/usr/local/lib/swipl/library/aggregate.pl
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  • swipl
    • library
      • error.pl
      • debug.pl -- Print debug messages and test assertions
      • apply.pl -- Apply predicates on a list
      • lists.pl -- List Manipulation
      • broadcast.pl -- Event service
      • shlib.pl
      • option.pl -- Option list processing
      • thread_pool.pl
      • gensym.pl
      • settings.pl -- Setting management
      • arithmetic.pl -- Extensible arithmetic
      • main.pl -- Provide entry point for scripts
      • readutil.pl -- Read utilities
      • operators.pl -- Manage operators
      • pairs.pl -- Operations on key-value lists
      • prolog_source.pl -- Examine Prolog source-files
      • record.pl -- Access compound arguments by name
      • quasi_quotations.pl
      • pure_input.pl
      • solution_sequences.pl
      • ordsets.pl -- Ordered set manipulation
      • random.pl -- Random numbers
      • base64.pl
      • aggregate.pl -- Aggregation operators on backtrackable predicates
        • safe_meta/2
        • aggregate/3
        • aggregate/4
        • aggregate_all/3
        • aggregate_all/4
        • foldall/4
        • foreach/2
        • free_variables/4
      • yall.pl -- Lambda expressions
      • sandbox.pl
      • apply_macros.pl -- Goal expansion rules to avoid meta-calling
      • assoc.pl -- Binary associations
      • prolog_format.pl -- Analyse format specifications
      • predicate_options.pl -- Access and analyse predicate options
      • csv.pl -- Process CSV (Comma-Separated Values) data
      • pprint.pl -- Pretty Print Prolog terms
      • atom.pl -- Operations on atoms
      • modules.pl -- Module utility predicates
      • occurs.pl
      • prolog_xref.pl -- Prolog cross-referencer data collection
      • prolog_colour.pl
      • lazy_lists.pl -- Lazy list handling
      • ugraphs.pl -- Graph manipulation library
      • url.pl -- Analysing and constructing URL
      • www_browser.pl -- Open a URL in the users browser
      • prolog_pack.pl -- A package manager for Prolog
      • git.pl
      • utf8.pl -- UTF-8 encoding/decoding on lists of character codes.
      • dialect.pl -- Support multiple Prolog dialects
      • system.pl -- System utilities
      • terms.pl -- Term manipulation
      • date.pl -- Process dates and times
      • persistency.pl -- Provide persistent dynamic predicates
      • iostream.pl -- Utilities to deal with streams
      • prolog_stack.pl -- Examine the Prolog stack
      • edinburgh.pl -- Some traditional Edinburgh predicates
      • prolog_clause.pl
      • prolog_breakpoints.pl
      • wfs.pl
      • prolog_code.pl -- Utilities for reasoning about code
      • sort.pl
      • dicts.pl -- Dict utilities
      • dif.pl
      • varnumbers.pl -- Utilities for numbered terms
      • pio.pl -- Pure I/O
      • zip.pl -- Access resource ZIP archives
      • base32.pl
      • charsio.pl -- I/O on Lists of Character Codes
      • codesio.pl -- I/O on Lists of Character Codes
      • coinduction.pl -- Co-Logic Programming
      • heaps.pl -- heaps/priority queues
      • rbtrees.pl
      • statistics.pl
      • when.pl -- Conditional coroutining
      • backcomp.pl -- Backward compatibility
      • thread.pl -- High level thread primitives
      • prolog_codewalk.pl
      • listing.pl -- List programs and pretty print clauses
      • prolog_metainference.pl -- Infer meta-predicate properties
      • increval.pl
      • tables.pl -- XSB interface to tables
      • help.pl
      • threadutil.pl -- Interactive thread utilities
      • prolog_debug.pl
      • prolog_profile.pl -- Execution profiler
      • tty.pl -- Terminal operations
      • edit.pl -- Editor interface
      • ctypes.pl -- Character code classification
      • strings.pl -- String utilities
      • ansi_term.pl
      • quintus.pl
      • shell.pl -- Elementary shell commands
      • optparse.pl -- command line parsing
      • make.pl -- Reload modified source files
      • prolog_history.pl
      • prolog_config.pl -- Provide configuration information
      • nb_set.pl
      • prolog_trace.pl
      • prolog_wrap.pl -- Wrapping predicates
      • prolog_autoload.pl -- Autoload all dependencies
      • check.pl -- Consistency checking
      • prolog_versions.pl -- Demand specific (Prolog) versions
      • prolog_jiti.pl -- Just In Time Indexing (JITI) utilities
      • explain.pl
      • writef.pl
      • macros.pl
      • prolog_coverage.pl -- Coverage analysis tool
      • fastrw.pl
 foreach(:Generator, :Goal)
True when the conjunction of instances of Goal created from solutions for Generator is true. Except for term copying, this could be implemented as below.
foreach(Generator, Goal) :-
    findall(Goal, Generator, Goals),
    maplist(call, Goals).

The actual implementation uses findall/3 on a template created from the variables shared between Generator and Goal. Subsequently, it uses every instance of this template to instantiate Goal, call Goal and undo only the instantiation of the template and not other instantiations created by running Goal. Here is an example:

?- foreach(between(1,4,X), dif(X,Y)), Y = 5.
Y = 5.
?- foreach(between(1,4,X), dif(X,Y)), Y = 3.
false.

The predicate foreach/2 is mostly used if Goal performs backtrackable destructive assignment on terms. Attributed variables (underlying constraints) are an example. Another example of a backtrackable data structure is in library(hashtable). If we care only about the side effects (I/O, dynamic database, etc.) or the truth value of Goal, forall/2 is a faster and simpler alternative. If Goal instantiates its arguments it is will often fail as the argument cannot be instantiated to multiple values. It is possible to incrementally grow an argument:

?- foreach(between(1,4,X), member(X, L)).
L = [1,2,3,4|_].

Note that SWI-Prolog up to version 8.3.4 created copies of Goal using copy_term/2 for each iteration, this makes the current implementation unable to properly handle compound terms (in Goal's arguments) that share variables with the Generator. As a workaround you can define a goal that does not use compound terms, like in this example:

mem(E,L) :-  % mem/2 hides the compound argument from foreach/2
   member(r(E),L).

?- foreach(  between(1,5,N), mem(N,L)).