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Prolog Objects

Prolog Objects is an extension to SICStus Prolog for flexible structuring, sharing and reuse of knowledge in large logic programming applications. Prolog Objects enhances Prolog with an expressive and efficient object-oriented programming component.

Prolog Objects is based on the notion of prototypes. In object-oriented programming a prototype is an object that represents a typical behavior of a certain concept. A prototype can be used as is or as a model to construct other objects that share some of the characteristics of the prototypical object. These specialized objects can themselves become prototypes used to construct other objects and so forth. The basic mechanism for sharing is by inheritance and delegation. Inheritance is known for most readers. By using the delegation mechanism an object can forward a message to another object to invoke a method defined by the recipient but interpreted in the context of the sender.

In Prolog Objects, an object is a named collection of predicate definitions. In this sense an object is similar to a Prolog module. The object system can be seen as an extension of SICStus Prolog's module system. In addition an object may have attributes that are modifiable. Predicate definitions belonging to an object are called methods. So, an object is conceptually a named collection of methods and attributes. Some of the methods defined for an object need not be stored explicitly within the object, but are rather shared with other objects by the inheritance mechanism.

The Object system allows objects to be defined in a file, or dynamically created during the execution of a program. Objects defined in a file are integrated into SICStus Prolog in a way similar to definite clause grammars. That is to say, objects have a specific syntax as Prolog terms, and can be loaded and expanded into Prolog code. When an object is created, during load-time, or run-time, it inherits the methods and attributes of its prototypical object(s). Objects defined in a file can be either static or dynamic. Also, methods can be either dynamic or static. these properties are inherited by sub-objects. Objects created during execution are dynamic.

The inheritance mechanism is implemented using the importation mechanism of the module system. The default inheritance is an inheritance by overriding mechanism, which means that if a method is defined locally, and the same method is defined in a super-object, then the clauses of the super-method are not part of the definition of the local one. As usual in Prolog, methods can be nondeterminately defined, and alternative answers can be retrieved through backtracking. Using the delegation mechanism, other methods for knowledge sharing can be implemented by the user. In Objects, there is an initial prototypical proto-object called object, from which other objects may be constructed, directly or indirectly.

Getting Started

To load the Prolog Objects library, enter the query:

| ?- use_module(library(objects)).

Prolog Objects defines some new infix and prefix operators, and redefines some of the built-in ones. The following operators become installed:

:- op(1200, xfy, [ & ]).
:- op(1198, xfx, [ :- ]).
:- op(1198,  fx, [ :- ]).
:- op(550,  xfx, [ ::, <: ]).
:- op(550,   fx, [ ::, <: ]).

Declared Objects

Declared objects are created when the files defining them are loaded into the system.

Object Declaration

An object object-identifier is declared by writing it in the following form:

object-identifier :: {
        sentence-1 &
        sentence-2 &
        :
        sentence-n
        }.

where object-identifier is a Prolog term that is either an atom or a compound term of the form functor(V1,...,Vn), where V1,...,Vn are distinct variables. The object body consists of a number of sentences, possibly none, surrounded by braces, where each sentence is either a method-directive, to be executed when the object is created, or a method-clause. A method is a number of method-clauses with the same principal functor. A method-clause has a clausal syntax similar to that of Prolog, but instead of usual predicate calls in the body of a clause there are method-calls. Ordinary Prolog goals are also allowed in a prefixed form, using ':' as a prefix. A method-directive is a directive which contains method-calls.

All sentences are subject to term expansion (see section Term and Goal Expansion, built-in expand_term/2) before further processing, so in particular definite clause grammar syntax can be used in method-clauses. In addition, before expand_term/2, sentences are expanded by the predicate user:method_expansion/3.

method_expansion(+Term1,+ObjectIdentifier,?Term2)
user:method_expansion(+Term1,+ObjectIdentifier,?Term2)
A hook predicate, which defines transformations on methods similarly as user:term_expansion/2. At the end of an object definition, user:method_expansion/3 is called with end_of_object.

Method Declarations

Method-clauses are declared similarly to Prolog clauses. Thus a method-clause can be either a unit-clause or a non-unit-clause. We also allow a default catch-all method-clause as the last clause in an object body. The catch-all clause has as its head a Prolog variable, in order to match messages that are not previously defined or inherited in the object. It can be used to implement alternative inheritance mechanisms.

Goals in the body of a non-unit clause have the normal control structures of Prolog:

:P, :Q
Conjunction
:P; :Q
Disjunction
!
Cut
\+ :P
Negation
:P -> :Q
:P -> :Q; :R
if(:P, :Q, :R)
If-then[-else]
?A = ?B
Unification

Atomic goals in the body of a method-clause may be one of the following:

:goal
to call the Prolog predicate goal in the source module.
m:goal
to call the Prolog predicate goal in module m.
goal
to send the message goal to the object Self.
::goal
to send the message goal to a method that may be defined locally or inherited by the object.
<:goal
to delegate the message goal to a method that may be defined locally or inherited by the object.
object::goal
to send the message goal to object object.
object<:goal
to delegate the message goal to object object.

Message sending and delegation will be explained later (see section Self, Message Sending, and Message Delegation).

The following is a definition for the object list_object. It is constructed from three methods: append/3, member/2, and length/2. Note that the calls to append/3 and length/2 are to the local definition, whereas the member/2 call is to the predicate imported from the Prolog library module lists.

list_object :: {
        :- :use_module(library(lists), [append/3,member/2]) &
        
        append([], L, L) &
        append([X|L1], L2, [X|L3]) :-
                :: append(L1, L2, L3) &

        member(X, L) :- 
                :member(X,L) &

        length([], 0) &
        length([_|L], N) :-
                :: length(L, N1),
                :(N is N1+1)
        }.

The following object apt_1 could be part of a larger database about free apartments in a real-estate agency:

apt_1 :: {
        super(apartment) &

        street_name('York') &
        street_number(100) &
        wall_color(white) &
        floor_surface(wood)
        }.

Another way to define apt_1 is by using attributes. These can be retrieved and modified efficiently by the methods get/1 and set/1 respectively.

apt_1 :: {
        super(apartment) &

        attributes([
               street_name('York'),
               street_number(100),
               wall_color(white),
               floor_surface(wood)])
        }.

Generic Objects for Easy Reuse

Defining objects for easy reuse is a very important property for reducing the cost of large projects. One important technique is to define prototypes in a parameterized way, so that various instantiations of a prototype correspond to different uses. Parameterized or generic objects have been used for this purpose in other object-oriented systems. An object-identifier can be a compound term. The arguments of the term are parameters that are visible in the object-body. Here we show one example. Other examples and techniques that use this facility has been investigated extensively in [McCabe 92].

The following is an object sort that sorts lists of different types. sort has a parameter that defines the type of the elements of the list. Notice that Type is visible to all methods in the body of sort, and is used in the method partition/4. In the query, we use sort(rat) to sort a list of terms denoting rational numbers. We must therefore define a rat object and its < method also:

rat :: {
        (P/Q < R/S) :- :(P*S < Q*R)
        }.

sort(Type) :: {
        :- :use_module(library(lists), [append/3]) &

        qsort([], []) &
        qsort([P|L], S) :-
                partition(L, P, Small, Large),
                qsort(Small, S0),
                qsort(Large, S1),
                :append(S0, [P|S1], S) &

        partition([], _P, [], []) &
        partition([X|L1], P, Small, Large) :-
                (   Type :: (X < P) ->
                    Small = [X|Small1], Large = Large1
                ;   Small = Small1, Large = [X|Large1]
                ),
                partition(L1, P, Small1, Large1)
        }.

| ?- sort(rat) :: qsort([23/3, 34/11, 45/17], L).

L = [45/17,34/11,23/3]

Parameterized objects are interesting in their own right in Prolog even if one is not interested in the object-oriented paradigm. They provide global context variables in a Prolog program without having to add such variables as additional context arguments to each clause that potentially uses the context.

Self, Message Sending, and Message Delegation

In Prolog Objects, each method is executed in the context of an object. This object may not be the static object where the method is declared. The current contextual object is used to determine dynamically which attributes are accessed, and which methods are called. This leads to a mechanism known as dynamic binding. This object can be retrieved using the universal method self(S), where S will be bound to the current contextual object.

When a message is sent to an object, the corresponding method will be executed in the context of the target object. A message delegated to an object will invoke a method that is executed in the context of the message-delegation operation.

object :: message
:: message
Message sending. Sends message to object, setting Self of the recipient to the recipient, i.e. object. If object is omitted, the recipient is the object in which the goal textually appears.
object <: message
<: message
Message delegation. Sends message to object, setting Self of the recipient to Self of the sender. If object is omitted, the recipient is the object in which the goal textually appears. Delegation preserves Self.

The following objects physical_object, a, and b are written using the default notations for sending and delegation, hiding the contextual variable Self:

physical_object :: {
        volume(50) &
        density(100) &
        weight(X) :- 
                volume(V),
                density(D),
                :(X is V*D) 
        }.

a :: {
        volume(5) &
        density(10) &

        Method :- 
                physical_object <: Method
        }.

b :: {
        volume(5) &
        density(10) &

        Method :- 
                physical_object :: Method
        }.

Notice that the difference between the objects a and b is that a delegates any message except volume(_) and density(_) to physical_object while b sends the message to physical_object. We may now ask

| ?- a :: weight(X), b :: weight(Y).

X = 50
Y = 5000

To get hold of the current contextual object, the universal method self(S) is provided. Another way to send a message to Self is to use the constant self. So the following two alternative definition of physical_object are equivalent to the previous one:

physical_object :: {
        volume(50) &
        density(100) &
        weight(X) :- 
                self(S),
                S::volume(V),
                S::density(D),
                :(X is V*D) 
        }.

physical_object :: {
        volume(50) &
        density(100) &
        weight(X) :- 
                self::volume(V),
                self::density(D),
                :(X is V*D) 
        }.

Object Hierarchies, Inheritance, and Modules

The Prolog Objects system implements a default inheritance mechanism. By declaring within an object which objects are super-objects, the hierarchy of objects are maintained. The system also maintains for each object its immediate sub-objects (i.e. immediate children). Each object may also call Prolog predicates. At the top of the hierarchy, the proto-object object provides various services for other objects. If object is not used at the top of the hierarchy many services will not be available for other objects (check what methods are available in object by sending the message method/1 to object).

Inheritance

Immediate super-objects are declared by defining the method super/2 within the object. (Any definition super(Super) is transformed to super(Super,[])). The objects declared by super/2 are the immediate objects from which a method is inherited if not defined within the object. This implies that the inheritance mechanism is an overriding one. One could possibly have a union inheritance, whereby all clauses defining a method are collected from the super hierarchy and executed in a Prolog fashion. This can easily be programmed in Prolog Objects, using delegation to super objects.

The following example shows some objects used for animal classification.

animal :: {}.

bird :: {
        super(animal) &
        skin(feather) &
        habitat(tree) &
        motions(fly)
        }.

penguin :: {
        super(bird) &
        habitat(land) &
        motions(walk) &
        motions(swim) &
        size(medium)
        }.

| ?- penguin :: motions(M).
M = walk ;
M = swim ;
no

| ?- penguin :: skin(S).
S = feather ;
no

The following is an example of multiple inheritance: an object john is both a sportsman and a professor:

john :: {
        super(sportsman) &
        super(professor) &
        :
        }.

Inheritance will give priority to the super-objects by the order defined in the super/2 method. Therefore in the above example John's characteristics of being a sportsman will dominate those of being professor. Other kinds of hierarchy traversal can be programmed explicitly using the delegation mechanism.

Differential Inheritance

It is possible to be selective about what is inherited by using the method super/2. Its first argument is the super object, and its second is a list of the methods that will not be inherited from the super object.

Use of Modules

In Prolog Objects, the visible predicates of the source module (context) for the object definition may be called in the body of a method. (The : prefix is used to distinguish such calls from method calls.) Any (: prefixed) directives occurring among the method-clauses are also executed in the same source module. For example, to import into the source module and call the public predicates of a module, the built-in predicate use_module/2 and its variants may be used:

some_object :: {
        :- :use_module(library(lists), [append/3]) & 
        double_list(X, XX) :- :append(X,X,XX)
        }.

Super and Sub

Two methods provided by the initial object object are super/1 and sub/1. (Note that any definition of super/1, except the one in object, is transformed to super/2). super/1 if sent to an object will return the immediate parents of the object. sub/1 will return the immediate children of the object if any. It is important to note that this service is provided only for objects that have object as their initial ancestor.

| ?- john :: super(S), S :: sub(john).
S = sportsman ;
S = professor ;
no

The sub/1 property allows programs to traverse object hierarchies from a root object object down to the leaves.

The Keyword Super

To be able to send or delegate messages to the super-objects in a convenient way while following the inheritance protocol, the keyword super is provided. The calls:

        super :: method, or
        super <: method

mean: send or delegate (respectively) method to the super-objects according to the inheritance protocol. A simple example illustrates this concept: assume that john in the above example has three id-cards, one stored in his sportsman prototype identifying the club he is member of, one stored in his professor prototype identifying the university he works in, and finally one stored locally identifying his social-security number. Given the following methods in the object john:

m1(X) :-
        super <: id_card(X) &
m2(X) :-
        super(S), S <: id_card(X) &

one may ask the following:

| ?- john :: m1(X).
     % will follow the default inheritance and returns:
X = johns_club ;

| ?- john :: m2(X).
     % will backtrack through the possible supers returning:
X = johns_club ;
X = johns_university ;

Semantic Links to Other Objects

Some object-oriented languages have syntactic constructs for redirecting the inheritance chain for certain methods to completely other objects which are not defined in the object's inheritance hierarchy. This is not needed in Prolog Objects due to delegation. Assume that the method m/n is linked to object some_object, we just add a method for this:

        m(X1, ..., Xn) :- some_object <: m(X1, ..., Xn) &

Dynamically Declared Objects

When an object is declared and compiled into Prolog Objects, its methods cannot be changed during execution. Such an object is said to be static. To be able to update any method in an object, the object has to be declared dynamic. There is one exception, the inheritance hierarchy declared by super/(1-2) cannot be changed. By including the fact dynamic as part of the object body, the object becomes dynamic:

dynamic_object :: {
        dynamic &
        :
        }.

Dynamic Methods

To be able to change a method with functor F and arity N in a static object, the method has to be declared dynamic by storing the following fact in the object:

some_object :: {
        dynamic F/N &
        :
        }.

Each book in a library can be represented as an object, in which the name of the book is stored, the authors, and a borrowing history indicating when a book is borrowed and when it is returned. A history item may have the form history_item(Person,Status,Date) where Status is either borrowed or returned, and Date has the form YY-MM-DD, for YY year, MM month, DD day.

A typical book book_12 could have the following status. Note that history_item/3 is dynamic:

book_12 :: {
        super(book) &

        title('The Art of Prolog') &
        authors(['Leon Sterling', 'Ehud Shapiro']) &

        dynamic history_item/3 &
        
        history_item('Dan Sahlin', returned, 92-01-10) &
        history_item('Dan Sahlin', borrowed, 91-06-10) &
        :
        }.

Dynamic methods that are stored in an object can be updated, as in usual Prolog programs, by sending assert and retract messages directly to the object.

For example, to borrow a book the following method could be defined in the object book. We assume that the top most history_item fact is the latest transaction, and there is an object date from which we can get the current date.

borrow(Person) :-
        history_item(_Person0, Status, _Date0), !,
        (   Status = returned ->
            date::current(Date),
            asserta(history_item(Person, borrowed, Date))
        ;   :display('book not available'), :ttynl
        ) &

Inheritance of Dynamic Behavior

When an object is created, it will inherit from its parents their dynamic behavior. Methods that are declared dynamic in a parent, will be copied into the object, and its dynamic behavior preserved.

a:: {
        super(object) &
        dynamic p/1 &
        p(1) &
        p(2)
     }

b :: {
        super(a)
     }

| ?- b::p(X).
X = 1 ? ;
X = 2 ? ;
no
| ?- b::asserta(p(3)).
yes
| ?- b::p(X).         
X = 3 ? ;
X = 1 ? ;
X = 2 ? ;
no

Notice that by redeclaring a method to be dynamic in a sub-object, amounts to redefining the method, and overriding of the parent definition will take effect.

c :: {
        super(a) &
        dynamic p/1 
     }

| ?- c::p(X).
no

Creating Objects Dynamically

As with dynamically declared objects, the full flexibility of Prolog Objects is achieved when objects are created at runtime. Anything, except the inheritance hierarchy, can be changed: methods can be added or deleted. The services for object creation, destruction, and method modification are defined in the proto-object object.

Object Creation

+SomeObject :: new(?NewObject)
NewObject is created with SomeObject as super. NewObject could be an atom, variable, or compound term whose arguments are distinct variables.
+SomeObject :: new(?NewObject,+Supers)
NewObject is created with Supers specifying the super objects (prototypes). Supers is a list containing super specifications. A super specification is either an object identifier or a pair Object-NotInheritList where NotInheritList specifies methods not to inherit from Object. NewObject could be an atom, variable, or compound term whose arguments are distinct variables.

The object vehicle is created having the proto-object object as super, followed by creating moving_van with vehicle as super, followed by creating truck.

| ?- object :: new(vehicle), 
     vehicle :: new(moving_van), 
     moving_van :: new(truck).
yes

| ?- truck :: super(X), vehicle :: sub(X).
X = moving_van ;
no

Method Additions

+SomeObject :: asserta(+SomeMethod)
+SomeObject :: assertz(+SomeMethod)
+SomeObject :: assert(+SomeMethod)
Asserts SomeMethod in SomeObject with normal Prolog semantics.

Add some facts to vehicle and truck with initial value equal to [].

| ?- vehicle :: assert(fuel_level([])),
     vehicle :: assert(oil_level([])),
     vehicle :: assert(location([])),
     truck :: assert(capacity([])),
     truck :: assert(total_weight([])).
yes

Parameter Passing to New Objects

When new objects are created, it is possible to pass parameters. The following example shows:

In the previous examples one could pass parameters to an object as follows, using the method augment/1.

| ?- vehicle :: augment({
        new_attrs(Instance, Attribute_list) :-
                self :: new(Instance),
                :: assign_list(Attribute_list, Instance) &

        assign_list([], Instance) &
        assign_list([Att|List], Instance) :-
                :: assign(Att, Instance),
                :: assign_list(List, Instance) &
        
        assign(P, Instance) :-
                Instance :: assert(P) 
        }).
yes

% create a new 'truck'
| ?- vehicle :: new_attrs(truck, [capacity([]),total_weight([])]).
yes

Access Driven Programming--Daemons

Access based programming is a paradigm where certain actions are performed, or some constraints are checked, when "access operations" are invoked. Access operations for updates (i.e. assert, retract) can be redefined in an object by redefining these operations and delegating the same operation to super. Notice that without a delegation mechanism this would not be possible, since the Self would have changed. So assume that we want to print on the screen "p is augmented" whenever the fact p(X) is asserted in an object foo, we just redefine assert/1:

foo :: {
        super(object) &

        dynamic p/1 &

        p(0) &
        p(1) &

        assert(p(X)) :- !,   /* assert/1 is redefined for p(X) */
                super <: assert(p(X)),
                :display('p is augmented'), :ttynl &
        assert(M) :-         /* delegating assert(_) messages */
                super <: assert(M) &
        :
        }.

Instances

Objects are relatively heavy weight. To be able to create efficiently light weight objects, we introduce the notion of instances. An instance is an object with restricted capability. It is created from an object that is considered its class. It gets a copy of the attributes of its class. These can be modified by get/1 and set/1. An instance cannot be a class for other instances. Instances are in general very efficient, both in space and access/modification time. The attribute '$class'/1 will store the identity of the class of the instance including parameters.

Built-In Objects and Methods

Universal Methods

The following methods are "universal", i.e. they are defined locally, if appropriate, for every object:

super(?Object,?NotInheritList)
Object is a parent (a super-object) of Self. NotInheritList specifies methods of Object explicitly not inherited by Self. The definition super(Object) is translated to super(Object,[]).
attributes(+Attributes)
Attributes is a list of compound terms specifying the local attributes of Self and the initial values.

Inlined Methods

The following methods are compiled inline i.e. calls are replaced by definitions. This implies (in the current implementation) that they have a fixed semantics an can not be redefined. There are also definitions for these methods in object covering the cases of unexpanded calls.

self(?Self)
Unifies Self with "self".
get(+Attribute)
Gets the attribute value(s) of the attribute specified by the head functor of Attribute. The value(s) are unified with the argument(s) of Attribute.
set(+Attribute)
Sets the attribute value(s) of the attribute specified by the head functor of Attribute. The value(s) are taken from the argument(s) of Attribute.

The Proto-Object "object"

The proto-object object provides basic methods that are available to all other objects by delegation:

super(?Object)
Object is a parent (a super-object) of Self. Note that any other definition of super(Object) are translated to the universal method super/2.
sub(?Object)
Object is a child (a sub-object) of Self.
self(?Self)
Unifies Self with "self". Note: this method is inlined when possible.
object(?Object)
One of the defined objects in the system is Object.
dynamic
Self is a dynamic object.
static
Self is a static object.
dynamic ?Name/?Arity
Name/Arity is a dynamic method of Self.
static ?Name/?Arity
Name/Arity is a static method of Self.
new(?Object)
Creates a new dynamic Object. Self will be the prototype of Object. Object can be a compound term, an atom, or a variable. In the last case the method generates a unique name for Object.
+SomeObject :: new(?NewObject,+Supers)
NewObject is created with Supers specifying the super objects (prototypes). Supers is a list containing super specifications. A super specification is either an object identifier or a pair Object-NotInheritList where NotInheritList specifies methods not to inherit from Object. NewObject could be an atom, variable, or compound term whose arguments are distinct variables.
instance(?Instance)
Creates a new instance Instance. Self will be the class of Instance. Instance can be a compound term, an atom, or a variable. In the last case the method generates a unique name for Instance.
has_instance(?Instance)
Self has the instance Instance.
has_attribute(?AttributeSpec)
Self has the attribute AttributeSpec, locally defined or inherited. AttributeSpec is on the format Name/Arity.
get(+Attribute)
Gets the attribute value(s) of the attribute specified by the head functor of Attribute. The value(s) are unified with the argument(s) of Attribute. Note: this method is inlined when possible.
set(+Attribute)
Sets the attribute value(s) of the attribute specified by the head functor of Attribute. The value(s) are taken from the argument(s) of Attribute. Note: this method is inlined when possible.
assert(+Fact)
assert(+Fact, -Ref)
asserta(+Fact)
asserta(+Fact, -Ref)
assertz(+Fact)
assertz(+Fact, -Ref)
Asserts a new Fact in Self. If Self is static, the name and arity of Fact must be declared as a dynamic method. asserta places Fact before any old facts. The other forms place it after any old facts. A pointer to the asserted fact is returned in the optional argument Ref, and can be used by the Prolog built-in predicates erase/1 and instance/2.
retract(+Fact)
Retracts a Fact from Self. If Self is static, the name and arity of Fact must be declared as a dynamic method.
update(+Fact)
Replaces the first fact with the same name and arity as Fact in Self by Fact. If Self is static, the name and arity of Fact must be declared as a dynamic method.
retractall(?Head)
Removes facts from Self that unify with Head. If Self is static, the name and arity of Fact must be declared as a dynamic method.
abolish
Abolishes Self if dynamic.
augment(?ObjectBody)
augmenta(?ObjectBody)
augmentz(?ObjectBody)
ObjectBody, having the form { sentence-1 & ... & sentence-n }, is added to Self. augmenta places the new clauses before any old clauses. The other forms place it after any old clauses.

The built-in object "utility"

The base object utility provides methods that could be used in user programs. utility has object as its super-object.

subs(?Objects)
Gives a list of all the children of Self.
supers(?Objects)
Gives a list of all parents of Self.
objects(?Objects)
Gives a list of all objects.
dynamic_objects(?Objects)
Gives a list of all dynamic objects.
static_objects(?Objects)
Gives a list of all static objects.
methods(?Methods)
Gives a list of all the methods of Self.
dynamic_methods(?Methods)
Gives a list of all dynamic methods of Self.
static_methods(?Methods)
Gives a list of all static methods of Self.
descendant(?Object)
One of the descendants of Self is Object.
descendant(?Object, ?Level)
Object a descendant at depth Level of Self. A child of Self is at level 1.
descendants(?Objects)
The list of all descendants of Self is Objects.
descendants(?Objects, ?Level)
Objects is the list of descendants at depth Level of Self.
ancestor(?Object)
One of the ancestors of Self is Object.
ancestor(?Object, ?Level)
Object is an ancestor of Self at height Level. A super-object of Self has level 1.
ancestors(?Object)
The list of all ancestors of Self is Objects.
ancestors(?Object, ?Level)
Objects is the list of ancestors at height Level of Self.
restart
Removes all dynamic objects. Note that dynamic methods added to static objects are not removed.
and_cast(+Objects, ?Message)
Sends the same message Message to all objects in the list Objects.
or_cast(+Objects, ?Message)
Sends the same message Message to one of the objects in the list Objects, backtracking through the alternative objects.

Expansion to Prolog Code

As already mentioned, object definitions are expanded to Prolog clauses much as definite clause grammars. This expansion is usually transparent to the user. While debugging a Prolog Objects program, however, the expanded representation may become exposed. This section will explain in detail the source expansion, so as to give the user the possibility to relate back to the source code during a debugging session. The inheritance mechanism, based on module importation, is also described.

First of all, every statically defined object will translate to several Prolog clauses belonging to a unique object module with the same identity as the object-identifier. Object modules are significantly cheaper to create than ordinary modules, as they do not import the built-in Prolog predicates.

The module will contain predicates implementing an object declaration, the method code, imported methods and parameter transfer predicates. These predicates will be described in detail below, using the notational convention that variable names in italics are syntactic variables that will be replaced by something else in the translation process.

The Inheritance Mechanism

The inheritance mechanism is based on the importation mechanism of the Prolog module system. When an object is created, whether loaded from file or at runtime by new/(1-2), the method predicates (i.e. predicates implementing the methods) visible in the immediate supers are collected. After subtracting from this set the method predicates which are locally defined, and those that are specified in the don't-inherit-list , the resulting set is made visible in the module of the inheriting object by means of importation. This implies that inherited methods are shared, expect dynamic methods.

Dynamic methods are inherited in a similar way with the big difference that they are not imported but copied. Even dynamic declarations (methods without clauses) are inherited.

Inheritance from dynamic objects differs in one aspect: Static predicates visible in a dynamic object are not imported directly from the dynamic object but from the static object from where it was imported to the dynamic object. This makes an inheriting object independent of any dynamic ancestor object after its creation.

Object Attributes

Attributes are based on an efficient term storage associated to modules. The attributes for an object is collected from its ancestors and itself at compile time and used for initialization at load time. The methods for accessing attributes, get/1 and set/1, are inlined to primitive calls whenever possible. They should hence not be redefined.

Object Instances

Instances are different from other objects in that they do not inherit. Instead they share the predicate name space with its class object. They do however have their own attributes. At creation, an instance gets a copy of its class objects attributes. The reserved attribute '$class'/1, which is present in any object, is used for an instance to hold its class object identifier. The purpose of this is mainly to store the parameters of the class object when the instance is created.

The Object Declaration

The object declaration is only used by certain meta-programming operations. It consists of a fact

'$so_type'(Object, Type).

where Object is the object-identifier, and Type is either static or dynamic. If the type is static, the other generated predicates will be static, otherwise they will be dynamic.

The Method Code

Each method clause translates to a Prolog clause with two extra arguments: Self (a variable) and Myself. The latter argument is needed to cater for passing object parameters to the method body which is desribed further in next section.

The method body is translated to a Prolog-clause body as follows. The code is traversed, and the goals are transformed according to the following transformation patterns and rules. In the transformation rules, the notation Msg(X,Y) denotes the term produced by augmenting Msg by the two arguments X and Y:

Goal
where Goal is a variable, is translated to
objects:call_from_body(Goal,Self,Myself,Src) where Src is the source module. objects:call_from_body/4 will meta-interpret Goal at runtime.
:: Msg
is translated to Myself:Msg(Myself,Myself) if Msg is a non variable. Otherwise, it is translated to objects:call_object(Myself, Msg, Myself).
<: Msg
is translated to Myself:Msg(Self,Myself) if Msg is a non variable. Otherwise, it is translated to objects:call_object(Myself, Msg, Self).
super :: Msg is translated to
objects:call_super_exp(Myself,Msg(Super,Myself),Super) if Msg is a non variable. call_super_exp/3 searches the supers of Myself. Super is bound to the super object where the method is found. If Msg is a variable, the goal is translated to objects:call_super(Myself,Msg,Super,Super) which expands Msg and performs otherwise the same actions as call_super_exp/3.
super <: Msg
is translated to objects:call_super_exp(Myself,Msg(Self,Myself),Super) if Msg is a non variable. call_super_exp/3 searches the supers of Myself. Super is bound to the super object where the method is found. If Msg is a variable, the goal is translated to objects:call_super(Myself,Msg,Self,Super) which expands Msg and performs otherwise the same actions as call_super_exp/3.
Obj :: Msg
Obj <: Msg
self <: Msg
self :: Msg
Msg
are all translated like Self :: Msg.
Module:Goal
is translated to Module:Goal.
:Goal
is translated to Src:Goal where Src is the source module.

To illustrate the expansion, consider the object history_point directives, all executed in the history_point module:

:-objects:create_object(history_point,
  [point-[]],
  [attributes/3,display/3,move/4,new/4,print_history/3,super/4],
  [],
  [y(0),x(0),history([])],
  tree(history_point,[tree(point,[tree(object,[])])])).

history_point:super(point, [], _, history_point).

history_point:attributes([history([])], _, _).

history_point:display(A, B, _) :-
        objects:call_super_exp(history_point, display(A,B,C), C),
        history_point:print_history(A, B, history_point).

history_point:'$so_type'(history_point, static).

history_point:move(A, B, C, _) :-
        objects:call_super_exp(history_point, move(A,B,C,E), E),
        prolog:'$get_module_data'(C, history, D),
        prolog:'$set_module_data'(C, history, [(A,B)|D]).

history_point:print_history(A, B, _) :-
        prolog:'$get_module_data'(B, history, C),
        A:format('with location history ~w~n', [C], A, A).

history_point:new(A, xy(D,E), B, _) :-
        objects:call_super_exp(history_point, new(A,xy(D,E),B,C), C),
        prolog:'$set_module_data'(A, history, [(D,E)]).

The directive create_object/6 creates the object, performs the inheritance by importation, and initializes attributes. The last argument is a tree representing the ancestor hierarchy during compilation. It is used to check that the load time and compile time environments are consistent.

Parameter Transfer

As can be seen in the expanded methods above, the second additional argument is simply ignored if the object has no parameter. In contrast regard the following objects:

ellipse(RX,RY,Color) :: {
        color(Color) &
        area(A) :-
                :(A is RX*RY*3.14159265)
                        }.

circle(R,Color) :: {
        super(ellipse(R,R,Color))
                   }.

red_circle(R) :: {
        super(circle(R,red))
                 }.

... and their expansions:


ellipse(_, _, _):'$so_type'(ellipse(_,_,_), static).

ellipse(_, _, _):area(A, _, B) :-
        B:'$fix_param'(ellipse(C,D,_), B),
        user:(A is C*D*3.14159265).

ellipse(_, _, _):color(A, _, B) :-
        B:'$fix_param'(ellipse(_,_,A), B).

ellipse(_, _, _):'$fix_param'(ellipse(B,C,D), A) :-
        objects:object_class(ellipse(B,C,D), A).

circle(_, _):'$so_type'(circle(_,_), static).

circle(_, _):super(ellipse(A,A,B), [], _, circle(A,B)).

circle(_, _):'$fix_param'(circle(B,C), A) :-
        objects:object_class(circle(B,C), A).
circle(_, _):'$fix_param'(ellipse(B,B,C), A) :-
        objects:object_class(circle(B,C), A).

red_circle(_):'$so_type'(red_circle(_), static).

red_circle(_):super(circle(A,red), [], _, red_circle(A)).

red_circle(_):'$fix_param'(red_circle(B), A) :-
        objects:object_class(red_circle(B), A).
red_circle(_):'$fix_param'(circle(B,red), A) :-
        objects:object_class(red_circle(B), A).
red_circle(_):'$fix_param'(ellipse(B,B,red), A) :-
        objects:object_class(red_circle(B), A).

The second additional argument contains the receiver of a method call. If the method makes use of any parameter of the object where it is defined, it places a call to the reserved predicate $fix_param/2 in the module of the receiver. The purpose of this call is to bind the parameters used in the method to appropriate values given by the receiver. The receiver may be the object where the method is defined or any of its subs. In order to service these calls, a clause of $fix_param/2 is generated for each ancestor having parameters. Such a clause may be regarded as the collapsed chain of super/(1-2) definitions leading up to the ancestor.

The call objects:object_class(Class,Object) serves to pick up the '$class'/1 attribute if Object is an instance, otherwise Class is unified with Object.

The following trace illustrates how parameters are transfered:

| ?- red_circle(2.5)::area(A).
1  1  Call: red_circle(2.5)::area(_A) ? 
2  2  Call: ellipse(_,_,_):area(_A,red_circle(2.5),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
3  3  Call: red_circle(_):$fix_param(ellipse(_B,_,_),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
4  4  Call: objects:object_class(red_circle(_B),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
4  4  Exit: objects:object_class(red_circle(2.5),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
3  3  Exit: red_circle(_):$fix_param(ellipse(2.5,2.5,red),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
5  3  Call: _A is 2.5*2.5*3.14159265 ? 
5  3  Exit: 19.6349540625 is 2.5*2.5*3.14159265 ? 
2  2  Exit: ellipse(_,_,_):area(19.6349540625,red_circle(2.5),red_circle(2.5)) ? 
1  1  Exit: red_circle(2.5)::area(19.6349540625) ? 

A = 19.6349540625 ? 

Examples

Classification of Birds

This example illustrates how Prolog object can be used in classification of certain concepts. This style is common in expert system application for describing its domain.

animal :: {
        super(object) &
        relative_size(S) :-
                size(Obj_size),
                super(Obj_prototype),
                Obj_prototype :: size(Prototype_size),
                :(S is Obj_size/Prototype_size * 100)
                }.

bird :: {
        super(animal) &
        moving_method(fly) &
        active_at(daylight)
        }.

albatross :: {
        super(bird) &
        color(black_and_white) &
        size(115)
        }.

kiwi :: {
        super(bird) &
        moving_method(walk) &
        active_at(night) &
        size(40) &
        color(brown)
        }.

albert :: {
        super(albatross) &
        size(120)
        }.

ross :: {
        super(albatross) &
        size(40)
        }.

| ?- ross :: relative_size(R).

R = 34.78

Inheritance and Delegation

The following example illustrates a number of concepts. Firstly, how to use Prolog Objects for defining traditional classes a la Smalltalk, or other traditional object oriented languages. Secondly, how to create instances of these classes. Finally, how to access instance variables.

The concept of instance variables is readily available as the variables belonging to the instances created dynamically and not to the class of the instances. For example, each instance of the class point will have two instance variables, x and y, represented by the attributes x/1 and y/1. The traditional class variables are easily available by accessing the same attributes in the associated class.

Another issue is the pattern used to create new instances. For example, to create an instance of the class history_point, the following code is used:

        new(Instance, xy(IX,IY)) :-
                super <: new(Instance, xy(IX,IY)),
                Instance :: set(history([(IX,IY)])) &

Note that the delegation of new/2 to super is necessary in order to create an object whose super is history_point and not point.

The example shows how delegation can be effective as a tool for flexible sharing of concepts in multiple inheritance. Four prototypes are defined: point, history_point, bounded_point, and bh_point. The latter is a bounded history point.

An instance of the point class is a point that moves in 2-D space and that can be displayed. An instance of the history_point class is similar to an instance of the point class but also keeps a history of all the moves made so far. An instance of bounded_point is similar to an instance of point but moves only in a region of the 2-D space. Finally an instance of bh_point inherits most of the features of a bounded_point and a history_point.

The default inheritance does not work for the methods display/1 and move/2 in bh_point. Inheritance by delegating messages to both supers of bh_point results in redundant actions, (moving and displaying the point twice). Selective delegation solves the problem. Taken from [Elshiewy 90].

point :: {
        super(object) &

        attributes([x(0),y(0)]) &

        xy(X, Y) :- get(x(X)), get(y(Y)) &

        new(Instance, xy(IX,IY)) :-
                super <: instance(Instance),
                Instance :: set(x(IX)),
                Instance :: set(y(IY)) &

        location((X,Y)) :- <: xy(X,Y) &

        move_horizontal(X) :-
                set(x(X)) &

        move_vertical(Y) :-
                set(y(Y)) &

        move(X, Y) :-
                <: move_horizontal(X),
                <: move_vertical(Y) &

        display(Terminal) :-
                <: xy(X, Y),
                Terminal :: format('point at (~d,~d)~n',[X,Y]) 
        }.

history_point :: {
        super(point) &

        attributes([history([])]) &

        new(Instance, xy(IX,IY)) :-
                super <: new(Instance, xy(IX,IY)),
                Instance :: set(history([(IX,IY)])) &
        
        move(X, Y) :-
                super <: move(X, Y),
                get(history(History)),
                set(history([(X,Y)|History])) &
        
        display(Terminal) :-
                super <: display(Terminal),
                <: print_history(Terminal) &

        print_history(Terminal) :-
                get(history(History)),
                Terminal :: format('with location history ~w~n', 
                                   [History])
        }.

bounded_point :: {
        super(point) &

        attributes([bounds(0,0,0,0)]) &
        
        new(Instance, Coords, Bounds) :-
                super <: new(Instance, Coords),
                Instance :: set_bounds(Bounds) &

        set_bounds(Bounds) :-
                set(Bounds) &

        move(X, Y) :-
                <: bound_constraint(X, Y), !,
                super <: move(X, Y) &
        move(_, _) &

        bound_constraint(X, Y) :-
                get(bounds(X0, X1, Y0, Y1)),
                :(X >= X0),
                :(X =< X1),
                :(Y >= Y0),
                :(Y =< Y1) &
        
        display(Terminal) :-
                super <: display(Terminal),
                <: print_bounds(Terminal) &

        print_bounds(Terminal) :- 
                get(bounds(X0, X1, Y0, Y1)),
                Terminal :: format('xbounds=(~d,~d), \c
                                    ybounds=(~d,~d)~n',
                                   [X0,X1,Y0,Y1])
        }.

bh_point :: {
        super(history_point) &
        super(bounded_point) &

        new(Instance, Coords, Bounds) :-
                history_point <: new(Instance, Coords),
                Instance :: set_bounds(Bounds) &

        move(X, Y) :-
                bounded_point <: bound_constraint(X, Y), !,
                history_point <: move(X, Y) &
        move(_, _) &

        display(Terminal) :-
                bounded_point <: display(Terminal),
                history_point <: print_history(Terminal)
        }.

tty :: {
        format(X, Y) :- :format(X, Y)
       }.

point at (8,12)
xbounds=(5,15), ybounds=(5,15)
with location history [(8,12),(9,11)]

Prolog++ programs

Prolog++ is a product by LPA Associates for object-oriented programming extensions of LPA Prolog. Most Prolog++ programs can be easily converted into Prolog Objects programs. The following is a translation of a program for fault diagnosis in LPA's Prolog++ manual, page 83. The program illustrates a top-down diagnosis method starting from general objects to more specific objects. The problem is fault diagnosis for car maintenance. The objects have the following structure:

- faults
        - electrical
        |       - lights
        |       - starting
        |               - starter_motor
        |               - sparking
        |                       - plugs
        |                       - distributer
        - fuel_system
        - mechanical

The general diagnosis method is defined in the object faults, whereas the cause-effect relationships are defined in the specific objects e.g. the object distributor.

This program heavily uses the sub/1 method. We have tried to be as close as possible to the original formulation.


faults :: {

        super(utility) &
        dynamic(told/2) &

        /* no fault is the default */
        fault(_, _) :- :fail &

        findall :-
                <: restart,
                :: sub(Sub),
                Sub :: find(Where, Fault),
                <: print(Where, Fault),
                :fail &
        findall &

        print(Where, Fault) :-
                :writeseqnl('Location       : ', [Where]),
                :writeseqnl('Possible Fault : ', [Fault]),
                :nl &

        find(Where, Fault) :-
                self(Where),
                fault(FaultNum, Fault),
                \+ (effect(FaultNum, S),
                    contrary(S, S1),
                    exhibited(S1)
                   ),
                \+ (effect(FaultNum, SymptomNum),
                    \+ exhibited(SymptomNum)) &

        find(Where, Fault) :-
                sub(Sub),
                Sub :: find(Where, Fault) &     

        exhibited(S) :-
                :: told(S, R), !,
                R = yes &
        exhibited(S) :-
                symptom(S,Text),
                (   :yesno([Text]) -> R = yes
                ;   R = no
                ),
                :: asserta(told(S,R)),
                R = yes &

        restart :-
                :: retractall(told(_,_))

        }.

electrical :: {
        super(faults)
        }.

fuel_system :: {
        super(faults)
        }.

mechanical :: {
        super(faults)
        }.

lights :: {
        super(electrical)
        }.

sparking :: {
        super(electrical)
        }.

starting :: {
        super(electrical)
        }.

starter_motor :: {
        super(electrical)
        }.

plugs :: {
        super(sparking)
        }.

engine :: {
        super(mechanical)
        }.

cylinders :: {
        super(engine)
        }.

distributor :: {
        super(sparking) &

        /* faults */
        fault('F1001', 'Condensation in distributor cap') &
        fault('F1002', 'Faulty distributor arm') &
        fault('F1003', 'Worn distributor brushes') &

        /* symptoms */
        symptom('S1001', 'Starter turns, but engine does not fire') &
        symptom('S1002', 'Engine has difficulty starting') &
        symptom('S1003', 'Engine cuts out shortly after starting') &
        symptom('S1004', 'Engine cuts out at speed') &

        /* symptoms contrary to each other */
        contrary('S1002', 'S1001') &
        contrary('S1003', 'S1001') &

        /* causal-effect relationship */
        effect('F1001', 'S1001') &
        effect('F1002', 'S1001') &
        effect('F1002', 'S1004') &
        effect('F1003', 'S1002') &
        effect('F1003', 'S1003')

        }.

yesno(Value) :- write(Value), nl, read(yes).
        
writeseqnl(Prompt, L) :- write(Prompt), write_seq(L).
        
write_seq([]).
write_seq([X|L]) :- write(X), write(' '), write_seq(L), nl.

faults :- faults :: findall.

| ?- faults.
[Starter turns, but engine does not fire]
|: yes.
Location       : distributor 
Possible Fault : Condensation in distributor cap 

[Engine cuts out at speed]
|: yes.
Location       : distributor 
Possible Fault : Faulty distributor arm 

yes
| ?- faults.
[Starter turns, but engine does not fire]
|: no.
[Engine has difficulty starting]
|: yes.
[Engine cuts out shortly after starting]
|: yes.
Location       : distributor 
Possible Fault : Worn distributor brushes

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