haskell -- can one access type variables from an instance function declaration?

Question

I want to access type variables in an instance, that don't show up in the instance's parameters. For example,

class A a where foo :: a b
data C a
instance A C where
    foo :: forall b. C b
    foo = undefined :: C b

Of course, the above will resolve without the scoped type expression, but I have a non-toy example where I actually want it.

edit

please try your code before pasting it as an answer! The above (Daniel's answer) results in

Test.hs:51:5: Misplaced type signature: foo :: forall b. C b
Failed, modules loaded: none.

Why not post your non-toy example then? There might well be a more elegant solution to what you're trying to do. — hammar, Sep 12 '11 at 01:34
@Daniel, no problem, your presence is much appreciated here! — gatoatigrado, Sep 12 '11 at 02:59
@hammar, see comment to Owen's answer. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7382171/haskell-not-understanding-why-this-associated-type-example-needs-more-inferenc — gatoatigrado, Sep 12 '11 at 03:00

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 12 '11 at 10:44

I think to overcome the problem with Daniel's solution that you are not allowed to provide a signature for a type class function you can simply define a top-level function and "rename" it in the instance of the type class. In your simple example the following should work.

{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}

class A a where 
    foo :: a b

instance A C where
    foo = foo'

foo' :: C b
foo' = undefined :: C b

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 12 '11 at 01:00

2

While a real solution would be preferable, one can work around the problem using asTypeOf, and adding dummy parameters. Here's an example,

class A a where foo2 :: b -> a b -- added parameter b
data C a
instance A C where
    foo2 x = undefined `asTypeOf` (wrapA x)

wrapA :: A C => a -> C a
wrapA = undefined

foo :: A a => a b
foo = foo2 undefined

That happened to work for my real-world example. cheers!

answered Sep 12 '11 at 01:00

gatoatigrado

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I think I finally understand what you are after -- it doesn't have anything to do with typeclasses per se, only that you can't use a scoped type variable if you can't bind the type variable in the first place! Very interesting (and I still don't know a better solution). – Owen Sep 12 '11 at 01:10

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 12 '11 at 00:07

1

I think in the class declaration

class A a where
    foo :: a b

the type of foo is really

forall b. a b

ie foo should be sort of independent of the type b. Or, b is not actually part of the class A. So... I don't think you should need to be able to refer to it? Though I might not be understanding... maybe you could post an example where it is necessary?

If you need to keep the same type across more than one method you could use a multi-parameter type class:

class A a b where
    foo :: a b
    bar :: a b

answered Sep 12 '11 at 00:07

Owen

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That's my understanding of `foo`'s type too. But I want to access the `b` variable. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7382171/haskell-not-understanding-why-this-associated-type-example-needs-more-inferenc for a more complicated example of why one would like this. – gatoatigrado Sep 12 '11 at 00:10
@gatoatigrado I'm afraid your more complicated example is over my head. Still, I don't think it's possible to refer to `b` from within the instance -- `b` doesn't exist as part of the class or the instance. – Owen Sep 12 '11 at 00:17

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 12 '11 at 00:09

0

{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
class A a where foo :: a b
instance A C where
    foo :: forall b. C b
    foo = undefined :: C b

haskell -- can one access type variables from an instance function declaration?

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4 Answers4