible ways of splitting a string into
two pieces, using @samp{pragma c_code}.

@example
:- pred string__append(string, string, string).
:- mode string__append(out, out, in) is multi.
:- pragma c_code(string__append(S1::out, S2::out, S3::in),
                [will_not_call_mercury, thread_safe],
        local_vars("
                String s;
                size_t len;
                size_t count;
        "),
        first_code("
                LOCALS->s = S3;
                LOCALS->len = strlen(S3);
                LOCALS->count = 0;
        "),
        retry_code("
                LOCALS->count++;
        "),
        common_code("
                S1 = copy_substring(LOCALS->s, 0, LOCALS->count);
                S2 = copy_substring(LOCALS->s, LOCALS->count,
                                               LOCALS->len);
                if (LOCALS->count < LOCALS->len) @{
                        SUCCEED;
                @} else @{
                        SUCCEED_LAST;
                @}
        ")
).
@end example

@node C code attributes
@subsection C code attributes

As described above, @samp{pragma import} and @samp{pragma c_code}
declarations may include a list of attributes describing properties
of the given C function or C code.
All Mercury implementations must support the attributes listed below.
They may also support additional attributes.

The attributes which must be supported by all implementations
are as follows:

@table @asis

@item @samp{may_call_mercury}/@samp{will_not_call_mercury}
This attribute declares whether or not execution inside this C code may
call back into Mercury or not.  The default, in case neither is specified,
is @samp{may_call_mercury}.  Specifying @samp{will_not_call_mercury}
may allow the compiler to generate more efficient code.
If you specify @samp{will_not_call_mercury},
but the C code @emph{does} invoke Mercury code, then the behaviour is
undefined.

@item @samp{thread_safe}/@samp{not_thread_safe}
This attribute declares whether or not it is safe for multiple threads
to execute this C code concurrently.
The default, in case neither is specified, is @samp{not_thread_safe}.
If the C code is declared @samp{thread_safe}, then the Mercury implementation
is permitted to execute the code concurrently from multiple threads without
taking any special precautions.  If the C code is declared
@samp{not_thread_safe},
then the Mercury implementation must not invoke the code concurrently from
multiple threads.  If the Mercury implementation does use multithreading,
then it must take appropriate steps to prevent this.
(The experimental multithreaded version of the current
University of Melbourne Mercury implementation protects
@samp{not_thread_safe} code using a mutex:
C code that is not thread-safe has code inserted around it to obtain
and release a mutex.  All non-thread-safe C code shares a single mutex.)
@c XXX this can cause deadlocks if not_thread_safe C code calls
@c     Mercury which calls C

@end table

@node Purity and side effects
@subsection Purity and side effects

Note that procedures implemented in C using either
@samp{pragma import} or @samp{pragma c_code} must still be ``pure'',
unless declared otherwise (@pxref{Impurity}), and they must
be type-correct and mode-correct.  (Determinism-correctness
is also required, but it follows from the rules already stated
above.)  They may perform destructive update on their
arguments only if those arguments have an appropriate
unique mode declaration.
They may perform I/O only if their arguments
include an @samp{io__state} pair (see the @samp{io} chapter
of the Mercury Library Reference Manual).
The Mercury implementation is allowed to assume that
these rules are followed, and to optimize accordingly.
If the C code is not type-correct, mode-correct,
determinism-correct, and purity-correct with respect
to its Mercury declaration, then the behaviour is
undefined.

For example, the following code defines a predicate
@samp{c_write_string/3}, which has a similar effect to
the Mercury library predicate @samp{io__write_string/3}:

@example
:- pred c_write_string(string, io__state, io__state).
:- mode c_write_string(in, di, uo) is det.

:- pragma c_code(c_write_string(S::in, IO0::di, IO::uo),
        [may_call_mercury],
        "puts(S); IO = IO0;").
@end example

@noindent
In this example, the I/O is done via side effects inside the C code,
but the Mercury interface includes @samp{io__state} arguments
to ensure that the predicate has a proper declarative
semantics.  If the @samp{io__state} arguments were
left off, then the Mercury implementation might apply
undesirable optimizations (e.g. reordering, duplicate
call elimination, tabling, lazy evaluation, @dots{})
to this procedure, which could effect the behaviour
of the program in unpredictable ways.

@node Including C headers
@section Including C headers

Any macros, function prototypes, or other C declarations
that are used in @samp{c_code} pragmas must be included using a
@samp{c_header_code} declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma c_header_code(@var{HeaderCode}).
@end example

@noindent
@var{HeaderCode} can be a C @samp{#include} line, for example

@example
:- pragma c_header_code("#include <math.h>")
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pragma c_header_code("#include ""tcl.h""").
@end example

@noindent
or it may contain any C declarations, for example

@example
:- pragma c_header_code("
        extern int errno;
        #define SIZE 200
        struct Employee @{
                char name[SIZE];
        @}
        extern int bar;
        extern void foo(void);
").
@end example

Mercury automatically includes certain headers such as @code{<stdlib.h>},
but you should not rely on this, as the set of headers which Mercury
automatically includes is subject to change.

@node Including C code
@section Including C code

Definitions of C functions or global variables may be
included using a declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma c_code(@var{Code}).
@end example

For example,

@example
:- pragma c_code("
        int bar = 42;
        void foo(void) @{@}
").
@end example

Such code is copied verbatim into the generated C file.

@node Calling Mercury code from C
@section Calling Mercury code from C

It is also possible to export Mercury procedures to C,
so that you can call Mercury code from C (or from
other languages that can interface to C, e.g. C++).

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma export(@var{Pred}(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}, @dots{}), "@var{C_Name_1}").
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- pragma export(@var{Func}(@var{Mode1}, @var{Mode2}, @dots{}) = @var{Mode}, "@var{C_Name_2}").
@end example

@noindent
exports a procedure for use by C.

For each Mercury module containing @samp{pragma export} declarations,
the Mercury implementation will automatically create a header file
for that module which declares a C function @var{C_Name()}
for each of the @samp{pragma export} declarations.
Each such C function is the C interface to the specified mode of
the specified Mercury predicate or function.

The interface to a Mercury procedure is determined as follows.
(The rules here are just the converse of the rules for @samp{pragma import}).
Mercury types are converted to C types according to the rules in
@ref{Passing data to and from C}.
Input arguments are passed by value.  For output arguments, the
caller must pass the address in which to store the result.
If the Mercury procedure can fail, then its C interface function
returns a truth value indicating success or failure.
If the Mercury procedure is a Mercury function that cannot fail, and
the function result has an output mode, then the C interface
function will return the Mercury function result value.
Otherwise the function result is appended as an extra argument.
Arguments of type @samp{io__state} or @samp{store__store(_)}
are not passed at all; that's because these types represent mutable state,
and in C modifications to mutable state are done via side effects,
rather than argument passing.

Calling polymorphically typed Mercury procedures from C is a little bit
more difficult than calling ordinary (monomorphically typed) Mercury procedures.
The simplest method is to just create monomorphic forwarding
procedures that call the polymorphic procedures, and export them,
rather than exporting the polymorphic procedures.

If you do export a polymorphically typed Mercury procedure, the compiler
will prepend one @samp{type_info} argument to the parameter list of
the C interface function for each polymorphic type variable in the
Mercury procedure's type signature.  The caller must arrange to pass
in appropriate @samp{type_info} values corresponding to the types
of the other arguments passed.  These @samp{type_info} arguments can
be obtained using the Mercury @samp{type_of} function in the Mercury
standard library module @samp{std_util}.

@node Linking with C object files 
@section Linking with C object files 

A Mercury implementation should allow you to link with
object files or libraries that were produced by compiling C code.
The exact mechanism for linking with C object files is
implementation-dependent.  The following text describes how
it is done for the University of Melbourne Mercury implementation.

To link an existing object file into your Mercury code,
set the @samp{Mmake} variable @samp{MLOBJS} in the
@samp{Mmake} file in the directory in which you are working.
To link an existing library into your Mercury code,
set the @samp{Mmake} variable @samp{MLLIBS}.
For example, the following will link in the object file
@samp{my_functions.o} from the current directory and
the library file @samp{libfancy_library.a}, or perhaps its
shared version @samp{fancy_library.so}, from the directory
@samp{/usr/local/contrib/lib}.

@example
MLOBJS = my_functions.o
MLFLAGS = -R/usr/local/contrib/lib -L/usr/local/contrib/lib
MLLIBS = -lfancy_library
@end example

As illustrated by the example, the values for @samp{MLFLAGS} and
@samp{MLLIBS} variables are similar to those taken by the Unix linker.

For more information, see the ``Libraries'' chapter of the
Mercury User's Guide, and the @samp{man} pages for @samp{mmc} and @samp{ml}.

@node Passing data to and from C
@section Passing data to and from C

For each of the Mercury types @code{int}, @code{float}, @code{char},
and @code{string}, there is a C typedef for the corresponding type in C:
@code{Integer}, @code{Float}, @code{Char}, and @code{String} respectively.

In the current implementation, @samp{Integer} is a typedef for an
integral type whose size is the same size as a pointer; @samp{Float} is
a typedef for @samp{double} (unless the program and the Mercury library
was compiled with @samp{-DUSE_SINGLE_PREC_FLOAT}, in which case it is
a typedef for @samp{float}); @samp{Char} is a typedef for @samp{char};
and @samp{String} is a typedef for @samp{Char *}.

Mercury variables of type @code{int}, @code{float}, @code{char}, or
@code{string} are passed to and from C as C variables whose type is
given by the corresponding typedef.  Mercury variables of any other
type are passed as a @samp{Word}, which in the current implementation
is a typedef for an unsigned type whose size is the same size as a pointer.
(Note: it would in fact be better for each Mercury type to map to a distinct
abstract type in C, since that would be more type-safe, and thus we may
change this in a future release.  We advise programmers who are manipulating
Mercury types in C code to use typedefs for each user-defined Mercury type,
and to treat each such type as an abstract data type.  This is good style
and it will also minimize any compatibility problems if and when we do change
this.)

Mercury lists can be manipulated by C code using the following macros,
which are defined by the Mercury implementation.

@example
MR_list_is_empty(list)     /* test if a list is empty */
MR_list_head(list)         /* get the head of a list */
MR_list_tail(list)         /* get the tail of a list */
MR_list_empty()            /* create an empty list */
MR_list_cons(head,tail)    /* construct a list with the given head and tail */
@end example

Note that the use of these macros is subject to some caveats
(@pxref{Memory management}).

@node Using C pointers
@section Using C pointers

The inbuilt Mercury type @code{c_pointer} can be used to pass C pointers
between C functions which are called from Mercury.  For example:

@example
:- module pointer_example.

:- interface.

:- type complicated_c_structure.

% Initialise the abstract C structure that we pass around in Mercury.
:- pred initialise_complicated_structure(complicated_c_structure::uo) is det.

% Perform a calculation on the C structure.
:- pred do_calculation(int::in, complicated_structure::di, 
        complicated_structure::uo) is det.

:- implementation.

% Our C structure is implemented as a c_pointer.
:- type complicated_c_structure --->
        complicated_c_structure(c_pointer).

:- pragma c_header_code("
        extern struct foo *init_struct(void);
        extern struct foo *perform_calculation(int, struct foo *);
");

:- pragma c_code(initialise_complicated_structure(Structure::uo),
        [may_call_mercury],
        "Structure = init_struct();").

:- pragma c_code(do_calculation(Value::in, Structure0::di, Structure::uo,
        [may_call_mercury],
        "Structure = perform_calculation(Value, Structure0);").
@end example

@node Memory management
@section Memory management

Passing pointers to dynamically-allocated memory from Mercury to code
written in other languages, or vice versa, is in general
implementation-dependent.

The current Mercury implementation supports two different methods of memory
management: conservative garbage collection, or no garbage collection.
(With the latter method, heap storage is reclaimed only on backtracking.)

Conservative garbage collection makes inter-language calls simplest.
When using conservative garbage collection, heap storage is reclaimed
automatically.  Pointers to dynamically-allocated memory can be passed
to and from C without taking any special precautions.

When using no garbage collection, you must be careful not to retain
pointers to memory on the Mercury heap after Mercury has backtracked
to before the point where that memory was allocated.
You must also avoid the use of the macros
@code{list_empty()} and @code{list_cons()}.
(The reason for this is that they may access Mercury's @samp{hp} register,
which might not be valid in C code.  Using them in the bodies of
procedures defined using @samp{pragma c_code} with
@samp{will_not_call_mercury} would probably work, but we don't advise it.)
Instead, you can write Mercury functions to perform these actions
and use @samp{pragma export} to access them from C.
This alternative method also works with conservative garbage collection.

Future Mercury implementations may use non-conservative methods
of garbage collection.  For such implementations, it will be necessary
to explicitly register pointers passed to C with the garbage collector.
The mechanism for doing this has not yet been decided on.
It would be desirable to provide a single memory management interface
for use when interfacing with other languages that can work for all
methods of memory management, but more implementation experience is
needed before we can formulate such an interface.

@node Trailing
@section Trailing

In certain compilation grades (see the ``Compilation model options''
section of the Mercury User's Guide), the University of Melbourne
Mercury implementation supports trailing.  Trailing is a means
of having side-effects, such as destructive updates to data structures,
undone on backtracking.  The basic idea is that during forward
execution, whenever you perform a destructive modification to
a data structure that may still be live on backtracking,
you should record whatever information is necessary to restore it
on a stack-like data structure called the ``trail''.  Then, if
a computation fails, and execution backtracks to before those
those updates were performed, the Mercury runtime engine will
traverse the trail back to the most recent choice point,
undoing all those updates.

The interface used is a set of C functions (which are actually
implemented as macros) and types.  Typically these will be
called from C code within @samp{pragma c_code} declarations
in Mercury code.

For examples of the use of this interface, see the modules
@file{extras/trailed_update/tr_array.m} and
@file{extras/clpr/cfloat.m} in the Mercury distribution.

@menu
* Choice points::
* Value trailing::
* Function trailing::
* Delayed goals and floundering::
* Avoiding redundant trailing::
@end menu

@node Choice points
@subsection Choice points

A ``choice point'' is a point in the computation to
which execution might backtrack.  The ``current''
choice point is the one that was most recently
encountered; that is also the one to which execution
will branch if the current computation fails.

When you trail an update, the Mercury engine will ensure that if
execution ever backtracks to the choice point that was current
at the time of trailing, then the update will be undone.

If the Mercury compiler determines that it will never
need to backtrack to a particular choice point, then it will
``prune'' away that choice point.  If a choice point is pruned,
the trail entries for those updates will not necessarily be discarded,
because in general they may still be necessary in case we backtrack
to a prior choice point.

@node Value trailing
@subsection Value trailing

The simplest form of trailing is value trailing.
This allows you to trail updates to memory and have
the Mercury runtime engine automatically undo them
on backtracking.

@table @b
@item @bullet{} @code{MR_trail_value()}
Prototype:
@example
void MR_trail_value(Word *@var{address}, Word @var{value});
@end example

Ensures that if future execution backtracks to the
current choice point, then @var{value} will be placed in @var{address}.

@item @bullet{} @code{MR_trail_current_value()}
Prototype:
@example
void MR_trail_current_value(Word *@var{address});
@end example

Ensures that if future execution backtracks to the
current choice point, the value currently in @var{address}
will be restored.

@samp{MR_trail_current_value(@var{address})} is equivalent to
@samp{MR_trail_value(@var{address}, *@var{address})}.

@end table

@node Function trailing
@subsection Function trailing

For more complicated uses of trailing, you can store the address
of a C function on the trail and have the Mercury runtime call your
function back whenever future execution backtracks to the current choice point,
or whenever that choice point is pruned, either because execution
commits to never backtracking over that point, or because an
exception was thrown, or possibly during garbage collection.

Note that currently Mercury does not support exception handling,
and the garbage collector in the current Mercury implementation
does not garbage-collect the trail; these two cases are mentioned
only so that we can cater for possible future extensions.

@table @b
@item @bullet{} @code{MR_trail_function()}
Prototype:
@example
typedef enum @{
        MR_undo,
        MR_exception,
        MR_commit,
        MR_solve,
        MR_gc
@} MR_untrail_reason;

void MR_trail_function(
        void (*@var{untrail_func})(Word, MR_untrail_reason),
        void *@var{value}
);
@end example
@noindent
A call to @samp{MR_trail_function(@var{untrail_func}, @var{value})}
adds an entry to the function trail.
The Mercury implementation ensures that
if future execution ever backtracks to current choicepoint,
then @code{(*@var{untrail_func})(@var{value}, MR_undo)} will be called.
It also ensures that if the current choice point is pruned because
execution commits to never backtracking to it,
then @code{(*@var{untrail_func})(@var{value}, MR_commit)} will be called.
It also ensures that if execution requires that the current goal be
solvable, then @code{(*@var{untrail_func})(@var{value}, MR_solve)}
will be called.  This happens in calls to @code{solutions/2}, for example.
(@code{MR_commit} is used for ``hard'' commits, i.e. when we commit
to a solution and prune away the alternative solutions; @code{MR_solve}
is used for ``soft'' commits, i.e. when we must commit to a solution
but do not prune away all the alternatives.)

MR_exception and MR_gc are currently not used ---
they are reserved for future use.

@end table

Typically if the @var{untrail_func} is called with @var{reason} being
@samp{MR_undo} or @samp{MR_exception}, then it should undo the effects
of the update(s) specified by @var{value}, and the free any resources
associated with that trail entry.  If it is called with @var{reason}
being @samp{MR_commit} or @samp{MR_solve}, then it not undo the update(s);
instead, it may check for floundering (see the next section).
In the @samp{MR_commit} case it may, in some cases, be possible to
also free resources associated with the trail entry.
If it is called with anything else (such as @samp{MR_gc}),
then it should probably abort execution with an error message.

@node Delayed goals and floundering
@subsection Delayed goals and floundering

Another use for the function trail is check for floundering
in the presence of delayed goals.

Often, when implementing certain kinds of constraint solvers, it may
not be possible to actually solve all of the constraints at the time
they are added.  Instead, it may be necessary to simply delay their
execution until a later time, in the hope the constraints may become
solvable when more information is available.  If you do implement a
constraint solver with these properties, then at certain points in
the computation --- for example, after executing a negated goal --- it
is important for the system to check that their are no outstanding
delayed goals which might cause failure, before execution commits
to this execution path.  If there are any such delayed goals, the
computation is said to ``flounder''.  If the check for floundering was
omitted, then it could lead to unsound behaviour,  such as a negation
failing even though logically speaking it ought to have succeeded.

The check for floundering can be implemented using the function trail,
by simply calling @samp{MR_trail_function()} to add a function trail
entry whenever you create a delayed goal, and putting the appropriate
check for floundering in the @samp{MR_commit} and @samp{MR_solve} cases
of your function.
The Mercury distribution includes some examples of this:
see the @samp{ML_cfloat_untrail_func()}
function in the file @samp{extras/clpr/cfloat.m} and the
@samp{ML_var_untrail_func()} function in the file
@samp{extras/trailed_update/var.m}.)
If your function does detect floundering, then it should print
an error message and then abort execution.

@node Avoiding redundant trailing
@subsection Avoiding redundant trailing

If a mutable data structure is updated multiple times, and each update
is recorded on the trail using the functions described above, then
some of this trailing may be redundant.  It is generally not necessary
to record enough information to recover the original state of the
data structure for @emph{every} update on the trail; instead, it is
enough to record the original state of each updated data structure
just once for each choice point occurring after the data structure
is allocated, rather than once for each update.

The functions described below provide a means to avoid
redundant trailing.

@table @b
@item @bullet{} @code{MR_ChoicepointId}
@itemx @bullet{} @code{MR_current_choicepoint_id()}
@itemx @bullet{} @code{MR_null_choicepoint_id()}
Prototypes:
@example
typedef @dots{} MR_ChoicepointId;
MR_ChoicepointId MR_current_choicepoint_id(void);
MR_ChoicepointId MR_null_choicepoint_id(void);
@end example

The type @code{MR_ChoicepointId} is an abstract type used
to hold the identity of a choice point.  Values of this
type can be compared using C's @samp{==} operator.

@code{MR_current_choicepoint_id()} returns a value indicating
the identity of the most recent choice point; that is, the
point to which execution would backtrack if the current computation
failed.

@code{MR_null_choicepoint_id()} returns a ``null'' value that is
distinct from any value ever returned by @code{MR_current_choicepoint_id}.
(Note that @code{MR_null_choicepoint_id()}
is a macro that is guaranteed to be suitable for use as a
static initializer, so that it can for example be used to
provide the initial value of a C global variable.)

@end table

The way these functions are generally used is as follows.
When you create a mutable data structure, you should call
@code{MR_current_choicepoint_id()} and save the value it returns
as a @samp{prev_choicepoint} field in your data structure.
(If your mutable data structure
is a C global variable, then you can use MR_null_choicepoint_id()
for the initial value of this @samp{prev_choicepoint} field.)
When you are about to modify your mutable data structure,
you can then call @code{MR_current_choicepoint_id()} again and
compare the result from that call with the value saved in
the @samp{prev_choicepoint} field in the data structure. 
If they are different, then you must trail the update,
and update the prev_choicepoint field with the new value;
furthermore, you must also take care that on backtracking the
previous value of the @samp{prev_choicepoint} field in your data
structure is restored to its previous value, by trailing that update too.
But if @code{MR_current_choice_id()} and the @code{prev_choicepoint} field
are equal, then you can safely perform the update to your data
structure without trailing it.

Note that there is a cost to this -- you have to include
an extra field in your data structure for each part of
the data structure which you might update, you
need to perform a test for each update to decide whether
or not to trail it, and if you do need to trail the update,
then you have an extra field that you need to trail.
Whether or not the benefits from avoiding redundant trailing
outweigh these costs will depend on your application.

@c @item @code{void MR_untrail_to(MR_TrailEntry *@var{old_trail_ptr}, MR_untrail_reason @var{reason});}
@c 
@c Apply all the trail entries between @samp{MR_trail_ptr} and
@c @var{old_trail_ptr}, using the specified @var{reason}.
@c 
@c This function is called by the Mercury engine after backtracking,
@c after a commit, or after catching an exception.
@c There is probably little need for user code to call this function,
@c but it might be needed if you're doing certain low-level things
@c such as implementing your own exception handling.

@node Impurity
@chapter Impurity declarations

In order to efficiently implement certain predicates, it is occasionally
necessary to venture outside pure logic programming.  Other predicates
cannot be implemented at all within the paradigm of logic programming,
for example, all solutions predicates.  Such predicates are often
written using the C interface.  Sometimes, however, it would be more
convenient, or more efficient, to write such predicates using the
facilities of Mercury.  For example, it is much more convenient to
access arguments of compound Mercury terms in Mercury than in C, and the
ability of the Mercury compiler to specialize code can make higher-order
predicates written in Mercury significantly more efficient than similar
C code.

One important aim of Mercury's impurity system is to make the
distinction between the pure and impure code very clear.  This is done
by requiring every impure predicate to be so declared, and by requiring
every call to an impure predicate to be flagged as such.  Predicates
that are implemented in terms of impure predicates are assumed to be
impure themselves unless they are explicitly promised to be pure.

Please note that the facilities described here are needed only very
rarely.  The main intent is for implementing language primitives such as
the all solutions predicates.  Any use of @samp{impure} or @samp{semipure}
probably indicates either a weakness in the Mercury standard library, or
the programmer's lack of familiarity with the standard library.
Newcomers to Mercury are hence encouraged to @strong{skip this section}.



@menu
* Purity levels::       Choosing the right level of purity.
* Impurity semantics::  What impure code means.
* Declaring impurity::  Declaring predicates impure.
* Impure calls::        Marking a call as impure.
* Promising purity::    Promising that a predicate is pure.
* Impurity Example::    A simple example using impurity.
@end menu


@node Purity levels
@section Choosing the right level of purity

Mercury distinguishes three ``levels'' of purity:

@table @dfn
@item pure
Pure predicates and functions always return the same outputs given the
same inputs.  They do not interact with the ``real'' world (i.e., do any
input/output) without taking an io__state (@pxref{Types}) as input and
returning one as output, and do not make any changes to any data
structure that will not be undone on backtracking (unless the data
structure would be unreachable on backtracking).  The behaviour of other
predicates is never affected by the invocation of pure predicates, nor
is the behaviour of pure predicates ever affected by the invocation of
other predicates.

The vast majority of Mercury predicates are pure.  

@item semipure
Semipure predicates are just like pure predicates, except that their
behaviour may be affected by the invocation of impure predicates.  That
is, they are sensitive to the state of the computation other than as
reflected by their input arguments, though they do not affect the state
themselves.

@item impure
Impure predicates may do anything, including changing the state of the
computation.

@end table


@node Impurity semantics
@section Semantics

It is important to the proper operation of impure and semipure code, to
the flexibility of the compiler to optimize pure code, and to the
semantics of the Mercury language, that a clear distinction be drawn
between ordinary Mercury code and imperative code written with Mercury
syntax.  How this distinction is drawn will be explained below; the
purpose of this section is to explain the semantics of programs with
impure predicates.

A @emph{declarative} semantics of impure Mercury code would be largely
useless, because the declarative semantics cannot capture the intent of
the programmer.  Impure predicates are executed for their side-effects,
which by definition are not part of their declarative semantics.  Thus
it is the @emph{operational} semantics of impure predicates that Mercury
must specify, and Mercury compilers must respect.

The operational semantics of a Mercury predicate which invokes impure
code is a modified form of the @emph{strict sequential} semantics
(@pxref{Semantics}).  @emph{Impure} goals may not be reordered relative
to any other goals; not even ``minimal'' reordering as implied by the
modes is permitted.  If any such reordering is needed, this is a mode
error.  However, @emph{pure} and @emph{semipure} goals may be reordered
as long as they are not moved across an impure goal.  Execution of
impure goals is strict: they must be executed if they are reached, even
if it can be determined that that computation cannot lead to successful
termination.

Semipure goals can be given a ``contextual'' declarative semantics.
They cannot have any side-effects, so it is expected that, given the
context in which they are called (relative to any impure goals in the
program), their declarative semantics fully captures the intent of the
programmer.  Thus a semipure goal has a perfectly consistent declarative
semantics, until an impure goal is reached.  After that, it has another
(possibly different) declarative semantics, until the next impure goal
is executed, and so on.  Mercury compilers must respect this contextual
nature of the semantics of semipure goals; within a single context, a
compiler may treat a semipure goal as if it were pure.


@node Declaring impurity
@section Declaring predicate impurity

A predicate is declared to be impure or semipure by preceding the word
@code{pred} in its @code{pred} declaration with @code{impure}
or @code{semipure}, respectively.  That is, a declaration of the form:

@example
:- impure pred @var{Pred}(@var{Arguments}@dots{}).
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
:- semipure pred @var{Pred}(@var{Arguments}@dots{}).
@end example

@noindent
declares the predicate @var{Pred} to be impure or semipure, respectively.


@node Impure calls
@section Marking a call as impure

If a predicate is impure or semipure, all calls to it must be preceded
with the word @code{impure} or @code{semipure}, respectively.  Note
that only predicate calls need to (and are permitted to) be prefixed
with @code{impure} or @code{semipure}, compound goals never need this.
See @ref{Impurity Example} for an example of this.

The requirement that impure or semipure calls be marked with
@code{impure} or @code{semipure} allows someone 
reading the code to tell which goals are not pure, making code which
relies on side effects somewhat less mysterious.  Furthermore, it means
that if a call is @emph{not} preceded by @code{impure} or
@code{semipure}, then the reader can rely on the call having a proper
declarative semantics, without hidden side-effects.  


@node Promising purity
@section Promising that a predicate is pure

Some predicates which call impure or semipure predicates are themselves
pure.  In fact, the main purpose of the Mercury impurity system is to
allow programmers to write pure predicates using impure ones, while protecting
the procedural implementation from aggressive compiler optimizations.
Of course, the Mercury compiler cannot verify that a predicate is pure,
so it is the programmer's responsibility to ensure this.  If a predicate
is promised pure and is not, the behaviour of the program is undefined.

The programmer may promise that a predicate is pure using the
@code{promise_pure} pragma:

@example
:- pragma promise_pure(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example


@node Impurity Example
@section An example using impurity

The following example illustrates how a pure predicate may be
implemented using impure code.  Note that this code is not reentrant,
and so is not useful as is.  It is meant only as an example.

@example
:- pragma c_header_code("#include <limits.h>").
:- pragma c_header_code("Integer max;").

:- impure pred init_max is det.
:- pragma c_code(init_max,
        [will_not_call_mercury],
        "max = INT_MIN;").

:- impure pred set_max(int::in) is det.
:- pragma c_code(set_max(X::in),
        [will_not_call_mercury],
        "if (X > max) max = X;").

:- semipure pred get_max(int::out) is det.
:- pragma c_code(get_max(X::out),
        [will_not_call_mercury],
        "X = max;").

:- pragma promise_pure(max_solution/2).
:- pred max_solution(pred(int), int).
:- mode max_solution(pred(out) is multi, out) is det.

max_solution(Generator, Max) :-
        impure init_max,
        (   Generator(X),
            impure set_max(X),
            fail
        ;   semipure get_max(Max)
        ).
@end example

@node Pragmas
@chapter Pragmas

The pragma declarations described below are a standard part of the
Mercury language, as are the pragmas for controlling the C interface
(@pxref{C interface}) and impurity (@pxref{Impurity}).
As an extension, implementations may also choose to support additional
pragmas with implementation-dependent semantics
(@pxref{Implementation-dependent extensions}).

@menu
* Inlining::                    Pragmas can be used to suggest or prevent
                                procedure inlining.
* Type specialization::         Pragmas can be used to produce specialized
                                versions of polymorphic procedures.
* Obsolescence::                Library developers can declare old versions
                                of predicates or functions to be obsolete.
* Source file name::            The @samp{source_file} pragma and
                                @samp{#@var{line}} directives provide support
                                for preprocessors and other tools that
                                generate Mercury code.
@end menu

@node Inlining
@section Inlining

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma inline(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

@noindent
is a hint to the compiler that all calls to the predicate(s) or function(s)
with name @var{Name} and arity @var{Arity} should be inlined.

The current Mercury implementation is smart enough to inline
simple predicates even without this hint.

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma no_inline(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

@noindent
ensures the compiler will not inline this predicate.  This may be used
simply for performance concerns (inlining can cause unwanted code bloat
in some cases) or to prevent possibly dangerous inlining when using
low-level C code.

@node Type specialization
@section Type specialization

The overhead of polymorphism can in some cases be significant, especially
where polymorphic predicates make heavy use of class method calls or the
built-in unification and comparison routines. To avoid this, the programmer
can suggest to the compiler that a specialized version of a procedure should
be created for a specific set of argument types.

@menu
* Syntax and semantics of type specialization pragmas::
* When to use type specialization::
* Implementation specific details::
@end menu

@node Syntax and semantics of type specialization pragmas
@subsection Syntax and semantics of type specialization pragmas

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma type_spec(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{Subst}).
:- pragma type_spec(@var{Name}(@var{Modes}), @var{Subst}).
@end example

@noindent
suggests to the compiler that a specialized version of predicate(s)
or function(s) with name @var{Name} and arity @var{Arity} should be
created with the type substitution given by @var{Subst} applied to the
argument types. The second form of the declaration only suggests
specialization of the specified mode of the predicate or function.

The substitution is written as a conjunction of bindings of the form
@w{@samp{@var{TypeVar} = @var{Type}}}, for example @w{@samp{K = int}} or
@w{@samp{(K = int, V = list(int))}}.

The declarations

@example
:- pred map__lookup(map(K, V), K, V).
:- pragma type_spec(map__lookup/3, K = int).
@end example

@noindent
give a hint to the compiler that a version of @samp{map__lookup/3} should
be created for integer keys.

Implementations are free to ignore @samp{pragma type_spec} declarations.
Implementations are also free to perform type specialization
even in the absence of any @samp{pragma type_spec} declarations.

@node When to use type specialization
@subsection When to use type specialization

The set of types for which a predicate or function should be specialized is
best determined by profiling your application. Overuse of type specialization
will result in code bloat. 

Type specialization of predicates or functions which
unify or compare polymorphic variables is most effective when
the specialized types are built-in types such as @samp{int}, @samp{float}
and @samp{string}, or enumeration types, since their unification and
comparison procedures are simple and can be inlined.

Predicates or functions which make use of type class method calls
may also be candidates for specialization. Again, this is most effective
when the called type class methods are simple enough to be inlined.

@node Implementation specific details
@subsection Implementation specific details

The University of Melbourne Mercury compiler performs user-requested type
specializations when invoked with @samp{--user-guided-type-specialization},
which is enabled at optimization level @samp{-O2} or higher.

@node Obsolescence
@section Obsolescence

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma obsolete(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

@noindent
declares that the predicate(s) or function(s)
with name @var{Name} and arity @var{Arity} are ``obsolete'':
it instructs the compiler to issue a warning whenever the named
predicate(s) or function(s) are used.

@samp{pragma obsolete} declarations are intended for use by library
developers, to allow gradual (rather than abrupt) evolution of library
interfaces.  If a library developer changes the interface of a library
predicate, they should leave the old version of that predicate in the
library, but mark it as obsolete using a @samp{pragma obsolete}
declaration, and document how library users should modify their code to
suit the new interface.  The users of the library will then get a
warning if they use obsolete features, and can consult the library
documentation to determine how to fix their code.  Eventually, when the
library developer deems that users have had sufficient warning, they
can remove the old version entirely.

@node Source file name
@section Source file name

The @samp{source_file} pragma and @samp{#@var{line}} directives provide
support for preprocessors and other tools that generate Mercury code.
The tool can insert these directives into the generated Mercury code
to allow the Mercury compiler to report diagnostics (error and warning
messages) at the original source code location, rather than at the
location in the automatically generated Mercury code.

A @samp{source_file} pragma is a declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma source_file(@var{Name}).
@end example

@noindent
where @var{Name} is a string that specifies the name of the source file.

For example, if a preprocessor generated a file @file{foo.m} based on a
input file @file{foo.m.in}, and it copied lines 20, 30, and 31 from
@file{foo.m.in}, the following directives would ensure that any 
error or warnings for those lines copied from @file{foo.m} were reported
at their original source locations in @file{foo.m.in}.

@example
:- module foo.
:- pragma source_file("foo.m.in").
#20
% this line comes from line 20 of foo.m
#30
% this line comes from line 30 of foo.m
% this line comes from line 31 of foo.m
:- pragma source_file("foo.m").
#10
% this automatically generated line is line 10 of foo.m
@end example

Note that if a generated file contains some text which is copied from a
source file, and some which is automatically generated, it is a good
idea to use @samp{pragma source_file} and @samp{#@var{line}} directives
to reset the source file name and line number to point back to the
generated file for the automatically generated text, as in the above
example.

@node Implementation-dependent extensions
@chapter Implementation-dependent extensions

The University of Melbourne Mercury implementation supports the following
extensions to the Mercury language:

@menu
* Fact tables::                 Support for very large tables of facts.
* Tabled evaluation::           Support for automatically recording previously
                                calculated results and detecting or avoiding
                                certain kinds of infinite loops.
* Termination analysis::        Support for automatic proofs of termination.
@ifset aditi
* Aditi deductive database interface::
                                Support for bottom-up evaluation of Mercury
                                predicates.
@end ifset
@end menu

@node Fact tables
@section Fact tables

Large tables of facts can be compiled using a different algorithm that
is more efficient and produces more efficient code.

A declaration of the form

@example
:- pragma fact_table(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{FileName}).
@end example

@noindent
tells the compiler that the predicate or function with name @var{Name}
and arity @var{Arity} is defined by a set of facts in an external file
@var{FileName}.  Defining large tables of facts in this way allows the
compiler to use a more efficient algorithm for compiling them.
This algorithm uses less memory than would normally be required
to compile the facts so much larger tables are possible.

Each mode is indexed on all its input arguments so the compiler can
produce very efficient code using this technique.

In the current implementation, the table of facts is compiled into a
separate C file named @samp{@var{FileName}.c}.  The compiler will
automatically generate the correct dependencies for this file when the
command @samp{mmake @var{main_module}.depend} is invoked.  This ensures
that the C file will be compiled to @samp{@var{FileName}.o} and then
linked with the other object files when @samp{mmake @var{main_module}}
is invoked.

The main limitation of the @samp{fact_table} pragma is that
predicates or functions defined as fact tables can only have
arguments of types @samp{string}, @samp{int} or @samp{float}.

@node Tabled evaluation
@section Tabled evaluation

(Note: ``Tabled evaluation'' has no relation to the ``fact tables''
described above.)

Ordinarily, the results of each procedure call are not recorded;
if the same procedure is called with the same arguments,
then the answer(s) must be recomputed again.
For some procedures, this recomputation can be very wasteful.

With tabled evaluation, the implementation keeps a table containing the
previously computed results of the specified procedure; at each
procedure call, the implementation will search the table to check
whether the answer(s) have already been computed and if so, the answers
will be returned directly from the tables rather than being recomputed.
This can result in much faster execution, at the cost of additional
space to record answers in the table.

The implementation can optionally also check at runtime for the situation
where a procedure calls itself recursively with the same arguments,
which would normally result in a infinite loop; if this situation is
encountered, it can (at the programmer's option) either throw an
exception, or avoid the infinite loop by computing solutions
using the ``minimal model'' semantics.

The current Mercury implementation thus supports three different
pragmas for tabling, to cover these three cases: @samp{pragma memo}
does no loop checking, @samp{pragma loop_check} checks for loops
and throws an exception if a loop is detected, while
@samp{pragma minimal_model} computes the ``minimal model'' semantics.

@c XXX we should fix this bug...
@cartouche
@strong{Warning:}
The current implementation of @samp{pragma minimal_model} is broken:
the generated code sometimes produces incorrect results.  It should
not be used.  Also the current implementation of all three pragmas
is broken for procedures with determinism @samp{nondet} or @samp{multi}.
The @samp{pragma memo} and @samp{pragma loop_check} declarations
should not be used on such procedures.
@end cartouche

The syntax for each of these declarations is

@example
:- pragma memo(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
:- pragma loop_check(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
:- pragma minimal_model(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

@noindent
where @var{Name}/@var{Arity} specifies the predicate or
function to which the declaration applies.  The declaration
applies to all modes of the predicate and/or function named.
At most one of these declarations may be specified
for any given predicate or function.

Note that a @samp{pragma minimal_model} declaration
changes the declarative semantics of the specified predicate or
function: instead of using the completion of the clauses
as the basis for the semantics, as is normally the case
in Mercury, the declarative semantics that is used is
the ``minimal model'' semantics.  Anything which is
true or false in the completion semantics is also true
or false (respectively) in the minimal model semantics,
but there are goals for which the minimal model specifies
that the result is true or false, whereas the completion semantics
leaves the result unspecified. 
For these goals, the usual Mercury semantics requires the
implementation to either loop or report an error message,
but the minimal model semantics requires a particular
answer to be returned.
In particular, the minimal model semantics says that any
call that is not true in @emph{all} models is false.

Programmers should therefore use a @samp{pragma minimal_model}
declaration only in cases where their intended interpretation for a
procedure coincides with the minimal model for that procedure.
Fortunately, however, this is usually what programmers intend.

@c XXX give an example

For more information on tabling, see K. Sagonas's PhD thesis
@c XXX this citation doesn't come out properly in DVI format
@cite{The SLG-WAM: A Search-Efficient Engine for Well-Founded Evaluation
of Normal Logic Programs.} @xref{[4]}.
The operational semantics of procedures with a @samp{pragma minimal_model}
declaration corresponds to what Sagonas calls ``SLGd resolution''.

In the general case, the execution mechanism required by
minimal model tabling is quite complicated, requiring
the ability to delay goals and then wake them up again.
The Mercury implementation uses a technique based on copying
relevant parts of the stack to the heap when delaying goals,
similar to the one described in
@c XXX this citation doesn't come out properly in DVI format
@cite{CAT: the copying approach to tabling},
by B. Demoen and K. Sagonas.  @xref{[5]}.
This ensures that code which does not use tabling does not pay any
runtime overheads from the more complicated execution mechanism
required by (minimal model) tabling.

@cartouche
@strong{Please note:}
the current implementation of tabling does not support all the
possible compilation grades (see the "Compilation model options"
section of the Mercury User's Guide) allowed by the Mercury
implementation.  In particular, if you enable the use of trailing,
or if you select a garbage collection method other than the default
(conservative), then any use of tabling will result in a
``Sorry, not implemented'' error at runtime.

@c XXX we should fix this bug...
@strong{Reminder}: the current implementation of
@samp{pragma minimal_model} is broken,
and the current implementation of @samp{pragma memo}
and @samp{pragma loop_check} is broken for procedures
with determinism @samp{nondet} or @samp{multi}.
@end cartouche

@node Termination analysis
@section Termination analysis

The compiler includes a termination analyser which can be used to prove 
termination of predicates and functions.  Details of the analysis is
available in ``Termination Analysis for Mercury'' by Chris Speirs, Zoltan
Somogyi and Harald Sondergaard.  @xref{[1]}.
@c XXX this citation doesn't come out properly in DVI format

The analysis is based around an algorithm proposed by Gerhard Groger
and Lutz Plumer in their paper ``Handling of mutual recursion in
automatic termination proofs for logic programs.'' @xref{[2]}.
@c XXX this citation doesn't come out properly in DVI format

For an introduction to termination analysis for logic programs, please
refer to ``Termination Analysis for Logic Programs'' by Chris Speirs.
@c XXX this citation doesn't come out properly in DVI format
@xref{[3]}.

Information about the termination properties of a predicate or function
can be given to the compiler.  Pragmas are also available to require
the compiler to prove termination of a given predicate or function, or
to give an error message if it cannot do so.

The analyser is enabled by the option @samp{--enable-termination}, which
can be abbreviated to @samp{--enable-term}.  When termination analysis
is enabled, any predicates or functions with a @samp{check_termination}
pragma defined on them will have their termination checked, and if
termination cannot be proved, the compiler will emit an error message
detailing the reason that termination could not be proved.

The option @samp{--check-termination} option, which may be abbreviated
to @samp{--check-term} or @samp{--chk-term}, forces the compiler to
check the termination of all predicates in the module.  
It is common for the compiler to be unable to prove termination of some
predicates and functions because they call other predicates which could
not be proved to terminate or because they use language features (such
as higher order calls) which cannot be usefully analysed.  
In this case, the compiler only emits a warning for these
predicates and functions if the @samp{--verbose-check-termination}
option is enabled.  For every predicate or function that the compiler
cannot prove the termination of, a warning message is emitted, but
compilation continues.  The @samp{--check-termination} option implies
the @samp{--enable-termination} option.

The accuracy of the termination analysis is substantially degraded if
intermodule optimization is not enabled.  Unless intermodule
optimization is enabled, the compiler must assume that any imported
predicate may not terminate.  

Currently the compiler assumes that all procedures defined using the C
interface (@samp{pragma c_code}) terminate for all input.
If this is not the case, a @samp{pragma does_not_terminate} declaration
should be used to inform the compiler that this C code may not terminate.

The following declarations can be used to inform the compiler of the
termination properties of a predicate or function, or to force the
compiler to prove termination of a given predicate or function. 

@example
:- pragma terminates(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example
This declaration may be used to inform the compiler that this predicate
or function is guaranteed to terminate for any input.  This is useful
when the compiler cannot prove termination of some predicates or 
functions which are in turn preventing the compiler from proving
termination of other predicates or functions.

@example
:- pragma does_not_terminate(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example
This declaration may be used to inform the compiler that this predicate
does not necessarily terminate.  This is useful for procedures defined
using the C interface, which the compiler assumes to terminate by
default.

@example
:- pragma check_termination(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example
This pragma forces the compiler to prove termination of this predicate.
If it cannot prove the termination of the specified predicate or
function then the compiler will quit with an error message.

@ifset aditi
@node Aditi deductive database interface
@section Aditi deductive database interface

@menu
* Aditi overview::
* Aditi pragma declarations::   Controlling Aditi compilation.
* Aditi update syntax::         Changing the contents of Aditi relations.
* Aditi glossary::              Glossary of Aditi terms.
@end menu

@node Aditi overview
@subsection Aditi overview

The University of Melbourne Mercury implementation includes support for
compiling Mercury predicates for bottom-up evaluation using the Aditi
deductive database system. The Aditi system is not yet publicly available,
so this is currently not very useful to anyone other than the Mercury and
Aditi developers.

Evaluation by a deductive database system is useful for predicates which
use large amounts of data, since the database system can use efficient join
algorithms instead of backtracking. Also, some predicates which loop when
executed top-down may terminate when executed bottom-up by the database (this
effect can also be achieved using tabling (@pxref{Tabled evaluation})).
Bottom-up evaluation computes the answers to a predicate a set at a time,
rather than a tuple at a time as in the normal top-down execution of a
Mercury program.

There are several restrictions on predicates to be evaluated using Aditi.
Argument types may not include polymorphic, higher-order or abstract types.
Type classes are not supported within database predicates. The argument
modes must not contain partially instantiated insts. Aditi predicates must
be stratified (@pxref{Aditi glossary}) and must not be mutually recursive
with predicates in other modules.

Every predicate with a @samp{pragma aditi} or
@samp{pragma base_relation} declaration must have an input
argument of type @samp{aditi__state}. This ensures that Aditi predicates
are only called from within transactions and that updates and database
calls are ordered correctly, in the same way that @samp{io__state} arguments
are used to ensure ordering of I/O operations. Within the clauses for
predicates with a @samp{pragma aditi} declaration variables with
type @samp{aditi__state} may only be passed to other database predicates --
they may not be packaged into terms or passed to top-down Mercury predicates.
This allows the compiler to remove all instances of @samp{aditi__state}
variables from database predicates, and enforces the restriction that
top-down Mercury code called from within the database cannot call bottom-up
code, which is currently impossible for Aditi to handle.

Some useful predicates are defined in @file{extras/aditi/aditi.m} in the
@samp{mercury-extras} distribution.

The Aditi interface currently has the major restriction that recursive or
imported top-down Mercury predicates or functions cannot be called from
predicates with @samp{pragma aditi} declarations.
The following predicates and functions from the standard library
can be called from Aditi: 

@samp{builtin__compare/3},

@samp{int:'<'/2},
@samp{int:'>'/2},
@samp{int:'=<'/2},
@samp{int:'>='/2},
@samp{int__abs/2},
@samp{int__max/3},
@samp{int__min/3},
@samp{int__to_float/2},
@samp{int__pow/2},
@samp{int__log2/2},
@samp{int:'+'/2},
@samp{int:'+'/1},
@samp{int:'-'/2},
@samp{int:'-'/1},
@samp{int:'*'/2},
@samp{int:'//'/2},
@samp{int__rem/2},

@samp{float:'<'/2},
@samp{float:'>'/2},
@samp{float:'>='/2},
@samp{float:'=<'/2},
@samp{float__abs/1},
@samp{float__abs/2},
@samp{float__max/2},
@samp{float__max/3},
@samp{float__min/2},
@samp{float__min/3},
@samp{float__pow/2},
@samp{float__log2/2},
@samp{float__float/1},
@samp{float__truncate_to_int/1},
@samp{float__truncate_to_int/2},
@samp{float:'+'/2},
@samp{float:'+'/1},
@samp{float:'-'/2},
@samp{float:'-'/1},
@samp{float:'*'/2},
@samp{float:'/'/2},

@samp{math__ceiling/1},
@samp{math__round/1},
@samp{math__floor/1},
@samp{math__sqrt/1},
@samp{math__pow/2},
@samp{math__exp/1},
@samp{math__ln/1},
@samp{math__log10/1},
@samp{math__log2/1},
@samp{math__sin/1},
@samp{math__cos/1},
@samp{math__tan/1},
@samp{math__asin/1},
@samp{math__acos/1},
@samp{math__atan/1},
@samp{math__sinh/1},
@samp{math__cosh/1},
@samp{math__tanh/1},

@samp{string__length/2}.

@node Aditi pragma declarations
@subsection Aditi pragma declarations

The following pragma declarations control compilation of Aditi predicates.

@example
:- pragma aditi(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

This predicate should be evaluated using the Aditi deductive database.

@c `pragma base_relation' is intended to be used only in files automatically
@c generated by the Aditi system, so this documentation should disappear
@c eventually.
@example
:- pragma base_relation(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

This predicate is an Aditi base relation.

@example
:- pragma supp_magic(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
:- pragma context(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

Perform either the supplementary magic sets or context transformations.
One of these transformations must be performed on every Aditi predicate.
@samp{supp_magic} is the default.
There are restrictions on predicates to which the context transformation
can be applied; these are described in @cite{Right-, left-, and multi-linear
rule transformations that maintain context information.} @ref{[6]}.

@example
:- pragma naive(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
:- pragma psn(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

Specify naive or predicate semi-naive evaluation (@pxref{Aditi glossary})
for the predicate.
@samp{psn} is the default.

@example
:- pragma aditi_memo(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
:- pragma aditi_no_memo(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}).
@end example

The Aditi deductive database can store the results of procedures within
a transaction to avoid unnecessary recomputations. This is unrelated to
the type of memoing described in @ref{Tabled evaluation}.
@samp{aditi_no_memo} is the default.
@c XXX this will probably change

@example
:- pragma owner(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{UserName}).
@end example

The predicate is owned by the named user. A predicate in the database
is identified by owner, module name, predicate name and arity. The owner
field is used for security checks. If no @samp{pragma owner}
declaration is given, the owner is taken from the @samp{--aditi-user}
option, which defaults to the value of the environment variable @samp{USER},
or ``guest'' if that is not set.

@c `pragma aditi_index' is intended to be used only in files automatically
@c generated by the Aditi system, so this documentation should disappear
@c eventually.
@example
:- pragma aditi_index(@var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{IndexType}, @var{Attributes}).
@end example

The base relation has the given B-tree index. B-tree indexes allow efficient
retrieval of a tuple or range of tuples from a base relation.
@samp{@var{IndexType}} must be one of @samp{unique_B_tree} or
@samp{non_unique_B_tree}. @samp{@var{Attributes}} is a list of argument
numbers (argument numbers are counted from one).

@node Aditi update syntax
@subsection Aditi update syntax

The Melbourne Mercury compiler provides special syntax to specify updates
of Aditi base relations.

Note: Only error checking is implemented for Aditi updates --- no code is
generated yet.

@menu 
* Aditi update notes::
* Insertion::
* Deletion::
* Bulk insertion and deletion::
* Modification::
@end menu

@node Aditi update notes
@subsubsection Aditi update notes

All Aditi update goals have determinism @samp{det}.

There must be a @w{@samp{pragma base_relation}} declaration for
any relation to be updated. 

It is currently up to the application to ensure that any modifications
do not violate the determinism of a base relation. If any modification
does violate the determinism of a base relation, then the behaviour
is undefined. However, updates of relations with unique B-tree indexes
are checked to ensure that a key is not given multiple values. The transaction
will abort if this occurs.

Predicate and function names in Aditi update goals may be module qualified.

The examples make use of the following declarations:
@example
:- pred p(aditi__state::aditi_ui, int::out, int::out) is nondet.
:- pragma base_relation(p/3).

:- func f(aditi__state::aditi_ui, int::out) = (int::out) is nondet.
:- pragma base_relation(f/2).

:- pred ancestor(aditi__state::aditi_ui, int::out, int::out) is nondet.
:- pragma aditi(ancestor/3).
@end example

@node Insertion
@subsubsection Insertion

@example
aditi_insert(@var{PredName}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}), @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

aditi_insert(@var{FuncName}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}) = @var{RetVal}, @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).
@end example

Insert the specified tuple into a relation.

@itemize @bullet
@item
@samp{@var{PredName}} must be the name of a predicate. 

@item
@samp{@var{FuncName}} must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{Arg1}}, @samp{@var{Arg2}}, @dots{} and @samp{@var{RetVal}}
must be data-terms.

The tuple to be inserted must have the same type signature as the relation
being inserted into. All the arguments of the tuple (including the return value
of a function) have mode @samp{in}, except the @samp{aditi__state} argument
which has mode @samp{unused}.

@item
@samp{@var{DB0}} and @samp{@var{DB}} must be data-terms of type
@samp{aditi__state}. They have mode @w{@samp{aditi_di, aditi_uo}}.
@end itemize

Note that @w{@samp{@var{PredName}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{})}}
in an @samp{aditi_insert} goal is not a higher-order term.
@w{@samp{Pred = p(DB0, X, Y), aditi_insert(Pred, DB0, DB)}}
is a syntax error.

Examples:
@example
insert_example_1(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_insert(p(_, 1, 2), DB0, DB).

insert_example_2(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_insert(f(_, 1) = 2, DB0, DB).
@end example

@node Deletion
@subsubsection Deletion

@example
aditi_delete((@var{PredName}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}) :- @var{Goal}), @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

aditi_delete((@var{FuncName}(@var{Arg1}, @var{Arg2}, @dots{}) = @var{RetVal} :- @var{Goal}), @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

aditi_delete(@var{PredOrFunc} @var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{Closure}, @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).
@end example

Delete all tuples for which @samp{@var{Goal}} or @samp{@var{Closure}} 
succeeds from the named base relation. 

@itemize @bullet
@item
@samp{@var{PredName}} must be the name of a predicate. 

@item
@samp{@var{FuncName}} must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{PredOrFunc}} must be either @samp{pred} or @samp{func}.
If it is @samp{pred}, then @samp{@var{Name}} must be the name of
a predicate, and if it is @samp{func}, then @samp{@var{Name}}
must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{Arity}} must be the arity of the predicate or function
being updated.

@item
@samp{@var{Arg1}}, @samp{@var{Arg2}}, @dots{} and @samp{@var{RetVal}}
must be data-terms. The head of the deletion rule must have the same
type signature as the relation being deleted from. The arguments
(including the return value of a function) all have mode @samp{in},
except for the @samp{aditi__state} argument, which has mode
@samp{unused} --- it is not possible to call an Aditi relation
from the deletion goal.

@item
@samp{@var{Goal}} must be a Mercury goal.

@item
@samp{@var{Closure}} must be a data-term which has a higher-order type.

When deleting from a predicate with type declaration
@w{@samp{:- pred p(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{})}},
@samp{@var{Closure}} must have type
@w{@samp{aditi_top_down pred(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{})}},
and inst @w{@samp{pred(unused, in, @dots{}) is semidet}}.

When deleting from a function with type declaration
@w{@samp{:- func p(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}) = @var{Type2}}},
@samp{@var{Closure}} must have type
@w{@samp{aditi_top_down func(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}) = @var{Type2}}},
and inst @w{@samp{func(unused, in, @dots{}) = in is semidet}}.

The @samp{aditi_top_down} annotation on the lambda expression is needed to 
tell the compiler to generate code for execution by the
Aditi database using the normal Mercury execution algorithm.

The @samp{aditi__state} argument of @samp{@var{Closure}} must have
mode @samp{unused} --- it is not possible to call an Aditi
relation from the deletion condition. All other arguments of
@samp{@var{Closure}} must have mode @samp{in}.

If the construction of @samp{@var{Closure}} is in the same conjunction
as the @samp{aditi_delete} call, the compiler may be able to do a better
job of optimizing the deletion using indexes.

@item
@samp{@var{DB0}} and @samp{@var{DB}} must be data-terms of type
@samp{aditi__state}. They have mode @w{@samp{aditi_di, aditi_uo}}.
@end itemize

Examples:
@example
delete_example_1(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_delete((p(_, X, Y) :- X + Y = 2), DB0, DB).

delete_example_2(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_delete(f(_, 2) = _Y, DB0, DB).

delete_example_3(DB0, DB) :-
        DeleteP = (aditi_top_down
               pred(_::unused, X::in, Y::in) is semidet :-
                        X = 2
               ),
        aditi_delete(pred p/3, DeleteP, DB0, DB).

delete_example_4(DB0, DB) :-
        DeleteQ = (aditi_top_down
               func(_::unused, X::in) = (Y::in) is semidet :-
                        X = 2
               ),
        aditi_delete(func f/2, DeleteQ, DB0, DB).

delete_example_5 -->
        aditi_delete((p(_, X, Y) :- X = 2, Y = 2)). 

@end example

The type of @samp{DeleteP} is
@w{@samp{aditi_top_down pred(aditi__state, int, int)}}.
Its inst is @w{@samp{pred(unused, in, in) is semidet}}, as for a normal
lambda expression.

Note that in @samp{delete_example_5} the extra set of parentheses around
the goal are needed, otherwise the second goal in the conjunction
in the deletion goal would be parsed as an extra argument of the
@samp{aditi_delete} call, resulting in a syntax error.

@node Bulk insertion and deletion
@subsubsection Bulk insertion and deletion

@example
aditi_bulk_insert(@var{PredOrFunc} @var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{Closure}, @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).
@end example

Insert all solutions of @samp{@var{Closure}} into the named relation.

@example
aditi_bulk_delete(@var{PredOrFunc} @var{Name}/@var{Arity}, @var{Closure}, @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).
@end example

Delete all solutions of @samp{@var{Closure}} from the named relation.

@itemize @bullet
@item
@samp{@var{PredOrFunc}} must be either @samp{pred} or @samp{func}.
If it is @samp{pred}, then @samp{@var{Name}} must be the name of
a predicate, and if it is @samp{func}, then @samp{@var{Name}}
must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{Arity}} must be the arity of the predicate or function
being updated.

@item
@samp{@var{Closure}} must be a data-term which has a higher-order type with
the same type signature as the base relation being updated.

The @samp{aditi__state} argument of @samp{@var{Closure}} must have
mode @samp{aditi_ui}. All other arguments must have mode @samp{out}.
The determinism of @samp{@var{Closure}} must be @samp{nondet}.

@samp{@var{Closure}} must be evaluable bottom-up by the Aditi
system --- the predicate or function passed must have a
@w{@samp{pragma aditi}} declaration. Lambda expressions can be
marked as evaluable by Aditi using an @samp{aditi_bottom_up} annotation
on the lambda expression.

@item
@samp{@var{DB0}} and @samp{@var{DB}} must be data-terms of type
@samp{aditi__state}. They have mode @w{@samp{aditi_di, aditi_uo}}.
@end itemize

Examples:
@example
bulk_insert_example_1(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_bulk_insert(pred p/3, ancestor, DB0, DB).

bulk_delete_example_1(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_bulk_delete(pred p/3, ancestor, DB0, DB).

bulk_insert_example_2(DB0, DB) :-
        InsertP = (aditi_bottom_up
                pred(DB1::aditi_ui, X::out, Y::out) is nondet :-
                        ancestor(DB1, X, Y)
                ),
        aditi_bulk_insert(pred p/3, InsertP, DB0, DB).

bulk_delete_example_2(DB0, DB) :-
        DeleteQ = (aditi_bottom_up
                func(DB1::aditi_ui, X::out) = (Y::out) is nondet :-
                        ancestor(DB1, X, Y)
                ),
        aditi_bulk_delete(func f/2, DeleteQ, DB0, DB).
@end example

The type of @samp{InsertP} is
@w{@samp{aditi_bottom_up pred(aditi__state, int, int)}}.
Its inst is @w{@samp{pred(aditi_ui, out, out) is nondet}},
as for a normal lambda expression.

@node Modification
@subsubsection Modification

@example
aditi_modify(
        (@var{PredName}(@var{OldArg1}, @var{OldArg2}, @dots{}) ==>
        @var{PredName}(@var{NewArg1}, @var{NewArg2}, @dots{}) :-
                @var{Goal}
        ),
        @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

aditi_modify(
        ((@var{FuncName}(@var{OldArg1}, @var{OldArg2}, @dots{}) = @var{OldRetVal}) ==>
        (@var{FuncName}(@var{NewArg1}, @var{NewArg2}, @dots{}) = @var{NewRetVal}) :-
                @var{Goal}
        ),
        @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

aditi_modify(@var{PredOrFunc} @var{PredName}/@var{Arity}, @var{Closure}, @var{DB0}, @var{DB}).

@end example

Modify tuples for which @samp{@var{Goal}} or @samp{@var{Closure}} succeeds,
leaving any other tuples unchanged.

@itemize @bullet
@item
@samp{@var{PredName}} must be the name of a predicate. 

@item
@samp{@var{FuncName}} must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{PredOrFunc}} must be either @samp{pred} or @samp{func}.
If it is @samp{pred}, then @samp{@var{Name}} must be the name of
a predicate, and if it is @samp{func}, then @samp{@var{Name}}
must be the name of a function.

@item
@samp{@var{Arity}} must be the arity of the predicate or function
being updated.

@item
@samp{@var{OldArg1}}, @samp{@var{OldArg2}}, @dots{}, @samp{@var{OldRetVal}},
@samp{@var{NewArg1}}, @samp{@var{NewArg2}}, @dots{}, and @samp{@var{NewRetVal}}
must be data-terms.

The original tuple is given by the first set of arguments, which
have mode @samp{in}. The updated tuple is given by the second set
of arguments, which have mode @samp{out}. The @samp{aditi__state}
arguments for both tuples have mode @samp{unused} --- it is not possible
to call an Aditi relation from the modification goal.

The argument types of each tuple must match the argument types
of the base relation being modified.

@item
@samp{@var{Goal}} must be a Mercury goal.

@item
@samp{@var{Closure}} must be a data-term which has a higher-order type.

When modifying a predicate with type declaration
@w{@samp{:- pred p(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{})}}, @samp{@var{Closure}}
must have type
@samp{aditi_top_down pred(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}, aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{})},
and inst @w{@samp{pred(unused, in, @dots{}, unused, out, @dots{}) is semidet}}.

When modifying a function with type declaration
@w{@samp{:- func p(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}) = @var{Type2}}},
@samp{@var{Closure}} must have type
@samp{aditi_top_down pred(aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}, @var{Type2}, aditi__state, @var{Type1}, @dots{}, @var{Type2})},
and inst
@w{@samp{pred(unused, in, @dots{}, in, unused, out, @dots{}, out) is semidet}}.

The @samp{aditi__state} arguments of @samp{@var{Closure}} must have
mode @samp{unused} --- it is not possible to call an Aditi
relation from the modification goal.

If the construction of @samp{@var{Closure}} is in the same conjunction
as the @samp{aditi_modify} call, the compiler may be able to do a better
job of optimizing the modification using indexes.

@item
@samp{@var{DB0}} and @samp{@var{DB}} must be data-terms of type
@samp{aditi__state}. They have mode @w{@samp{aditi_di, aditi_uo}}.
@end itemize

Examples:
@example
modify_example_1(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_modify(
                (p(_DB0, X, Y0) ==> p(_DB, X, Y) :-
                        X > 2, X < 5, Y = Y0 + 1
                ), DB0, DB).

modify_example_2(DB0, DB) :-
        aditi_modify(
                ((f(_DB0, X) = Y0) ==> (f(_DB, X) = Y) :-
                        X > 2, X < 5, Y = Y0 + 1
                ), DB0, DB).

modify_example_3(DB0, DB) :-
        ModifyP = (aditi_top_down pred(_::unused, X::in, Y0::in,
                        _::unused, X::out, Y::out) is semidet :-
                    X > 2, X < 5, Y = Y0 + 1
                 ),
        aditi_modify(pred p/3, ModifyP, DB0, DB).

modify_example_4(DB0, DB) :-
        ModifyQ = (aditi_top_down pred(_::unused, X::in, Y0::in,
                        _::unused, X::out, Y::out) is semidet :-
                    X > 2, X < 5, Y = Y0 + 1
                 ),
        aditi_modify(func f/2, ModifyQ, DB0, DB).

modify_example_5 -->
        aditi_modify(
                (p(_DB0, X, Y0) ==> p(_DB, X, Y) :-
                        X > 2, X < 5, Y = Y0 + 1
                )).
@end example

Note that in @samp{modify_example_5} the extra set of parentheses around
the goal are needed, otherwise the second and third goals in
the conjunction in the modification goal would be parsed as extra arguments
of the @samp{aditi_modify} call, resulting in a syntax error.

@node Aditi glossary
@subsection Aditi glossary

@table @asis

@item Aditi-RL
Aditi Relational Language is used by the Aditi system to execute queries.
The basic instructions in Aditi-RL are relational database operations such as
@samp{join}, @samp{select} and @samp{project}.

@item aggregate
Aggregates are used to compute a value such as a sum over all the solutions
for a predicate. Aggregates can be computed over Aditi predicates using
@samp{aditi__aggregate_compute_initial} defined in @file{extras/aditi/aditi.m}
in the @samp{mercury-extras} distribution.

@item base relation
A base relation is a predicate consisting of a set of facts
stored in a database. There must be no clauses for a base relation.

@item derived relation
A derived relation is an Aditi predicate for which there are clauses.
Derived relations are compiled to Aditi-RL for execution by an Aditi database.

@item predicate semi-naive evaluation
When a recursive predicate is called, the Aditi system produces the set of all
solutions using fixed point iteration. The set of solutions is initialised
to those tuples which can be derived using the non-recursive rules of the
predicate. In each iteration, new tuples are derived for the predicate using
the recursive rules for the predicate and the tuples derived in previous
iterations. Evaluation finishes when no new tuples are generated.
Predicate semi-naive evaluation (@pxref{[8]}) is a method of evaluating
recursive predicates which uses just the new tuples in each iteration
where possible. This improves efficiency by reducing the size of joins.

@item schema
A schema is a representation of the types of the attributes of a relation.

@item stratification
A program is stratified if no predicate can call itself through a negation
or an aggregate.

@item transaction
A transaction is a database operation which is executed atomically. If
part of a transaction fails, the database reverts to its original state
before the transaction. For details on how transactions are implemented
in Mercury, see @cite{Database transactions in a purely declarative logic
programming language} @ref{[7]} and @file{extras/aditi/aditi.m} in the
@samp{mercury-extras} distribution.

@end table

@end ifset
@c aditi

@node Bibliography
@chapter Bibliography

@menu
* [1]::         Spiers, Somogyi, and Sondergaard,
                @cite{Termination Analysis for Mercury}.
* [2]::        	Groger and Plumer, @cite{Handling of mutual recursion in
                automatic termination proofs for logic programs}.
* [3]::         Spiers, @cite{Termination Analysis for logic programs}.
* [4]::         Sagonas, @cite{The SLG-WAM: A Search-Efficient Engine
                for Well-Founded Evaluation of Normal Logic Programs}.
* [5]::         Demoen and Sagonas, @cite{CAT: the copying approach to tabling}.
@ifset aditi
* [6]::         Kemp, Ramamohanarao and Somogyi,
                @cite{Right-, left-, and multi-linear rule transformations
                that maintain context information}.
* [7]::         Kemp, Conway, Harris, Henderson, Ramamohanarao and Somogyi
                @cite{Database transactions in a purely declarative
                logic programming language}.
* [8]::         Ramakrishnan, Srivistava and Sudarshan,
                @cite{Rule ordering in bottom-up fixpoint evaluation
                of logic programs}.
@end ifset
@end menu

@node [1]
@unnumberedsec [1]
Chris Speirs, Zoltan Somogyi and Harald Sondergaard, @cite{Termination
Analysis for Mercury}.  In P. Van Hentenryck, editor, @cite{Static
Analysis: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium}, Lecture
Notes in Computer Science. Springer, 1997.  A longer version is
available for download from
<http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/publications/tr_db/mu_97_09.ps.gz>.

@node [2]
@unnumberedsec [2]
Gerhard Groger and Lutz Plumer, @cite{Handling of mutual recursion in
automatic termination proofs for logic programs.}  In K. Apt, editor,
@cite{The Proceedings of the Joint International Conference and Symposium on
Logic Programming}, pages 336--350.  MIT Press, 1992.

@node [3]
@unnumberedsec [3]
Chris Speirs, @cite{Termination Analysis for Logic Programs},
Technical Report 97/23, Department of Computer Science, The University
of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 1997.  Available from
<http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/mercury/papers/mu_97_23.ps.gz>.

@node [4]
@unnumberedsec [4]
K. Sagonas, @cite{The SLG-WAM: A Search-Efficient Engine
for Well-Founded Evaluation of Normal Logic Programs},
PhD thesis, SUNY at Stony Brook, 1996.  Available from @* 
<http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~kostis/Thesis/thesis.ps.gz>.

@node [5]
@unnumberedsec [5]
B. Demoen and K. Sagonas, @cite{CAT: the copying approach to tabling},
submitted for publication,
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1998.

@ifset aditi
@node [6]
@unnumberedsec [6]
David B. Kemp and Kotagiri Ramamohanarao and Zoltan Somogyi. 
@cite{Right-, left-, and multi-linear rule transformations that maintain
context information}, 
The Proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference on Very Large Databases, pages
380--391, August 1990.
Available from <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/mercury/papers/tr90-2.ps.gz>.

@node [7]
@unnumberedsec [7]

David B. Kemp, Thomas Conway, Evan Harris, Fergus Henderson,
Kotagiri Ramamohanarao and Zoltan Somogyi,
@cite{Database transactions in a purely declarative
logic programming language},
Technical Report 96/45, Department of Computer Science, 
University of Melbourne, December 1996,
Available from <http://www.cs.mu.OZ.AU/publications/tr_db/mu_96_45.ps.gz>.

@node [8]
@unnumberedsec [8]

R. Ramakrishnan, D. Srivistava and S. Sudarshan,
@cite{Rule ordering in bottom-up fixpoint evaluation of logic programs}.
In @cite{Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference on
Very Large Data Bases}, page 359--371, August 1990.

@end ifset
@c aditi

@contents
@bye