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

  • 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 -- 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 -- Examine Prolog source-files
      • 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 -- Modify solution sequences
      • ordsets.pl -- Ordered set manipulation
      • 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 -- Lambda expressions
      • 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 -- Run GIT commands
      • utf8.pl -- UTF-8 encoding/decoding on lists of character codes.
      • dialect.pl -- Support multiple Prolog dialects
      • system.pl
      • 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
      • edinburgh.pl -- Some traditional Edinburgh predicates
      • prolog_clause.pl
      • prolog_breakpoints.pl -- Manage Prolog break-points
      • wfs.pl -- Well Founded Semantics interface
      • prolog_code.pl
      • sort.pl
      • dicts.pl -- Dict utilities
      • dif.pl
      • varnumbers.pl
      • pio.pl
      • 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 -- Red black trees
      • statistics.pl -- Get information about resource usage
      • when.pl -- Conditional coroutining
      • backcomp.pl -- Backward compatibility
      • prolog_jiti.pl -- Just In Time Indexing (JITI) utilities
      • intercept.pl -- Intercept and signal interface
      • increval.pl -- Incremental dynamic predicate modification
      • tables.pl -- XSB interface to tables
      • prolog_codewalk.pl
      • listing.pl -- List programs and pretty print clauses
      • prolog_metainference.pl -- Infer meta-predicate properties
      • hashtable.pl
      • prolog_profile.pl
      • prolog_trace.pl -- Print access to predicates
      • threadutil.pl -- Interactive thread utilities
      • prolog_debug.pl
      • thread.pl -- High level thread primitives
      • quintus.pl -- Quintus compatibility
      • ctypes.pl -- Character code classification
      • optparse.pl -- command line parsing
      • make.pl -- Reload modified source files
      • ansi_term.pl -- Print decorated text to ANSI consoles
      • edit.pl
      • fastrw.pl -- Fast reading and writing of terms
      • writef.pl -- Old-style formatted write
      • prolog_versions.pl -- Demand specific (Prolog) versions
      • macros.pl -- Macro expansion
      • portray_text.pl
      • strings.pl -- String utilities
      • prolog_coverage.pl
      • help.pl
      • qsave.pl
      • zip.pl
      • prolog_autoload.pl
      • check.pl -- Consistency checking
      • shell.pl
      • nb_set.pl -- Non-backtrackable sets
      • tty.pl -- Terminal operations
      • prolog_wrap.pl
      • streams.pl -- Manage Prolog streams
      • rwlocks.pl
      • files.pl
      • prolog_config.pl
      • exceptions.pl
      • oset.pl
      • readln.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)).