
Hi all, I wonder if there is some means to get a type variable value in the body of a class instance definition. It seems it is not possible (a workaround has already been given on this list), but I would like a confirmation. For example, imagine that I have a Tensor type constructor, that takes a type-level integer (representing the Tensor order) to make a concrete type: --------- instance Show (Tensor order) where show TensorVar str = show "tensor " ++ str ++ " of order " ++ (show (c2num order)) ---------- where c2num transforms a type-level integer to an integer, through typeclasses (see http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/The_Monad.Reader/Issue5/Number_Param_Type...) I obtain a compilation error: order is not known in the body of the instance. Putting ScopedTypeVariable as extension does not change anything (http://www.haskell.org/ghc/docs/7.0-latest/html/users_guide/other-type-exten...). I have tried also using forall, without more success: ------------ instance forall order. Show (Tensor order) where show TensorVar str = show ”tensor ” ++ str ++ ” of order ” ++ (show (c2num order)) ------------ Thanks in advance, TP