/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
      • 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
      • prolog_source.pl -- Examine Prolog source-files
      • record.pl -- Access compound arguments by name
      • quasi_quotations.pl -- Define Quasi Quotation syntax
      • pure_input.pl
      • solution_sequences.pl -- Modify solution sequences
      • 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 -- 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
      • 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
      • www_browser.pl -- Open a URL in the users browser
      • prolog_pack.pl
      • 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 -- 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
      • make.pl -- Reload modified source files
      • thread.pl -- High level thread primitives
      • prolog_jiti.pl -- Just In Time Indexing (JITI) utilities
      • listing.pl
      • base32.pl -- Base32 encoding and decoding
      • 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
      • zip.pl -- Access resource ZIP archives
      • prolog_autoload.pl -- Autoload all dependencies
      • check.pl -- Consistency checking
      • edit.pl -- Editor interface
      • prolog_debug.pl -- User level debugging tools
      • ctypes.pl -- Character code classification
      • intercept.pl
      • quintus.pl -- Quintus compatibility
      • prolog_codewalk.pl -- Prolog code walker
      • prolog_metainference.pl
      • ansi_term.pl -- Print decorated text to ANSI consoles
      • prolog_versions.pl -- Demand specific (Prolog) versions
      • shell.pl
      • rwlocks.pl
      • threadutil.pl -- Interactive thread utilities
      • prolog_profile.pl
      • prolog_coverage.pl -- Coverage analysis tool
      • oset.pl
      • optparse.pl -- command line parsing
      • explain.pl -- Describe Prolog Terms
      • nb_set.pl
      • strings.pl -- String utilities
      • portray_text.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)).