the delegator pragma becomes a set of dot operators

This commit is contained in:
Zahary Karadjov 2014-02-15 17:41:35 +02:00
commit 492fa86638
7 changed files with 169 additions and 75 deletions

View file

@ -4106,6 +4106,59 @@ types that will match the typedesc param:
The constraint can be a concrete type or a type class.
Special Operators
=================
dot operators
-------------
Nimrod offers a special family of dot operators that can be used to
intercept and rewrite proc call and field access attempts, referring
to previously undeclared symbol names. They can be used to provide a
fluent interface to objects lying outside the static confines of the
Nimrod's type system such as values from dynamic scripting languages
or dynamic file formats such as JSON or XML.
When Nimrod encounters an expression that cannot be resolved by the
standard overload resolution rules, the current scope will be searched
for a dot operator that can be matched against a re-written form of
the expression, where the unknown field or proc name is converted to
an additional static string parameter:
.. code-block:: nimrod
a.b # becomes `.`(a, "b")
a.b(c, d) # becomes `.`(a, "b", c, d)
The matched dot operators can be symbols of any callable kind (procs,
templates and macros), depending on the desired effect:
.. code-block:: nimrod
proc `.` (js: PJsonNode, field: string): JSON = js[field]
var js = parseJson("{ x: 1, y: 2}")
echo js.x # outputs 1
echo js.y # outputs 2
The following dot operators are available:
operator `.`
------------
This operator will be matched against both field accesses and method calls.
operator `.()`
---------------
This operator will be matched exclusively against method calls. It has higher
precedence than the `.` operator and this allows you to handle expressions like
`x.y` and `x.y()` differently if you are interfacing with a scripting language
for example.
operator `.=`
-------------
This operator will be matched against assignments to missing fields.
.. code-block:: nimrod
a.b = c # becomes `.=`(a, "b", c)
Term rewriting macros
=====================
@ -4758,42 +4811,6 @@ This may change in future versions of language, but for now use
the ``finalizer`` parameter to ``new``.
delegator pragma
----------------
**Note**: The design of the delegator feature is subject to change.
The delegator pragma can be used to intercept and rewrite proc call and field
access attempts referring to previously undeclared symbol names. It can be used
to provide a fluent interface to objects lying outside the static confines of
the Nimrod's type system such as values from dynamic scripting languages or
dynamic file formats such as JSON or XML.
A delegator is a special form of the `()` operator marked with the delagator
pragma. When Nimrod encounters an expression that cannot be resolved by the
standard overload resolution, any delegators in the current scope will be
matched against a rewritten form of the expression following the standard
signature matching rules. In the rewritten expression, the name of the unknown
proc or field name is inserted as an additional static string parameter always
appearing in the leading position:
.. code-block:: nimrod
a.b => delegator("b", a)
a.b(c, d) => delegator("b", a, c)
a b, c, d => delegator("a", b, c, d)
The delegators can be any callable symbol type (procs, templates, macros)
depending on the desired effect:
.. code-block:: nimrod
proc `()` (field: string, js: PJsonNode): JSON {.delegator.} = js[field]
var js = parseJson("{ x: 1, y: 2}")
echo js.x # outputs 1
echo js.y # outputs 2
procvar pragma
--------------
The `procvar`:idx: pragma is used to mark a proc that it can be passed to a