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Minor improvements to 'pcase' documentation

* doc/lispref/control.texi (Pattern matching case statement):
Improve the documentation of 'pcase' per comments.  See two
discussion threads on emacs-devel@gnu.org for the details:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2016-01/msg01335.html
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2016-01/msg01336.html.
This commit is contained in:
Eli Zaretskii 2016-01-29 11:40:31 +02:00
parent 7257815df1
commit d7a93efd0e

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@ -304,15 +304,15 @@ is useful to select alternatives based on more general conditions that
distinguish between broad classes of values. The @code{pcase} macro
allows you to choose between alternatives based on matching the value
of an expression against a series of patterns. A pattern can be a
literal value (comparison to literal values is what @code{cond} does),
or it can be a more general description of the expected structure of
the expression's value.
literal value (for comparisons to literal values you'd use
@code{cond}), or it can be a more general description of the expected
structure of the expression's value.
@defmac pcase expression &rest clauses
Evaluate @var{expression} and choose among an arbitrary number of
alternatives based on the value of @var{expression}. The possible
alternatives are specified by @var{clauses}, each of which must be a
list of the form @code{(@var{pattern} @var{body-forms})}.
list of the form @code{(@var{pattern} @var{body-forms}@dots{})}.
@code{pcase} tries to match the value of @var{expression} to the
@var{pattern} of each clause, in textual order. If the value matches,
the clause succeeds; @code{pcase} then evaluates its @var{body-forms},
@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ Note: In the description of the patterns below, we use ``the value
being matched'' to refer to the value of the @var{expression} that is
the first argument of @code{pcase}.
A UPattern can have one of the following forms:
A UPattern can have the following forms:
@table @code
@ -337,7 +337,8 @@ Matches if the value being matched is @code{equal} to @var{val}.
@item @var{atom}
Matches any @var{atom}, which can be a keyword, a number, or a string.
(These are self-quoting, so this kind of UPattern is actually a
shorthand for @code{'@var{atom}}.)
shorthand for @code{'@var{atom}}.) Note that a string or a float
matches any string or float with the same contents/value.
@item _
Matches any value. This is known as @dfn{don't care} or @dfn{wildcard}.
@item @var{symbol}
@ -362,7 +363,8 @@ Matches if the specified @var{expression} matches the specified
an @emph{arbitrary} expression, not just the expression that is the
first argument to @code{pcase}. (It is called @code{let} because
@var{upattern} can bind symbols to values using the @var{symbol}
UPattern.)
UPattern. For example:
@w{@code{((or `(key . ,val) (let val 5)) val)}}.)
@item (app @var{function} @var{upattern})
Matches if @var{function} applied to the value being matched returns a
value that matches @var{upattern}. This is like the @code{pred}
@ -407,24 +409,27 @@ Here's an illustrative example of using UPatterns:
(code (message "Unknown return code %S" code)))
@end example
The QPatterns are more powerful. They allow matching the value of the
@var{expression} that is the first argument of @code{pcase} against
specifications of its @emph{structure}. For example, you can specify
that the value must be a list of 2 elements whose first element is a
string and the second element is a number. QPatterns can have one of
the following forms:
In addition, you can use backquoted patterns that are more powerful.
They allow matching the value of the @var{expression} that is the
first argument of @code{pcase} against specifications of its
@emph{structure}. For example, you can specify that the value must be
a list of 2 elements whose first element is a specific string and the
second element is any value with a backquoted pattern like
@code{`("first" ,second-elem)}.
Backquoted patterns have the form @code{`@var{qpattern}} where
@var{qpattern} can have the following forms:
@table @code
@item `(@var{qpattern1} . @var{qpattern2})
@item (@var{qpattern1} . @var{qpattern2})
Matches if the value being matched is a cons cell whose @code{car}
matches @var{qpattern1} and whose @code{cdr} matches @var{qpattern2}.
@item `[@var{qpattern1} @var{qpattern2} @dots{} @var{qpatternm}]
This readily generalizes to backquoted lists as in
@w{@code{(@var{qpattern1} @var{qpattern2} @dots{})}}.
@item [@var{qpattern1} @var{qpattern2} @dots{} @var{qpatternm}]
Matches if the value being matched is a vector of length @var{m} whose
@code{0}..@code{(@var{m}-1)}th elements match @var{qpattern1},
@var{qpattern2} @dots{} @var{qpatternm}, respectively.
@item `(,@var{upattern1} ,@var{upattern2} @dots{})
Matches if the value being matched is a list whose elements match the
corresponding @var{upattern1}, @var{upattern2}, etc.
@item @var{atom}
Matches if corresponding element of the value being matched is
@code{equal} to the specified @var{atom}.
@ -433,6 +438,13 @@ Matches if the corresponding element of the value being matched
matches the specified @var{upattern}.
@end table
Note that uses of QPatterns can be expressed using only UPatterns, as
QPatterns are implemented on top of UPatterns using
@code{pcase-defmacro}, described below. However, using QPatterns will
in many cases lead to a more readable code.
@c FIXME: There should be an example here showing how a 'pcase' that
@c uses QPatterns can be rewritten using UPatterns.
@end defmac
Here is an example of using @code{pcase} to implement a simple
@ -476,8 +488,11 @@ Additional UPatterns can be defined using the @code{pcase-defmacro}
macro.
@defmac pcase-defmacro name args &rest body
Define a new UPattern for @code{pcase}. The UPattern will have the
form @code{(@var{name} @var{args})}.
Define a new kind of UPattern for @code{pcase}. The new UPattern will
be invoked as @code{(@var{name} @var{actual-args})}. The @var{body}
should describe how to rewrite the UPattern @var{name} into some other
UPattern. The rewriting will be the result of evaluating @var{body}
in an environment where @var{args} are bound to @var{actual-args}.
@end defmac
@node Combining Conditions