Incorrect elimination of X in the inductive type "or": - coq

Question

I am trying to define a relatively simple function on Coq:
(* Preliminaries *)
Require Import Vector.
Definition Vnth {A:Type} {n} (v : Vector.t A n) : forall i, i < n -> A. admit. Defined.
(* Problematic definition below *)
Definition VnthIndexMapped {A:Type}
{i o:nat}
(x: Vector.t (option A) i)
(f': nat -> option nat)
(f'_spec: forall x, x<o ->
(forall z,(((f' x) = Some z) -> z < i)) \/
(f' x = None))
(n:nat) (np: n<o)
: option A
:=
match (f' n) as fn, (f'_spec n np) return f' n = fn -> option A with
| None, _ => fun _ => None
| Some z, or_introl zc1 => fun p => Vnth x z (zc1 z p)
| Some z, or_intror _ => fun _ => None (* impossible case *)
end.
And getting the following error:
Error:
Incorrect elimination of "f'_spec n np" in the inductive type "or":
the return type has sort "Type" while it should be "Prop".
Elimination of an inductive object of sort Prop
is not allowed on a predicate in sort Type
because proofs can be eliminated only to build proofs.
I think I understand the reason for this limitation, but I am having difficulty coming up with a workaround. How something like this could be implemented? Basically I have a function f' for which I have a separate proof that values less than 'o' it either returns None or a (Some z) where z is less than i and I am trying to use it in my definition.

Answer 1

There are two approaches to a problem like this: the easy way and the hard way.
The easy way is to think whether you're doing anything more complicated than you have to. In this case, if you look carefully, you will see that your f'_spec is equivalent to the following statement, which avoids \/:
Lemma f'_spec_equiv i o (f': nat -> option nat) :
(forall x, x<o ->
(forall z,(((f' x) = Some z) -> z < i)) \/
(f' x = None))
<-> (forall x, x<o -> forall z,(((f' x) = Some z) -> z < i)).
Proof.
split.
- intros f'_spec x Hx z Hf.
destruct (f'_spec _ Hx); eauto; congruence.
- intros f'_spec x Hx.
left. eauto.
Qed.
Thus, you could have rephrased the type of f'_spec in VnthIndexedMapped and used the proof directly.
Of course, sometimes there's no way of making things simpler. Then you need to follow the hard way, and try to understand the nitty-gritty details of Coq to make it accept what you want.
As Vinz pointed out, you usually (there are exceptions) can't eliminate the proof of proposition to construct something computational. However, you can eliminate a proof to construct another proof, and maybe that proof gives you what need. For instance, you can write this:
Definition VnthIndexMapped {A:Type}
{i o:nat}
(x: Vector.t (option A) i)
(f': nat -> option nat)
(f'_spec: forall x, x<o ->
(forall z,(((f' x) = Some z) -> z < i)) \/
(f' x = None))
(n:nat) (np: n<o)
: option A
:=
match (f' n) as fn return f' n = fn -> option A with
| None => fun _ => None
| Some z => fun p =>
let p' := proj1 (f'_spec_equiv i o f') f'_spec n np z p in
Vnth x z p'
end eq_refl.
This definition uses the proof that both formulations of f'_spec are equivalent, but the same idea would apply if they weren't, and you had some lemma allowing you to go from one to the other.
I personally don't like this style very much, as it is hard to use and lends itself to programs that are complicated to read. But it can have its uses...

Answer 2

The issue is that you want to build a term by inspecting the content of f'_spec. This disjunction lives in Prop, so it can only build other Prop. You want to build more, something in Type. Therefore you need a version of disjunction that lives at least in Set (more generally in Type). I advise you replace your Foo \/ Bar statement with the usage of sumbool, which uses the notation {Foo}+{Bar}.