/usr/local/lib/swipl/library/aggregate.pl
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  • swipl
    • library
      • error.pl
      • debug.pl
      • apply.pl -- Apply predicates on a list
      • lists.pl
      • broadcast.pl
      • shlib.pl
      • option.pl -- Option list processing
      • thread_pool.pl
      • gensym.pl
      • settings.pl -- Setting management
      • arithmetic.pl
      • main.pl
      • readutil.pl
      • operators.pl -- Manage operators
      • pairs.pl
      • prolog_source.pl
      • record.pl
      • quasi_quotations.pl
      • pure_input.pl
      • solution_sequences.pl
      • ordsets.pl
      • random.pl
      • base64.pl -- Base64 encoding and decoding
      • 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
      • sandbox.pl
      • apply_macros.pl -- Goal expansion rules to avoid meta-calling
      • assoc.pl -- Binary associations
      • prolog_format.pl
      • predicate_options.pl
      • csv.pl
      • pprint.pl -- Pretty Print Prolog terms
      • atom.pl
      • modules.pl
      • occurs.pl
      • prolog_xref.pl
      • prolog_colour.pl
      • lazy_lists.pl -- Lazy list handling
      • ugraphs.pl
      • url.pl -- Analysing and constructing URL
      • www_browser.pl
      • prolog_pack.pl -- A package manager for Prolog
      • git.pl
      • utf8.pl
      • dialect.pl
      • system.pl -- System utilities
      • terms.pl
      • date.pl -- Process dates and times
      • persistency.pl
      • iostream.pl -- Utilities to deal with streams
      • prolog_stack.pl
      • edinburgh.pl
      • prolog_clause.pl
      • prolog_breakpoints.pl
      • wfs.pl -- Well Founded Semantics interface
      • prolog_code.pl
      • sort.pl
      • dicts.pl
      • dif.pl
      • varnumbers.pl
      • pio.pl
      • base32.pl
      • charsio.pl
      • codesio.pl -- I/O on Lists of Character Codes
      • coinduction.pl
      • heaps.pl -- heaps/priority queues
      • rbtrees.pl
      • statistics.pl -- Get information about resource usage
      • when.pl
      • backcomp.pl
      • prolog_codewalk.pl -- Prolog code walker
      • prolog_metainference.pl
      • intercept.pl
      • explain.pl
      • hashtable.pl -- Hash tables
      • strings.pl
      • ctypes.pl
      • quintus.pl
      • listing.pl
      • shell.pl -- Elementary shell commands
      • readln.pl
      • portray_text.pl
      • prolog_debug.pl -- User level debugging tools
      • increval.pl
      • tables.pl
      • prolog_profile.pl
      • prolog_coverage.pl
      • check.pl
      • files.pl
      • zip.pl
      • exceptions.pl
      • optparse.pl -- command line parsing
      • tty.pl
      • prolog_history.pl
      • prolog_config.pl
      • fastrw.pl
      • prolog_trace.pl
      • prolog_wrap.pl
      • writef.pl
      • make.pl
      • macros.pl
      • threadutil.pl -- Interactive thread utilities
      • ansi_term.pl
      • thread.pl -- High level thread primitives
      • prolog_versions.pl -- Demand specific (Prolog) versions
      • nb_set.pl
      • streams.pl
      • prolog_autoload.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)).