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[bpt/guile.git] / doc / ref / match.texi

@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Guile Reference Manual.
@c Copyright (C) 2010  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file guile.texi for copying conditions.
@c

@c The pattern syntax is taken from the documentation available in
@c Andrew K. Wright's implementation of `match.scm', which is in the
@c public domain.  See Guile before commit
@c d967913f05301a35573c5d3f7217d0994bbb1016 (Thu Jun 17 2010) or
@c <http://www.cs.indiana.edu/scheme-repository/code.match.html>.

@c FIXME: This section is a bit rough on the edges.  The introduction
@c could be improved, e.g., by adding examples.

@node Pattern Matching
@section Pattern Matching

@cindex pattern matching
@cindex (ice-9 match)

The @code{(ice-9 match)} module provides a @dfn{pattern matcher},
written by Alex Shinn, and compatible with Andrew K. Wright's pattern
matcher found in many Scheme implementations.

@cindex pattern variable
A pattern matcher can match an object against several patterns and
extract the elements that make it up.  Patterns can represent any Scheme
object: lists, strings, symbols, etc.  They can optionally contain
@dfn{pattern variables}.  When a matching pattern is found, an
expression associated with the pattern is evaluated, optionally with all
pattern variables bound to the corresponding elements of the object:

@example
(let ((l '(hello (world))))
  (match l           ;; <- the input object
    (('hello (who))  ;; <- the pattern
     who)))          ;; <- the expression evaluated upon matching
@result{} world
@end example

In this example, list @var{l} matches the pattern @code{('hello (who))},
because it is a two-element list whose first element is the symbol
@code{hello} and whose second element is a one-element list.  Here
@var{who} is a pattern variable.  @code{match}, the pattern matcher,
locally binds @var{who} to the value contained in this one-element list,
i.e., the symbol @code{world}.

The same object can be matched against a simpler pattern:

@example
(let ((l '(hello (world))))
  (match l
    ((x y)
     (values x y))))
@result{} hello
@result{} (world)
@end example

Here pattern @code{(x y)} matches any two-element list, regardless of
the types of these elements.  Pattern variables @var{x} and @var{y} are
bound to, respectively, the first and second element of @var{l}.


The pattern matcher is defined as follows:

@deffn {Scheme Syntax} match exp clause ...
Match object @var{exp} against the patterns in the given @var{clause}s,
in the order in which they appear.  Return the value produced by the
first matching clause.  If no @var{clause} matches, throw an exception
with key @code{match-error}.

Each @var{clause} has the form @code{(pattern body)}.  Each
@var{pattern} must follow the syntax described below.  Each @var{body}
is an arbitrary Scheme expression, possibly referring to pattern
variables of @var{pattern}.
@end deffn

@c FIXME: Document other forms:
@c
@c exp ::= ...
@c       | (match exp clause ...)
@c       | (match-lambda clause ...)
@c       | (match-lambda* clause ...)
@c       | (match-let ((pat exp) ...) body)
@c       | (match-let* ((pat exp) ...) body)
@c       | (match-letrec ((pat exp) ...) body)
@c       | (match-define pat exp)
@c
@c clause ::= (pat body) | (pat => exp)

The syntax and interpretation of patterns is as follows:

@verbatim
        patterns:                       matches:

pat ::= identifier                      anything, and binds identifier
      | _                               anything
      | ()                              the empty list
      | #t                              #t
      | #f                              #f
      | string                          a string
      | number                          a number
      | character                       a character
      | 'sexp                           an s-expression
      | 'symbol                         a symbol (special case of s-expr)
      | (pat_1 ... pat_n)               list of n elements
      | (pat_1 ... pat_n . pat_{n+1})   list of n or more
      | (pat_1 ... pat_n pat_n+1 ooo)   list of n or more, each element
                                          of remainder must match pat_n+1
      | #(pat_1 ... pat_n)              vector of n elements
      | #(pat_1 ... pat_n pat_n+1 ooo)  vector of n or more, each element
                                          of remainder must match pat_n+1
      | #&pat                           box
      | ($ struct-name pat_1 ... pat_n) a structure
      | (= field pat)                   a field of a structure
      | (and pat_1 ... pat_n)           if all of pat_1 thru pat_n match
      | (or pat_1 ... pat_n)            if any of pat_1 thru pat_n match
      | (not pat_1 ... pat_n)           if all pat_1 thru pat_n don't match
      | (? predicate pat_1 ... pat_n)   if predicate true and all of
                                          pat_1 thru pat_n match
      | (set! identifier)               anything, and binds setter
      | (get! identifier)               anything, and binds getter
      | `qp                             a quasi-pattern

ooo ::= ...                             zero or more
      | ___                             zero or more
      | ..k                             k or more
      | __k                             k or more

        quasi-patterns:                 matches:

qp  ::= ()                              the empty list
      | #t                              #t
      | #f                              #f
      | string                          a string
      | number                          a number
      | character                       a character
      | identifier                      a symbol
      | (qp_1 ... qp_n)                 list of n elements
      | (qp_1 ... qp_n . qp_{n+1})      list of n or more
      | (qp_1 ... qp_n qp_n+1 ooo)      list of n or more, each element
                                          of remainder must match qp_n+1
      | #(qp_1 ... qp_n)                vector of n elements
      | #(qp_1 ... qp_n qp_n+1 ooo)     vector of n or more, each element
                                          of remainder must match qp_n+1
      | #&qp                            box
      | ,pat                            a pattern
      | ,@pat                           a pattern
@end verbatim

The names @code{quote}, @code{quasiquote}, @code{unquote},
@code{unquote-splicing}, @code{?}, @code{_}, @code{$}, @code{and},
@code{or}, @code{not}, @code{set!}, @code{get!}, @code{...}, and
@code{___} cannot be used as pattern variables.


Guile also comes with a pattern matcher specifically tailored to SXML
trees, @xref{sxml-match}.