[Haskell-cafe] Impredicative types and Lens?

8 Sep 2013

      Here’s a small example, which, when compiled, gives an error. Why?

     {-# LANGUAGE FlexibleInstances, ImpredicativeTypes,
                  TemplateHaskell #-}

     import Control.Lens

     class Item a where
       name :: a -> String

     instance Item (String, Int) where
       name = fst

     type ItemFilter = Item a => a -> Bool

     data ItemBox = ItemBox { _itemFilter :: ItemFilter }
     makeLenses ''ItemBox

The error is

     Couldn't match type `a0 -> Bool'
                   with `forall a. Item a => a -> Bool'
     Expected type: ItemFilter
       Actual type: a0 -> Bool
     In the expression: b_aaZE
     In the first argument of `iso', namely
       `\ (ItemBox b_aaZE) -> b_aaZE'
     In the expression: iso (\ (ItemBox b_aaZE) -> b_aaZE) ItemBox

I’m using GHC 7.6.2, if it’s important.

[Haskell-cafe] Impredicative types and Lens?

Artyom Kazak