.. index:: arbitrary .. _arbitrary/0:

.. rst-class:: right

category

`arbitrary`

Adds predicates for generating and shrinking random values for selected types to the library type object. User extensible.

| Availability: | logtalk_load(arbitrary(loader))

| Author: Paulo Moura | Version: 2:35:0 | Date: 2024-03-07

| Compilation flags: | static

| Remarks:

Logtalk specific types: entity, object, protocol, category, entity_identifier, object_identifier, protocol_identifier, category_identifier, event, predicate.
Prolog module related types (when the backend compiler supports modules): module, module_identifier, qualified_callable.
Prolog base types: term, var, nonvar, atomic, atom, number, integer, float, compound, callable, ground.
Atom derived types: non_quoted_atom, non_empty_atom, non_empty_atom(CharSet), boolean, character, in_character, char, operator_specifier, hex_char.
Atom derived parametric types: atom(CharSet), atom(CharSet,Length), non_empty_atom(CharSet), character(CharSet), in_character(CharSet), char(CharSet).
Number derived types: positive_number, negative_number, non_positive_number, non_negative_number.
Float derived types: positive_float, negative_float, non_positive_float, non_negative_float, probability.
Integer derived types: positive_integer, negative_integer, non_positive_integer, non_negative_integer, byte, in_byte, character_code, in_character_code, code, operator_priority, hex_code.
Integer derived parametric types: character_code(CharSet), in_character_code(CharSet), code(CharSet).
List types (compound derived types): list, non_empty_list, partial_list, list_or_partial_list, list(Type), list(Type,Length), list(Type,Min,Max), list(Type,Length,Min,Max), non_empty_list(Type), codes, chars.
Difference list types (compound derived types): difference_list, difference_list(Type).
List and difference list types length: The types that do not take a fixed length generate lists with a length in the [0,MaxSize] interval ([1,MaxSize] for non-empty list types).
Predicate and non-terminal indicator types arity: These types generate indicators with an arity in the [0,MaxSize] interval.
Other compound derived types: compound(Name,Types), predicate_indicator, non_terminal_indicator, predicate_or_non_terminal_indicator, clause, grammar_rule, pair, pair(KeyType,ValueType).
Other types: Object::Closure, between(Type,Lower,Upper), property(Type,LambdaExpression), one_of(Type,Set), var_or(Type), ground(Type), types(Types), types_frequency(Pairs), transform(Type,Closure), constrain(Type,Closure).
Type Object::Closure notes: Allows calling public object predicates as generators and shrinkers. The Closure closure is extended with either a single argument, the generated arbitrary value, or with two arguments, when shrinking a value.
Type compound(Name,Types) notes: Generate a random compound term with the given name with a random argument for each type.
Type types_frequency(Pairs) notes: Generate a random term for one of the types in a list of Type-Frequency pairs. The type is randomly selected taking into account the types frequency.
Type transform(Type,Closure) notes: Generate a random term by transforming the term generated for the given type using the given closure.
Type constrain(Type,Closure) notes: Generate a random term for the given type that satisfy the given closure.
Registering new types: Add clauses for the arbitrary/1-2 multifile predicates and optionally for the shrinker/1 and shrink/3 multifile predicates. The clauses must have a bound first argument to avoid introducing spurious choice-points.
Shrinking values: The shrink/3 should either succeed or fail but never throw an exception.
Character sets: ascii_identifier, ascii_printable, ascii_full, byte, unicode_bmp, unicode_full.
Default character sets: The default character set when using a parameterizable type that takes a character set parameter depends on the type.
Default character sets: Entity, predicate, and non-terminal identifier types plus compound and callable types default to an ascii_identifier functor. Character and character code types default to ascii_full. Other types default to ascii_printable.
Caveats: The type argument (and any type parameterization) to the predicates is not type-checked (or checked for consistency) for performance reasons.
Unicode limitations: Currently, correct character/code generation is only ensured for LVM and SWI-Prolog as other backends do not provide support for querying a Unicode code point category.

| Inherited public predicates: | (none)

.. contents:: :local: :backlinks: top

Public predicates

.. index:: arbitrary/1 .. _arbitrary/0::arbitrary/1:

arbitrary/1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Table of defined types for which an arbitrary value can be generated. A new type can be registered by defining a clause for this predicate and adding a clause for the arbitrary/2 multifile predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

| Template: | arbitrary(Type) | Mode and number of proofs: | arbitrary(?callable) - zero_or_more

.. index:: arbitrary/2 .. _arbitrary/0::arbitrary/2:

arbitrary/2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Generates an arbitrary term of the specified type. Fails if the type is not supported. A new generator can be defined by adding a clause for this predicate and registering it via the arbitrary/1 predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

.. index:: shrinker/1 .. _arbitrary/0::shrinker/1:

shrinker/1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Table of defined types for which a shrinker is provided. A new shrinker can be registered by defining a clause for this predicate and adding a definition for the shrink/3 multifile predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

| Template: | shrinker(Type) | Mode and number of proofs: | shrinker(?callable) - zero_or_more

.. index:: shrink/3 .. _arbitrary/0::shrink/3:

shrink/3 ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Shrinks a value to a smaller value if possible. Must generate a finite number of solutions. Fails if the type is not supported. A new shrinker can be defined by adding a clause for this predicate and registering it via the shrinker/1 predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

| Template: | shrink(Type,Large,Small) | Mode and number of proofs: | shrink(@callable,@term,-term) - zero_or_more

.. index:: shrink_sequence/3 .. _arbitrary/0::shrink_sequence/3:

shrink_sequence/3 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Shrinks a value repeatedly until shrinking is no longer possible returning the sequence of values (ordered from larger to smaller value). Fails if the type is not supported.

| Compilation flags: | static

| Template: | shrink_sequence(Type,Value,Sequence) | Mode and number of proofs: | shrink_sequence(@callable,@term,-list(term)) - zero_or_one

.. index:: edge_case/2 .. _arbitrary/0::edge_case/2:

edge_case/2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Table of type edge cases. Fails if the given type have no defined edge cases. New edge cases for existing or new types can be added by defining a clause for this multifile predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

| Template: | edge_case(Type,Term) | Mode and number of proofs: | edge_case(?callable,?term) - zero_or_more

.. index:: get_seed/1 .. _arbitrary/0::get_seed/1:

get_seed/1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Gets the current random generator seed. Seed should be regarded as an opaque ground term.

| Compilation flags: | static

| Template: | get_seed(Seed) | Mode and number of proofs: | get_seed(-ground) - one

.. index:: set_seed/1 .. _arbitrary/0::set_seed/1:

set_seed/1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sets the random generator seed to a given value returned by calling the get_seed/1 predicate.

| Compilation flags: | static

| Template: | set_seed(Seed) | Mode and number of proofs: | set_seed(+ground) - one

.. index:: max_size/1 .. _arbitrary/0::max_size/1:

max_size/1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

User defined maximum size for types where its meaningful and implicit. When not defined, defaults to 42. When multiple definitions exist, the first valid one found is used.

| Compilation flags: | static, multifile

| Template: | max_size(Size) | Mode and number of proofs: | max_size(?positive_integer) - zero_or_one

Protected predicates

(no local declarations; see entity ancestors if any)

Private predicates

(no local declarations; see entity ancestors if any)

Operators

(none)

.. seealso::

:ref:`type <type/0>`