/usr/local/lib/swipl/library/aggregate.pl
All Application Manual Name SummaryHelp

  • swipl
    • library
      • error.pl
      • debug.pl
      • apply.pl -- Apply predicates on a list
      • lists.pl -- List Manipulation
      • broadcast.pl -- Event service
      • shlib.pl -- Utility library for loading foreign objects (DLLs, shared objects)
      • option.pl -- Option list processing
      • thread_pool.pl -- Resource bounded thread management
      • gensym.pl -- Generate unique symbols
      • 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
      • record.pl -- Access compound arguments by name
      • quasi_quotations.pl -- Define Quasi Quotation syntax
      • pure_input.pl -- Pure Input from files and streams
      • solution_sequences.pl
      • ordsets.pl -- Ordered set manipulation
      • random.pl -- Random numbers
      • 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 -- Sandboxed Prolog code
      • apply_macros.pl -- Goal expansion rules to avoid meta-calling
      • assoc.pl -- Binary associations
      • prolog_format.pl -- Analyse format specifications
      • predicate_options.pl
      • 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 -- Finding and counting sub-terms
      • prolog_xref.pl -- Prolog cross-referencer data collection
      • prolog_colour.pl -- Prolog syntax colouring support.
      • 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
      • prolog_clause.pl
      • prolog_breakpoints.pl -- Manage Prolog break-points
      • wfs.pl -- Well Founded Semantics interface
      • prolog_code.pl -- Utilities for reasoning about code
      • sort.pl
      • dicts.pl -- Dict utilities
      • dif.pl -- The dif/2 constraint
      • varnumbers.pl -- Utilities for numbered terms
      • pio.pl -- Pure I/O
      • ctypes.pl
      • tables.pl -- XSB interface to tables
      • check.pl -- Consistency checking
      • base32.pl -- Base32 encoding and decoding
      • charsio.pl
      • codesio.pl -- I/O on Lists of Character Codes
      • coinduction.pl -- Co-Logic Programming
      • heaps.pl -- heaps/priority queues
      • rbtrees.pl -- Red black trees
      • statistics.pl -- Get information about resource usage
      • when.pl -- Conditional coroutining
      • backcomp.pl -- Backward compatibility
      • increval.pl -- Incremental dynamic predicate modification
      • shell.pl -- Elementary shell commands
      • help.pl -- Text based manual
      • listing.pl -- List programs and pretty print clauses
      • quintus.pl -- Quintus compatibility
      • make.pl -- Reload modified source files
      • strings.pl -- String utilities
      • ansi_term.pl -- Print decorated text to ANSI consoles
      • prolog_versions.pl -- Demand specific (Prolog) versions
      • prolog_jiti.pl
      • oset.pl
      • prolog_profile.pl -- Execution profiler
      • prolog_autoload.pl
      • prolog_codewalk.pl -- Prolog code walker
      • threadutil.pl -- Interactive thread utilities
      • thread.pl -- High level thread primitives
      • files.pl
      • prolog_debug.pl -- User level debugging tools
      • prolog_coverage.pl -- Coverage analysis tool
      • edit.pl -- Editor interface
      • prolog_config.pl
      • rwlocks.pl -- Read/write locks
      • zip.pl
      • prolog_metainference.pl
      • intercept.pl
      • streams.pl -- Manage Prolog streams
      • optparse.pl -- command line parsing
      • exceptions.pl -- Exception classification
      • prolog_trace.pl -- Print access to predicates
      • macros.pl -- Macro expansion
      • readln.pl
      • fastrw.pl
      • tty.pl -- Terminal operations
      • nb_set.pl
      • explain.pl -- Describe Prolog Terms
      • portray_text.pl
      • hashtable.pl
      • prolog_wrap.pl -- Wrapping predicates
      • writef.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)).