mtl-2.2.1: Monad classes, using functional dependencies

Copyright(c) Andy Gill 2001, (c) Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology 2001, (c) Jeff Newbern 2003-2007, (c) Andriy Palamarchuk 2007
LicenseBSD-style (see the file LICENSE)
Maintainerlibraries@haskell.org
Stabilityexperimental
Portabilitynon-portable (multi-param classes, functional dependencies)
Safe HaskellSafe
LanguageHaskell98

Control.Monad.Reader

Contents

Description

Computation type:
Computations which read values from a shared environment.
Binding strategy:
Monad values are functions from the environment to a value. The bound function is applied to the bound value, and both have access to the shared environment.
Useful for:
Maintaining variable bindings, or other shared environment.
Zero and plus:
None.
Example type:
Reader [(String,Value)] a

The Reader monad (also called the Environment monad). Represents a computation, which can read values from a shared environment, pass values from function to function, and execute sub-computations in a modified environment. Using Reader monad for such computations is often clearer and easier than using the State monad.

Inspired by the paper Functional Programming with Overloading and Higher-Order Polymorphism, Mark P Jones (http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~mpj/) Advanced School of Functional Programming, 1995.

Synopsis

MonadReader class

class Monad m => MonadReader r m | m -> r where Source

See examples in Control.Monad.Reader. Note, the partially applied function type (->) r is a simple reader monad. See the instance declaration below.

Minimal complete definition

(ask | reader), local

Methods

ask :: m r Source

Retrieves the monad environment.

local Source

Arguments

:: (r -> r)

The function to modify the environment.

-> m a

Reader to run in the modified environment.

-> m a 

Executes a computation in a modified environment.

reader Source

Arguments

:: (r -> a)

The selector function to apply to the environment.

-> m a 

Retrieves a function of the current environment.

asks Source

Arguments

:: MonadReader r m 
=> (r -> a)

The selector function to apply to the environment.

-> m a 

Retrieves a function of the current environment.

The Reader monad

type Reader r = ReaderT r Identity

The parameterizable reader monad.

Computations are functions of a shared environment.

The return function ignores the environment, while >>= passes the inherited environment to both subcomputations.

runReader

Arguments

:: Reader r a

A Reader to run.

-> r

An initial environment.

-> a 

Runs a Reader and extracts the final value from it. (The inverse of reader.)

mapReader :: (a -> b) -> Reader r a -> Reader r b

Transform the value returned by a Reader.

withReader

Arguments

:: (r' -> r)

The function to modify the environment.

-> Reader r a

Computation to run in the modified environment.

-> Reader r' a 

Execute a computation in a modified environment (a specialization of withReaderT).

The ReaderT monad transformer

newtype ReaderT r m a :: * -> (* -> *) -> * -> *

The reader monad transformer, which adds a read-only environment to the given monad.

The return function ignores the environment, while >>= passes the inherited environment to both subcomputations.

Constructors

ReaderT 

Fields

runReaderT :: r -> m a
 

runReaderT :: ReaderT r m a -> r -> m a

mapReaderT :: (m a -> n b) -> ReaderT r m a -> ReaderT r n b

Transform the computation inside a ReaderT.

withReaderT

Arguments

:: forall (m :: * -> *). (r' -> r)

The function to modify the environment.

-> ReaderT r m a

Computation to run in the modified environment.

-> ReaderT r' m a 

Execute a computation in a modified environment (a more general version of local).

Example 1: Simple Reader Usage

In this example the Reader monad provides access to variable bindings. Bindings are a Map of integer variables. The variable count contains number of variables in the bindings. You can see how to run a Reader monad and retrieve data from it with runReader, how to access the Reader data with ask and asks.

 type Bindings = Map String Int;

-- Returns True if the "count" variable contains correct bindings size.
isCountCorrect :: Bindings -> Bool
isCountCorrect bindings = runReader calc_isCountCorrect bindings

-- The Reader monad, which implements this complicated check.
calc_isCountCorrect :: Reader Bindings Bool
calc_isCountCorrect = do
    count <- asks (lookupVar "count")
    bindings <- ask
    return (count == (Map.size bindings))

-- The selector function to  use with 'asks'.
-- Returns value of the variable with specified name.
lookupVar :: String -> Bindings -> Int
lookupVar name bindings = fromJust (Map.lookup name bindings)

sampleBindings = Map.fromList [("count",3), ("1",1), ("b",2)]

main = do
    putStr $ "Count is correct for bindings " ++ (show sampleBindings) ++ ": ";
    putStrLn $ show (isCountCorrect sampleBindings);

Example 2: Modifying Reader Content With local

Shows how to modify Reader content with local.

calculateContentLen :: Reader String Int
calculateContentLen = do
    content <- ask
    return (length content);

-- Calls calculateContentLen after adding a prefix to the Reader content.
calculateModifiedContentLen :: Reader String Int
calculateModifiedContentLen = local ("Prefix " ++) calculateContentLen

main = do
    let s = "12345";
    let modifiedLen = runReader calculateModifiedContentLen s
    let len = runReader calculateContentLen s
    putStrLn $ "Modified 's' length: " ++ (show modifiedLen)
    putStrLn $ "Original 's' length: " ++ (show len)

Example 3: ReaderT Monad Transformer

Now you are thinking: 'Wow, what a great monad! I wish I could use Reader functionality in MyFavoriteComplexMonad!'. Don't worry. This can be easy done with the ReaderT monad transformer. This example shows how to combine ReaderT with the IO monad.

-- The Reader/IO combined monad, where Reader stores a string.
printReaderContent :: ReaderT String IO ()
printReaderContent = do
    content <- ask
    liftIO $ putStrLn ("The Reader Content: " ++ content)

main = do
    runReaderT printReaderContent "Some Content"