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I'm working on this prolog assignment where I must parse an user-inputted list of string characters (specifically "u"), and determine if all the elements are equal to the string "u". If they are, then it returns the number of elements, if not, it returns false. For example:
uA(-Length,+String,+Leftover) //Prototype
?- uA(L,["u","u","u"],[]).
L = 3 .
?- uA(L,["u","u","d"],[]).
false.
I have a decent grasp on how prolog works, but I'm confused about how lists operate. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Edit: I made some headway with the sort function (thank you!) but I've run into a separate problem.
uA(Length, String) :-
sort(String, [_]),
member("u", String),
length(String, Length).
This does mostly what I need it to, however, when I run it:
?- uA(L, ["u", "u", "u"]).
L = 3 ;
L = 3 ;
L = 3.
Is there any way to make it such that it only prints L = 3 once? Thanks!
If you want to state that all list items are equal, there is no need to sort the list first.
Simply use library predicate maplist/2 together with the builtin predicate (=)/2:
?- maplist(=(X), Xs).
Xs = []
; Xs = [X]
; Xs = [X, X]
; Xs = [X, X, X]
; Xs = [X, X, X, X]
… % ... and so on ...
First of all, be careful with double-quoted terms in Prolog. Their interpretation depends on the value of the standard double_quotes flag. The most portable value of this flag is codes, which makes e.g. "123" being interpreted as [49,50,51]. Other possible values of this flag are atom and chars. Some Prolog systems, e.g. SWI-Prolog, also support a string value.
But back to your question. A quick way to check that all elements in a ground list are equal is to use the standard sort/2 predicate (which eliminates duplicated elements). For example:
| ?- sort(["u","u","u"], [_]).
yes
| ?- sort(["u","u","d"], [_]).
no
As [_] unifies with any singleton list, the call only succeeds if the the sorting results in a list with a single element, which only happens for a non-empty ground list if all its elements are equal. Note that this solution is independent of the value of the double_quotes flag. Note also that you need to deal with an empty list separately.
My approach is to check if every element in the list is the same or not (by checking if the head of the list and it's adjacent element is the same or not). If same then return True else false. Then calculate the length of every element is the same in the list.
isEqual([X,Y]):- X == Y , !.
isEqual([H,H1|T]):- H == H1 , isEqual([H1|T]).
len([],0).
len([_|T],L):- len(T,L1) , L is L1+1.
goal(X):- isEqual(X) , len(X,Length) , write('Length = ') , write(Length).
OUTPUT
?- goal(["u","u","u"]).
Length = 3
true
?- goal(["u","u","a"]).
false
you can do it this way. Hope this helps you.
So I'm making a predicate called removeN(List1, N, List2). It should basically function like this:
removeN([o, o, o, o], 3, List2).
List2 = [o].
The first argument is a list with a number of the same members ([o, o, o] or [x, x, x]). The second argument is the number of members you wanna remove, and the third argument is the list with the removed members.
How should I go about this, I was thinking about using length of some sort.
Thanks in advance.
Another approach would be to use append/3 and length/2:
remove_n(List, N, ShorterList) :-
length(Prefix, N),
append(Prefix, ShorterList, List).
Think about what the predicate should describe. It's a relation between a list, a number and a list that is either equal to the first or is missing the specified number of the first elements. Let's pick a descriptive name for it, say list_n_removed/3. Since you want a number of identical elements to be removed, let's keep the head of the list for comparison reasons, so list_n_removed/3 is just the calling predicate and another predicate with and additional argument, let's call it list_n_removed_head/4, describes the actual relation:
list_n_removed([X|Xs],N,R) :-
list_n_removed_head([X|Xs],N,R,X).
The predicate list_n_removed_head/4 has to deal with two distinct cases: either N=0, then the first and the third argument are the same list or N>0, then the head of the first list has to be equal to the reference element (4th argument) and the relation has to hold for the tail as well:
list_n_removed_head(L,0,L,_X).
list_n_removed_head([X|Xs],N,R,X) :-
N>0,
N0 is N-1,
list_n_removed_head(Xs,N0,R,X).
Now let's see how it works. Your example query yields the desired result:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o,o],3,R).
R = [o] ;
false.
If the first three elements are not equal the predicate fails:
?- list_n_removed([o,b,o,o],3,R).
false.
If the length of the list equals N the result is the empty list:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o],3,R).
R = [].
If the length of the list is smaller than N the predicate fails:
?- list_n_removed([o,o],3,R).
false.
If N=0 the two lists are identical:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o,o],0,R).
R = [o, o, o, o] ;
false.
If N<0 the predicate fails:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o,o],-1,R).
false.
The predicate can be used in the other direction as well:
?- list_n_removed(L,0,[o]).
L = [o] ;
false.
?- list_n_removed(L,3,[o]).
L = [_G275, _G275, _G275, o] ;
false.
However, if the second argument is variable:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o,o],N,[o]).
ERROR: >/2: Arguments are not sufficiently instantiated
This can be avoided by using CLP(FD). Consider the following changes:
:- use_module(library(clpfd)). % <- new
list_n_removed([X|Xs],N,R) :-
list_n_removed_head([X|Xs],N,R,X).
list_n_removed_head(L,0,L,_X).
list_n_removed_head([X|Xs],N,R,X) :-
N #> 0, % <- change
N0 #= N-1, % <- change
list_n_removed_head(Xs,N0,R,X).
Now the above query delivers the expected result:
?- list_n_removed([o,o,o,o],N,[o]).
N = 3 ;
false.
As does the most general query:
?- list_n_removed(L,N,R).
L = R, R = [_G653|_G654],
N = 0 ;
L = [_G653|R],
N = 1 ;
L = [_G26, _G26|R],
N = 2 ;
L = [_G26, _G26, _G26|R],
N = 3 ;
.
.
.
The other queries above yield the same answers with the CLP(FD) version.
Alternative solution using foldl/4:
remove_step(N, _Item, Idx:Tail, IdxPlusOne:Tail) :-
Idx < N, succ(Idx, IdxPlusOne).
remove_step(N, Item, Idx:Tail, IdxPlusOne:NewTail) :-
Idx >= N, succ(Idx, IdxPlusOne),
Tail = [Item|NewTail].
remove_n(List1, N, List2) :-
foldl(remove_step(N), List1, 0:List2, _:[]).
The idea here is to go through the list while tracking index of current element. While element index is below specified number N we essentially do nothing. After index becomes equal to N, we start building output list by appending all remaining elements from source list.
Not effective, but you still might be interested in the solution, as it demonstrates usage of a very powerful foldl predicate, which can be used to solve wide range of list processing problems.
Counting down should work fine
removeN([],K,[]) :- K>=0.
removeN(X,0,X).
removeN([_|R],K,Y) :- K2 is K-1, removeN(R,K2,Y).
This works for me.
I think this is the easiest way to do this.
trim(L,N,L2). L is the list and N is number of elements.
trim(_,0,[]).
trim([H|T],N,[H|T1]):-N1 is N-1,trim(T,N1,T1).
This is a general question in relation to cons ( | ) operator in erlang. I'm going over a sample exam and there exists this question:
f2([A1, A2 | A1]) ->
{A2, A1};
f2([A, true | B]) ->
{A, B};
f2([A1, A2 | _]) ->
{A1, A2};
f2([_ | B]) ->
[B];
f2([A]) ->
{A};
f2(_) ->
nothing_matched.
I am confused as to why the following input: ([[a], [b] , a]) results in the output: {[b], [a]}
Why is this? From my understanding if the split from the second element in the list (which is the empty list, []) is the same as the first element, then the output will be: A2, A1. If the 3rd element a becomes a list, [a], then the output is then: {[a], [b]}. Why?
This is because in proper list the right side of [... | ...] operator is expected to be a list. Elements on the left are attached or extracted values of head elements which can be other lists too, it doesn't matter. Last element of left side points to right side. It means that in this case first element matches the tail list
[A1, A2 | A1] = [[a], [b], a] = [[a], [b] | [a]] = [[a], [b]] ++ [a].
You can't write [a,b,c | d,e,f,g], you can have only one tail. But [a,b,c | [d,e,f,g]] will work and is equal to [a,b,c,d,e,f,g]. It means that you construct list element with value a which points to list element of value b which points to list element of value c which points to the right side (no matter what).
Its equivalent (using only a | operator without commas) is:
[a | [b | [c | [d | [e | [f | [g]]]]]]].
To understand it you should think of it rather this way than with commas.
Binding example:
[El1, El2 | Tail] = [a,b,c,d],
[El1 | [El2 | Tail]] = [a,b,c,d].
In both cases El1 = a, El2 = b and Tail = [c,d] = [c | [d]] = [c | [d | []]].
As you see [[a],[b], a] means that list element of value [a] (which is list element of value a which points to an empty list []) points to an list element of value [b] which points to an list element of value a which points to an empty list [].
Every proper list last element is pointing at empty list [] so it's true that [a,b,c] == [a,b,c | []].
But there are also improper lists and you can construct them by using non list as a tail like [a,b,c | d] but this is useful only in specific situations and most of list operations can't by applied to them. One example of usage is lazy evaluation where tail is a function.
I've just found similar question to yours, it's here.
If it's still not clear, you may find wiki page about singly linked list useful.
([[a], [b] , a]) will match the first clause f2([A1, A2 | A1]) -> {A2, A1};.
so [A1, A2 | A1] = [[a], [b] , a], you can get A1 = [a], A2 = [b], the important is the second A1, A1 = [a].
The operator | is used for a recursive definition of a list: [A|B] means that you add the element A to an existing list B. A is the first element of the resulting list, called the head, B is the rest of the list called tail. B can be also split into a head and a tail, and the process can continue until the tail is equal to the empty list [].
Your example can be written in different ways:
L = [[a], [b] , a]. % element list representation
L = [[a]|[[b]|[a|[]]]]. % cons list representation
L = [[a],[b]|[a]]. % mixed representation
In the last one you can recognize the pattern [A1, A2 | A1] of the first clause of the f2/1 function, so you get the result {A2,A1} = {[b],[a]}.
I have a list of tuples and I want to create the a list of elements from a specific position in the tuple.
My tuple is {A, B} and I have several of these in a list and i want to create the list of all the B elements.
Cheers!
You can use lists:map.
1> A = [{1,2},{3,4},{5,6}].
[{1,2},{3,4},{5,6}]
2> B = lists:map(fun ({_, V}) -> V end, A).
[2,4,6]
The function passed to the map will select the element required from the tuple and the result will be a list of all the elements in that particular position in the given list of tuples. The above code assumes that all tuples have same number of elements.
Yet another way is to just use a simple list comprehension:
[B || {_, B} <- L].
> L = [{a1,b1}, {a2,b2}, {a3,b3}].
[{a1,b1},{a2,b2},{a3,b3}]
> lists:foldr(fun({_, B}, Acc) -> [B | Acc] end, [], L).
[b1,b2,b3]
This is a quick sample, not tested, but it should work.
split_tuples([{A | B} | T], Acc) ->
NewAcc = [B | Acc],
split_tuples(T, NewAcc);
split_tuples([], Acc) ->
lists:reverse(Acc).
erlang's element/2 function does just that: return the nth element from a tuple.
Put that in a map or fold function, with position as a parameter, and you're done.
edit: some untested code example:
get_them_all(ListOfTuples,Index) ->
lists:map(fun(Tuple) -> element(Index,Tuple) end,ListOfTuples).
I have list - Sep1:
[
....
["Message-ID", "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"],
["To", "BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB"]
...
]
I try get element where first item = Message_ID for example:
lists:filter(fun(Y) -> (lists:nth(1,lists:nth(1,Y)) =:= "Message-ID") end, Sep1).
But i get error:
exception error: no function clause matching lists:nth(1,[])
in function utils:'-parse_to/1-fun-1-'/1
in call from lists:'-filter/2-lc$^0/1-0-'/2
But if i:
io:format(lists:nth(1,lists:nth(1,Sep1))).
> Message-ID
What's wrong?
Thank you.
It's better to change representation to [{Key, Value}, ...] so you can use lists:key* functions, proplists module, or convert it to dict with dict:from_list/1.
But if you still want to use lists:filter/2 you can filter list of lists by first element as following:
lists:filter(fun ([K | _]) -> K =:= "Message-ID" end, ListOfLists).
If you want to extract tails of lists which first element match with "Message-ID" you can use list comprehensions:
[Tail || ["Message-ID" | Tail] <- ListOfLists].
Why do you use two nested lists:nth calls?
lists:filter(fun(Y) -> lists:nth(1, Y) =:= "Message-ID" end, Sep1) works for me and returns a list containing the elements you want (lists where the first element is "Message-ID"). Just pattern match on that list to get the element you want, e.g. if you want only one such element you can do:
case lists:filter(fun(Y) -> lists:nth(1, Y) =:= "Message-ID" end, Sep1) of
[Result] -> % do something with it;
[] -> % no such element found
end
What you probably want is this:
[B || [A,B|_] <- L, A =:= "Message-ID"].
This does not assume any length of the nested lists:
It will return a list of the second elements of all inner lists whose first element is "Message-ID"
If you are sure there is only one "Message-ID" and want to throw an error otherwise:
[X] = [B || [A,B|_] <- L, A =:= "Message-ID"].
If you only want the first one (still throwing error when there is none):
[X|_] = [B || [A,B|_] <- L, A =:= "Message-ID"].
To understand what this code does I recommend reading official Erlang documentation about list comprehensions and the Learn You Some Erlang-chapter about the same topic: List Comprehensions.
Assuming that your list contains only elements each of them with 2 elements, you could use lists comprehension doing something like this:
1> L = [["Message-ID","AAAAAAAA"],["To","BBBBBBBBBBB"]].
[["Message-ID","AAAAAAAA"],["To","BBBBBBBBBBB"]]
2> [[A,B]||[A,B] <- L, A =:= "Message-ID"].
[["Message-ID","AAAAAAAA"]]
Hope this helps.
You could create your own filter (which doesn't care about the number of the elements):
filter(List) -> filter(List,[]).
filter([],Acc) -> lists:reverse(Acc);
filter([[]|Tail],Acc) -> filter(Tail,Acc);
filter([[H|T]|Tail],Acc) ->
case H =:= "Message-ID" of
true -> filter(Tail,[[H|T]|Acc]);
_ -> filter(Tail,Acc)
end.