For completeness, using fclabels (yet another record package) you can write it like this:
{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-} module Records where
import Data.Record.Label
data MyRecord = MyRecord { _field1 :: String, _field2 :: Int, _field3 :: Bool }
$(mkLabels [''MyRecord])
modifyThree f g h = modL field1 f . modL field2 g . modL field3 h
-chris On 11 sep 2010, at 19:21, Jonathan Geddes wrote:
I know that record updates is a topic that has become a bit of a dead horse, but here I go anyway:
I find that most of the record updates I read and write take the form
someUpdate :: MyRecord -> MyRecord someUpdate myRecord = myRecord { field1 = f $ field1 myRecord , field2 = g $ field2 myRecord , field3 = h $ filed3 myRecord }
I find myself wishing I could write something more like
someUpdate :: MyRecord -> MyRecord someUpdate myRecord = myRecord { field1 => f , field2 => g , field3 => h }
with equivalent semantics. Here => reads "is transformed by". Operator = could still be used for assignment as in current record updates.
The best part about such an extension, in my opinion, is that it would open the door for anonymous lambda record updates. Something like:
someUpdate :: MyRecord -> MyRecord someUpdate = \{field1 => f, field2 => g, field3 => h}
again, with the same semantics. This becomes possible because you no longer need to refer to the record within the {} part of the update.
This would be useful, for example, in the State monad. We could write:
someStateTransform :: State MyRecord () someStateTransform = do modify $ \{field1 => (++"!")} ...
where currently we see code like
someStateTransform :: State MyRecord () someStateTransform = do modify $ \record->record{field1 = (++"!") $ field1 record} ...
which repeats the record name 3 times and the field name twice. The repetition just feels out of place next to all the other terse, readable Haskell code in the program.
So what do my fellow haskellers think? Is this idea worth writing up a proposal for?
Alternatively, can you offer me some advice on writing code in Haskell 2010 that avoids the ugly, repetitive style of record update?
--Jonathan _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe