Defining `implicit def` w/ Implicit? - scala

Given:
trait Foo[A]
class B
and then the following implicit def:
implicit def f[A](b: B)(implicit ev: Foo[A]): String = "foo"
I attempted to resolve B => String implicitly, but it failed to compile:
scala> implicitly[B => String]
<console>:15: error: No implicit view available from B => String.
implicitly[B => String]
^
I'm guessing that the implicit Foo[A] is throwing a wrench, so to speak, in my implicit resolution of B => String.
How can I adjust the implicitly's argument, i..e B => String, so that the above compiles?

Similar code using typeclass rather than implicit conversion:
trait MyFunT[A] extends (A => String)
object MyFunT {
/**Factory to easily define an instance from a fun */
def apply[A](f: A => String): MyFunT[A] = new MyFunT[A] {
def apply(a: A): String = f(a)
}
}
implicit def foo[A](implicit ev: Foo[A]) = MyFunT[A] { a: A => /* do something with `a` and `ev` */ "foo" }
Even if implicits based/requiring other implicit are usual, I would advice to take care not to have "too long chain" about that.

Related

Leveraging a generic return type in Scala

So I would like to use a generic return type and be able to use the info of that type within the function. Not sure this is possible but here is what I would like:
def getStuff[A](a: MyObj, b: String): Option[A] = {
// do some stuff
A match {
case String => Some(a.getString(b))
case Integer => Some(a.getInt(b))
...
case _ => None
}
}
However, as you know, A match is not a possibility. Any ideas on how I could achieve this ?
This is a classic case for using a typeclass:
trait StuffGetter[T] { // typeclass
def get(obj: MyObj, s: String): Option[T]
}
implicit val stringGetter = new StuffGetter[String] {
def get(o: MyObj, s: String): Option[String] = ???
}
implicit val intGetter = new StuffGetter[Int] {
def get(o: MyObj, s: String): Option[Int] = ???
}
def getStuff[A](a: MyObj, b: String)(implicit ev: StuffGetter[A]): Option[A] =
ev.get(a, b)
val stuff0 = getStuff[String](obj, "Hello") // calls get on stringGetter
val stuff1 = getStuff[Int](obj, "World") // call get on intGetter
val stuff2 = getStuff[Boolean](obj, "!") // Compile-time error
The StuffGetter trait defines the operations that you want to perform on the generic type, and each implicit value of that trait provides the implementation for a specific type. (For a custom type these are typically place in the companion object for the type; the compiler will look there for them)
When getStuff is called the compiler will look for an implicit instance of StuffGetter with the matching type. This will fail if no such instance exists, otherwise it will be passed in the ev parameter.
The advantage of this is that the "match" is done at compile time and unsupported types are also detected at compile time.
Conceptually we can differentiate between pattern matching at run-time which looks something like this
def getStuff[A](...) =
A match {
...
}
and pattern matching at compile-time which looks something like this
def getStuff[A](...)(implicit ev: Foo[A]) = {
ev.bar(...)
}
Key concept to understand is that types do not exists at run-time because they get "erased" after compilation so there is not enough information to pattern match on types once the program is running. However at compile-time, that is before the program runs, types do exist and Scala provides means to ask the compiler to effectively pattern match on them via implicit/givens mechanism which looks something like so
// type class requirements for type A
trait StringConverter[A] {
def getOptValue(b: String): Option[A]
}
// evidence which types satisfy the type class
implicit val intStringConverter: StringConverter[Int] = (b: String) => b.toIntOption
implicit val strStringConverter: StringConverter[String] = (b: String) => Some(b)
implicit def anyStringConverter[A]: StringConverter[A] = (b: String) => None
// compile-time pattern matching on type A
def getStuff[A](b: String)(implicit ev: StringConverter[A]): Option[A] = {
ev.getOptValue(b)
}
getStuff[Int]("3") // : Option[Int] = Some(value = 3)
getStuff[String]("3") // : Option[String] = Some(value = "3")
getStuff[Double]("3") // : Option[Double] = None
This compile-time pattern matching is called type class pattern.
Understanding the distinction between types and classes is one of the fundamental concepts in Scala https://docs.scala-lang.org/tutorials/FAQ/index.html#whats-the-difference-between-types-and-classes and gorking it will help understand how to write type classes.
Using custom typeclass similar to Getter:
trait KeyedGetter[S, K, A]:
def get(s: S, key: K): Option[A]
case class MyObj(ints: Map[String, Int], strs: Map[String, String])
object MyObj:
given KeyedGetter[MyObj, String, Int] with
def get(m: MyObj, k: String) = m.ints.get(k)
given KeyedGetter[MyObj, String, String] with
def get(m: MyObj, k: String) = m.strs.get(k)
def getStuff[A](m: MyObj, key: String)(using g: KeyedGetter[MyObj, String, A]): Option[A] =
g.get(m, key)
Using class tags:
case class MyObj(ints: Map[String, Int], strs: Map[String, String])
import reflect._
def getStuff[A](m: MyObj, key: String)(using ct: ClassTag[A]): Option[A] = (ct match
case _ if ct == classTag[String] => m.strs.get(key)
case _ if ct == classTag[Int] => m.ints.get(key)
case _ => None
).asInstanceOf[Option[A]]
If the erased types are insufficient, for a similar approach with type tags see this answer (and ignore the rest).

Achieving Ad hoc polymorphism at function parameter level (mixing parameters of different type)

When I have a function in Scala:
def toString[T: Show](xs: T*): String = paths.map(_.show).mkString
And the following type class instances in scope:
implicit val showA: Show[MyTypeA]
implicit val showB: Show[MyTypeB]
I can use function toString in the following ways:
val a1: MyTypeA
val a2: MyTypeA
val stringA = toString(a1, a2)
val b1: MyTypeB
val b2: MyTypeB
val stringB = toString(b1, b2)
But I cannot call toString mixing parameters of type MyTypeA and MyTypeB:
// doesn't compile, T is inferred to be of type Any
toString(a1, b1)
Is it possible to redefine toString in such a way that it becomes possible to mix parameters of different types (but only for which a Show typeclass is available)?
Note that I am aware of the cats show interpolator which solves this specific example, but I'm looking for a solution which can be applied to different cases as well (e.g. toNumber).
I am also aware of circumventing the problem by calling .show on the parameters before passing them to the toString function, but I'm looking for a way to avoid this as it results in code duplication.
Example with shapeless:
object myToString extends ProductArgs { //ProductArgs allows changing variable number of arguments to HList
//polymorphic function to iterate over values of HList and change to a string using Show instances
object showMapper extends Poly1 {
implicit def caseShow[V](implicit show: Show[V]): Case.Aux[V, String] = {
at[V](v => show.show(v))
}
}
def applyProduct[ARepr <: HList](
l: ARepr
)(
implicit mapper: Mapper[showMapper.type, ARepr]
): String = l.map(showMapper).mkString("", "", "")
}
Now let's test it:
case class Test1(value: String)
case class Test2(value: String)
case class Test3(value: String)
implicit val show1: Show[Test1] = Show.show(_.value)
implicit val show2: Show[Test2] = Show.show(_.value)
println(myToString(Test1("a"), Test2("b"))) //"ab"
println(myToString(Test1("a"), Test2("b"), Test3("c"))) //won't compile since there's no instance of Show for Test3
By the way, I think toString is not the best name, because probably it can cause weird conflicts with toString from java.lang.Object.
If you don't want to mess with shapeless, another solution that comes to my mind is to just create functions with different arity:
def toString[A: Show](a: A): String = ???
def toString[A: Show, B: Show](a: A, b: B): String = ???
//etc
It's definitely cumbersome, but it might be the easiest way to solve your problem.
Here's one way to do it in Dotty (note that most of the Dotty-specific features used here are not necessary; they're just to make life easier, but being able to abstract over tuples of different arities is something you can't do (easily) in Scala 2):
opaque type Show[T] = T => String
opaque type ShowTuple[T <: Tuple] = T => String
object ShowTuple {
given ShowTuple[EmptyTuple] = _ => ""
given showTuple[H, T <: Tuple](using show: Show[H], showTail: ShowTuple[T]) as ShowTuple[H *: T] =
{ case h *: t => show(h) + "," + showTail(t) }
}
def multiToString[T <: Tuple](t: T)(using showTuple: ShowTuple[T]) =
showTuple(t)
It can be used like this:
class TypeA(val i: Int)
class TypeB(val s: String)
class TypeC(val b: Boolean)
given Show[TypeA] = t => s"TypeA(${t.i})"
given Show[TypeB] = t => s"TypeB(${t.s})"
given Show[TypeC] = t => s"TypeC(${t.b})"
println(multiToString((new TypeA(10), new TypeB("foo"), new TypeC(true))))
Using a type for which an implicit is not given fails:
class TypeD
multiToString((new TypeA(10), new TypeB("foo"), new TypeC(true), new TypeD))
Try it in Scastie
What is the type of paths?
If it's List[T] then there should be an implicit Show[T] in scope.
If it's List[Any] then there should be an implicit Show[Any] in scope.
If paths contains elements of different types and paths is not a List[Any] then paths shouldn't be a List[...] at all. It can be of type L <: HList. You can try
import shapeless.{HList, HNil, Poly1, Poly2}
import shapeless.ops.hlist.{LeftReducer, Mapper}
trait Show[T] {
def show(t: T): String
}
implicit class ShowOps[T](t: T) {
def show(implicit s: Show[T]): String = s.show(t)
}
object show extends Poly1 {
implicit def cse[T: Show]: Case.Aux[T, String] = at(_.show)
}
object concat extends Poly2 {
implicit def cse: Case.Aux[String, String, String] = at(_ + _)
}
def toString[L <: HList, L1 <: HList](xs: L)(implicit
mapper: Mapper.Aux[show.type, L, L1],
reducer: LeftReducer.Aux[L1, concat.type, String]
): String = xs.map(show).reduceLeft(concat)
type MyTypeA
type MyTypeB
implicit val showA: Show[MyTypeA] = ???
implicit val showB: Show[MyTypeB] = ???
val a1: MyTypeA = ???
val b1: MyTypeB = ???
toString(a1 :: b1 :: HNil)

Scala: implicitly convert Option to Option of implicit class [duplicate]

I'm trying to write a function which re-uses the implicit conversions which I have for Object A -> Object B when they are wrapped in an Option in a generic way so that Option[A] -> Option[B] conversions also work.
What I've come up with is:
implicit def fromOptionToOption[A, B](from: Option[A])(implicit conversion: (A) => B): Option[B] = from.map(conversion(_))
This works when I assign a Some(..) to a value but not when I assign an Option val; see the following console output:
scala> trait T
defined trait T
scala> case class Foo(i: Int) extends T
defined class Foo
scala> case class Bar(i: Int) extends T
defined class Bar
scala> implicit def fromFooToBar(f: Foo):Bar = Bar(f.i)
fromFooToBar: (f: Foo)Bar
scala> implicit def fromBarToFoo(b: Bar):Foo = Foo(b.i)
fromBarToFoo: (b: Bar)Foo
scala> implicit def fromOptionToOption[A, B](from: Option[A])(implicit conversion: (A) => B): Option[B] = from.map(conversion(_))
fromOptionToOption: [A, B](from: Option[A])(implicit conversion: (A) => B)Option[B]
scala> val foo: Option[Foo] = Some(Bar(1))
foo: Option[Foo] = Some(Foo(1))
// THIS WORKS as expected
scala> val fooOpt = Some(Foo(4))
fooOpt: Some[Foo] = Some(Foo(4))
scala> val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
<console>:16: error: type mismatch;
found : Some[Foo]
required: Option[Bar]
val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
^
//THIS FAILS.
I don't really see the difference between the first and second conversion. Somehow it doesn't invoke the implicit conversion in the latter. I guess it has something to do with the type system, but I can't see how just yet. Any ideas?
-Albert
(I'm on scala 2.9.1)
Here's clue:
scala> val fooOpt: Option[Bar] = Option(Foo(1))
fooOpt: Option[Bar] = Some(Bar(1))
And another:
scala> implicit def foobar(x: String): Int = augmentString(x).toInt
foobar: (x: String)Int
scala> val y: Option[String] = Option(1)
y: Option[String] = Some(1)
scala> val y: Option[Int] = Option("1")
y: Option[Int] = Some(1)
Looks like a legitimately odd bug. I'd pop open a smaller test case and open an issue (or search for one in JIRA).
As an aside:
You could use some category theory to handle lots of different types of "Option-ish" things.
package object fun {
trait Functor[Container[_]] {
def fmap[A,B](x: Container[A], f: A => B): Container[B]
}
object Functor {
implicit object optionFunctor extends Functor[Option] {
override def fmap[A,B](x: Option[A], f: A => B): Option[B] = x map f
}
// Note: With some CanBuildFrom magic, we can support Traversables here.
}
implicit def liftConversion[F[_], A, B](x: F[A])(implicit f: A => B, functor: Functor[F]): F[B] =
functor.fmap(x,f)
}
That's a bit more advanced, as you're mapping some category theory FP onto the problem, but it's a more general solution to lift implicit conversations into containers as needed. Notice how they chain by using one implicit conversation method that takes a more limited implicit argument.
ALSO, this should make the examples work:
scala> val tmp = Option(Foo(1))
tmp: Option[Foo] = Some(Foo(1))
scala> val y: Option[Bar] = tmp
y: Option[Bar] = Some(Bar(1))
And make your usage of Some more dangerous:
scala> val tmp = Some(Foo(1))
tmp: Some[Foo] = Some(Foo(1))
scala> val y: Option[Bar] = tmp
<console>:25: error: could not find implicit value for parameter functor: fun.Functor[Some]
val y: Option[Bar] = tmp
^
That's telling you that variance is critical, and interacts with implicits. My guess is you ran into a very rare, probably hard to fix bug that can be avoided using other techniques.
You might not be aware of it, but there's a flag for that: -Xlog-implicits. And this is what it says:
scala> val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
fromOptionToOption is not a valid implicit value for Some[Foo] => Option[Bar] because:
incompatible: (from: Option[Foo])(implicit conversion: Foo => B)Option[B] does not match expected type Some[Foo] => Option[Bar]
<console>:16: error: type mismatch;
found : Some[Foo]
required: Option[Bar]
val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
^
And there you go -- it doesn't know what type B must be. 0__ mentioned that this problem doesn't happen with invariant collections, and that makes some sense. In invariant collections, B must be exactly Bar, while for covariant collections it could be any subtype of Bar.
So, why does val foo: Option[Foo] = Some(Bar(1)) work? Well, there's a flag for that too... -Ytyper-debug. Not for the weak, however, given the extreme verbosity.
I waddled through anyway, comparing what happens in both cases, and the answer is rather simple... it's not the Option that is being converted in that case, but Bar! Remember, you declared an implicit conversion from Bar => Foo, so it is applying that conversion before passing the result to Some!
It doesn't work because the Scala Language Specification defines view as follows:
Implicit parameters and methods can also define implicit conversions called views. A view from type S to type T is defined by an implicit value which has function type S=>T or (=>S)=>T or by a method convertible to a value of that type.
fromOptionToOption doesn't conform to the three categories since it takes an implicit parameter. Compiler doesn't seem to find converter with both destination and source having generic type.
Defining a view from Option[Foo] to Option[Bar] works as expected.
trait T
case class Foo(i: Int) extends T
case class Bar(i: Int) extends T
object Main {
implicit def fromFooToBar(f: Foo):Bar = Bar(f.i)
implicit def fromBarToFoo(b: Bar):Foo = Foo(b.i)
// implicit def fromOptionToOption[A, B](from: Option[A])(implicit conversion: (A) => B): Option[B] =
// from.map(conversion(_))
implicit def fromOptionFooToOptionBar(o: Option[Foo]): Option[Bar] = o map { foo => foo }
def test(): Option[Bar] = {
val fooOpt = Some(Foo(4))
val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
barOpt2
}
}
println(Main.test)
Running this prints out:
$ scala so.scala
Some(Bar(4))
However, all is not lost. It's not as nice as general Option to Option, but we can do something like anything that can turn into Bar to Option[Bar] by view bound.
trait T
case class Foo(i: Int) extends T
case class Bar(i: Int) extends T
object Main {
implicit def fromFooToBar(f: Foo):Bar = Bar(f.i)
implicit def fromBarToFoo(b: Bar):Foo = Foo(b.i)
implicit def fromOptionToOptionBar[A <% Bar](from: Option[A]): Option[Bar] =
from map { foo => foo }
def test(): Option[Bar] = {
val fooOpt = Some(Foo(4))
val barOpt2: Option[Bar] = fooOpt
barOpt2
}
}
println(Main.test)
Here's another workaround that can be used for general Option to Option but requires extra .convert call:
trait T
case class Foo(i: Int) extends T
case class Bar(i: Int) extends T
case class Converter[A](x: Option[A]) {
def convert[B](implicit ev: Function1[A, B]): Option[B] = x map { a: A => ev(a) }
}
object Main {
implicit def optionToConverter[A](x: Option[A]) = Converter(x)
implicit def fooToBar(x: Foo) = Bar(x.i)
def test(): Option[Bar] = {
val fooOpt = Some(Foo(4))
val barOpt: Option[Bar] = fooOpt.convert
barOpt
}
}
println(Main.test)
Indeed it's a very strange problem. I tried to use another type than Option, and it turns out that the problem is that Option is covariant in its type parameter. This works all:
case class A[B](value: B) // invariant in B
case class X()
case class Y()
implicit def xtoy(x: X): Y = Y()
implicit def ytox(x: Y): X = X()
implicit def movea[U, V](from: A[U])(implicit view: U => V): A[V] = A[V](from.value)
def test(a: A[Y]) = "ok"
test(A(X())) // (1)
val f = A(X())
test(f) // (2)
But if instead I define A as
case class A[+B](value: B) // covariant in B
The case (2) fails. Case (1) always succeeds, because Scala already converts X to Y before wrapping it in an A.
Now that we know the problem source, you need to wait for a type guru to explain why this is actually a problem... The conversion is still valid, you see:
askForY(movea(f)) // succeeds, even with A[+B]
I improved #jseureth answer and added support for Traversable:
trait Mappable[A, B, C[_]] {
def apply(f: A => B): C[B]
}
package object app {
implicit class OptionMappable[A, B, C[X] <: Option[X]](option: C[A]) extends Mappable[A, B, Option] {
override def apply(f: A => B): Option[B] = option.map(f)
}
implicit class TraversableMappable[A, B, C[X] <: Traversable[X]](traversable: C[A])
(implicit cbf: CanBuildFrom[C[A], B, C[B]]) extends Mappable[A, B, C] {
override def apply(f: A => B): C[B] = {
val builder = cbf(traversable)
builder.sizeHint(traversable)
builder ++= traversable.map(f)
builder.result()
}
}
implicit def liftConversion[C[_], A, B](x: C[A])
(implicit f: A => B, m: C[A] => Mappable[A, B, C]): C[B] = m(x)(f)
}
Now you can implicitly convert options and traversables:
implicit def f(i: Int): String = s"$i"
val a: Option[String] = Some(1)
val b: Seq[String] = Seq(1, 2, 3)

How to override 'apply' in a Function with multiple parameter lists?

I'm trying to make an instance of this type of function object:
trait CanGetSiblingDock[S, D]
extends (D => String => S => Option[D])
with this:
implicit val getSiblingDock = new CanGetSiblingDock[Situation, Dock] {
def apply(dock: Dock)(siblingName: String)(sit: Situation): Option[Dock] = ???
}
The compiler objects:
error: object creation impossible, since method apply in trait Function1 of type (v1: FARG.Dock)String => (TestFARGModel4.this.Situation => Option[FARG.Dock]) is not defined
(Note that T1 does not match FARG.Dock)
implicit val getSiblingDock = new CanGetSiblingDock[Situation, Dock] {
^
If I understand this correctly, the compiler is complaining that the first argument of apply is not of type Dock. It appears to me, though, that it is.
Obviously, I'm misunderstanding something somewhere. How do you correctly make an instance of a Function with multiple parameter lists?
Something like:
scala> trait F extends (String => Int => Int)
defined trait F
scala> object X extends F { def apply(s: String): Int => Int = ??? }
defined object X
The type A => B => C is not Function2[A, B, C], for which the apply method would be def apply(a: A, b: B): C. But instead this is Function1[A, Function1[B, C]], like a curried function. If you want a Function2, you would have to write:
trait Foo extends Function2[Int, String, Boolean] {
override def apply(a: Int, b: String): Boolean = ???
}
If now you want multiple parameter lists, you would have to overload apply:
trait Foo extends Function2[Int, String, Boolean] {
override def apply(a: Int, b: String): Boolean = ???
def apply(a: Int)(b: String): Boolean = apply(a, b)
}
This is not possible because after erasure, both methods would look the same on the byte code level.

Type Class with many type parameters

I have function with a few type parameters. How to tell compiler that these types are actually in type class?
trait Sizeable[-T, +R] {
def mySize(x: T): R
}
implicit object StringSize extends Sizeable[String, Int] {
def mySize(s: String) = s.length
}
def sum[T, R: Sizeable[T, R]](xs: List[T]): R = xs.map(x => x.mySize)
The error is:
Error:(9, 14) A$A40.this.Sizeable[T,R] does not take type parameters
def sum[T, R: Sizeable[T, R]](xs: List[T]): R = xs.map(x => x.mySize);}
You can't use a context bound in this case. You'll have to write the implicit parameter explicitly:
def foo[T, R](xs: List[T])(implicit sizeable: Sizeable[T,R]): List[R] =
xs.map(x => sizeable.mySize(x))