1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @setfilename ../../info/cl.info
3 @settitle Common Lisp Extensions
8 This file documents the GNU Emacs Common Lisp emulation package.
10 Copyright @copyright{} 1993, 2001--2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
14 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
15 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
16 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
17 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
18 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
20 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
21 modify this GNU manual.''
25 @dircategory Emacs lisp libraries
27 * CL: (cl). Partial Common Lisp support for Emacs Lisp.
34 @center @titlefont{Common Lisp Extensions}
36 @center For GNU Emacs Lisp
38 @center as distributed with Emacs @value{EMACSVER}
40 @center Dave Gillespie
41 @center daveg@@synaptics.com
43 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 @top GNU Emacs Common Lisp Emulation
57 * Overview:: Basics, usage, organization, naming conventions.
58 * Program Structure:: Arglists, @code{cl-eval-when}.
59 * Predicates:: Type predicates and equality predicates.
60 * Control Structure:: Assignment, conditionals, blocks, looping.
61 * Macros:: Destructuring, compiler macros.
62 * Declarations:: @code{cl-proclaim}, @code{cl-declare}, etc.
63 * Symbols:: Property lists, creating symbols.
64 * Numbers:: Predicates, functions, random numbers.
65 * Sequences:: Mapping, functions, searching, sorting.
66 * Lists:: Functions, substitution, sets, associations.
67 * Structures:: @code{cl-defstruct}.
68 * Assertions:: Assertions and type checking.
71 * Efficiency Concerns:: Hints and techniques.
72 * Common Lisp Compatibility:: All known differences with Steele.
73 * Porting Common Lisp:: Hints for porting Common Lisp code.
74 * Obsolete Features:: Obsolete features.
75 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
78 * Function Index:: An entry for each documented function.
79 * Variable Index:: An entry for each documented variable.
86 This document describes a set of Emacs Lisp facilities borrowed from
87 Common Lisp. All the facilities are described here in detail. While
88 this document does not assume any prior knowledge of Common Lisp, it
89 does assume a basic familiarity with Emacs Lisp.
91 Common Lisp is a huge language, and Common Lisp systems tend to be
92 massive and extremely complex. Emacs Lisp, by contrast, is rather
93 minimalist in the choice of Lisp features it offers the programmer.
94 As Emacs Lisp programmers have grown in number, and the applications
95 they write have grown more ambitious, it has become clear that Emacs
96 Lisp could benefit from many of the conveniences of Common Lisp.
98 The @dfn{CL} package adds a number of Common Lisp functions and
99 control structures to Emacs Lisp. While not a 100% complete
100 implementation of Common Lisp, it adds enough functionality
101 to make Emacs Lisp programming significantly more convenient.
103 Some Common Lisp features have been omitted from this package
108 Some features are too complex or bulky relative to their benefit
109 to Emacs Lisp programmers. CLOS and Common Lisp streams are fine
110 examples of this group. (The separate package EIEIO implements
111 a subset of CLOS functionality. @xref{Top, , Introduction, eieio, EIEIO}.)
114 Other features cannot be implemented without modification to the
115 Emacs Lisp interpreter itself, such as multiple return values,
116 case-insensitive symbols, and complex numbers.
117 This package generally makes no attempt to emulate these features.
121 This package was originally written by Dave Gillespie,
122 @file{daveg@@synaptics.com}, as a total rewrite of an earlier 1986
123 @file{cl.el} package by Cesar Quiroz. Care has been taken to ensure
124 that each function is defined efficiently, concisely, and with minimal
125 impact on the rest of the Emacs environment. Stefan Monnier added the
126 file @file{cl-lib.el} and rationalized the namespace for Emacs 24.3.
129 * Usage:: How to use this package.
130 * Organization:: The package's component files.
131 * Naming Conventions:: Notes on function names.
138 This package is distributed with Emacs, so there is no need
139 to install any additional files in order to start using it. Lisp code
140 that uses features from this package should simply include at
148 You may wish to add such a statement to your init file, if you
149 make frequent use of features from this package.
151 Code that only uses macros from this package can enclose the above in
152 @code{eval-when-compile}. Internally, this library is divided into
153 several files, @pxref{Organization}. Your code should only ever load
154 the main @file{cl-lib} file, which will load the others as needed.
157 @section Organization
160 The Common Lisp package is organized into four main files:
164 This is the main file, which contains basic functions
165 and information about the package. This file is relatively compact.
168 This file contains the larger, more complex or unusual functions.
169 It is kept separate so that packages which only want to use Common
170 Lisp fundamentals like the @code{cl-incf} function won't need to pay
171 the overhead of loading the more advanced functions.
174 This file contains most of the advanced functions for operating
175 on sequences or lists, such as @code{cl-delete-if} and @code{cl-assoc}.
178 This file contains the features that are macros instead of functions.
179 Macros expand when the caller is compiled, not when it is run, so the
180 macros generally only need to be present when the byte-compiler is
181 running (or when the macros are used in uncompiled code). Most of the
182 macros of this package are isolated in @file{cl-macs.el} so that they
183 won't take up memory unless you are compiling.
186 The file @file{cl-lib.el} includes all necessary @code{autoload}
187 commands for the functions and macros in the other three files.
188 All you have to do is @code{(require 'cl-lib)}, and @file{cl-lib.el}
189 will take care of pulling in the other files when they are
192 There is another file, @file{cl.el}, which was the main entry point to
193 this package prior to Emacs 24.3. Nowadays, it is replaced by
194 @file{cl-lib.el}. The two provide the same features (in most cases),
195 but use different function names (in fact, @file{cl.el} mainly just
196 defines aliases to the @file{cl-lib.el} definitions). Where
197 @file{cl-lib.el} defines a function called, for example,
198 @code{cl-incf}, @file{cl.el} uses the same name but without the
199 @samp{cl-} prefix, e.g., @code{incf} in this example. There are a few
200 exceptions to this. First, functions such as @code{cl-defun} where
201 the unprefixed version was already used for a standard Emacs Lisp
202 function. In such cases, the @file{cl.el} version adds a @samp{*}
203 suffix, e.g., @code{defun*}. Second, there are some obsolete features
204 that are only implemented in @file{cl.el}, not in @file{cl-lib.el},
205 because they are replaced by other standard Emacs Lisp features.
206 Finally, in a very few cases the old @file{cl.el} versions do not
207 behave in exactly the same way as the @file{cl-lib.el} versions.
208 @xref{Obsolete Features}.
209 @c There is also cl-mapc, which was called cl-mapc even before cl-lib.el.
210 @c But not autoloaded, so maybe not much used?
212 Since the old @file{cl.el} does not use a clean namespace, Emacs has a
213 policy that packages distributed with Emacs must not load @code{cl} at
214 run time. (It is ok for them to load @code{cl} at @emph{compile}
215 time, with @code{eval-when-compile}, and use the macros it provides.)
216 There is no such restriction on the use of @code{cl-lib}. New code
217 should use @code{cl-lib} rather than @code{cl}.
219 There is one more file, @file{cl-compat.el}, which defines some
220 routines from the older Quiroz @file{cl.el} package that are not otherwise
221 present in the new package. This file is obsolete and should not be
224 @node Naming Conventions
225 @section Naming Conventions
228 Except where noted, all functions defined by this package have the
229 same calling conventions as their Common Lisp counterparts, and
230 names that are those of Common Lisp plus a @samp{cl-} prefix.
232 Internal function and variable names in the package are prefixed
233 by @code{cl--}. Here is a complete list of functions prefixed by
234 @code{cl-} that were @emph{not} taken from Common Lisp:
237 cl-callf cl-callf2 cl-defsubst
241 @c This is not uninteresting I suppose, but is of zero practical relevance
242 @c to the user, and seems like a hostage to changing implementation details.
243 The following simple functions and macros are defined in @file{cl-lib.el};
244 they do not cause other components like @file{cl-extra} to be loaded.
247 cl-evenp cl-oddp cl-minusp
248 cl-plusp cl-endp cl-subst
249 cl-copy-list cl-list* cl-ldiff
250 cl-rest cl-decf [1] cl-incf [1]
251 cl-acons cl-adjoin [2] cl-pairlis
252 cl-pushnew [1,2] cl-declaim cl-proclaim
253 cl-caaar@dots{}cl-cddddr cl-first@dots{}cl-tenth
258 [1] Only when @var{place} is a plain variable name.
261 [2] Only if @code{:test} is @code{eq}, @code{equal}, or unspecified,
262 and @code{:key} is not used.
265 [3] Only for one sequence argument or two list arguments.
267 @node Program Structure
268 @chapter Program Structure
271 This section describes features of this package that have to
272 do with programs as a whole: advanced argument lists for functions,
273 and the @code{cl-eval-when} construct.
276 * Argument Lists:: @code{&key}, @code{&aux}, @code{cl-defun}, @code{cl-defmacro}.
277 * Time of Evaluation:: The @code{cl-eval-when} construct.
281 @section Argument Lists
286 Emacs Lisp's notation for argument lists of functions is a subset of
287 the Common Lisp notation. As well as the familiar @code{&optional}
288 and @code{&rest} markers, Common Lisp allows you to specify default
289 values for optional arguments, and it provides the additional markers
290 @code{&key} and @code{&aux}.
292 Since argument parsing is built-in to Emacs, there is no way for
293 this package to implement Common Lisp argument lists seamlessly.
294 Instead, this package defines alternates for several Lisp forms
295 which you must use if you need Common Lisp argument lists.
297 @defmac cl-defun name arglist body@dots{}
298 This form is identical to the regular @code{defun} form, except
299 that @var{arglist} is allowed to be a full Common Lisp argument
300 list. Also, the function body is enclosed in an implicit block
301 called @var{name}; @pxref{Blocks and Exits}.
304 @defmac cl-iter-defun name arglist body@dots{}
305 This form is identical to the regular @code{iter-defun} form, except
306 that @var{arglist} is allowed to be a full Common Lisp argument
307 list. Also, the function body is enclosed in an implicit block
308 called @var{name}; @pxref{Blocks and Exits}.
311 @defmac cl-defsubst name arglist body@dots{}
312 This is just like @code{cl-defun}, except that the function that
313 is defined is automatically proclaimed @code{inline}, i.e.,
314 calls to it may be expanded into in-line code by the byte compiler.
315 This is analogous to the @code{defsubst} form;
316 @code{cl-defsubst} uses a different method (compiler macros) which
317 works in all versions of Emacs, and also generates somewhat more
318 @c For some examples,
319 @c see http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2012-11/msg00009.html
320 efficient inline expansions. In particular, @code{cl-defsubst}
321 arranges for the processing of keyword arguments, default values,
322 etc., to be done at compile-time whenever possible.
325 @defmac cl-defmacro name arglist body@dots{}
326 This is identical to the regular @code{defmacro} form,
327 except that @var{arglist} is allowed to be a full Common Lisp
328 argument list. The @code{&environment} keyword is supported as
329 described in Steele's book @cite{Common Lisp, the Language}.
330 The @code{&whole} keyword is supported only
331 within destructured lists (see below); top-level @code{&whole}
332 cannot be implemented with the current Emacs Lisp interpreter.
333 The macro expander body is enclosed in an implicit block called
337 @defmac cl-function symbol-or-lambda
338 This is identical to the regular @code{function} form,
339 except that if the argument is a @code{lambda} form then that
340 form may use a full Common Lisp argument list.
343 Also, all forms (such as @code{cl-flet} and @code{cl-labels}) defined
344 in this package that include @var{arglist}s in their syntax allow
345 full Common Lisp argument lists.
347 Note that it is @emph{not} necessary to use @code{cl-defun} in
348 order to have access to most CL features in your function.
349 These features are always present; @code{cl-defun}'s only
350 difference from @code{defun} is its more flexible argument
351 lists and its implicit block.
353 The full form of a Common Lisp argument list is
357 &optional (@var{var} @var{initform} @var{svar})@dots{}
359 &key ((@var{keyword} @var{var}) @var{initform} @var{svar})@dots{}
360 &aux (@var{var} @var{initform})@dots{})
363 Each of the five argument list sections is optional. The @var{svar},
364 @var{initform}, and @var{keyword} parts are optional; if they are
365 omitted, then @samp{(@var{var})} may be written simply @samp{@var{var}}.
367 The first section consists of zero or more @dfn{required} arguments.
368 These arguments must always be specified in a call to the function;
369 there is no difference between Emacs Lisp and Common Lisp as far as
370 required arguments are concerned.
372 The second section consists of @dfn{optional} arguments. These
373 arguments may be specified in the function call; if they are not,
374 @var{initform} specifies the default value used for the argument.
375 (No @var{initform} means to use @code{nil} as the default.) The
376 @var{initform} is evaluated with the bindings for the preceding
377 arguments already established; @code{(a &optional (b (1+ a)))}
378 matches one or two arguments, with the second argument defaulting
379 to one plus the first argument. If the @var{svar} is specified,
380 it is an auxiliary variable which is bound to @code{t} if the optional
381 argument was specified, or to @code{nil} if the argument was omitted.
382 If you don't use an @var{svar}, then there will be no way for your
383 function to tell whether it was called with no argument, or with
384 the default value passed explicitly as an argument.
386 The third section consists of a single @dfn{rest} argument. If
387 more arguments were passed to the function than are accounted for
388 by the required and optional arguments, those extra arguments are
389 collected into a list and bound to the ``rest'' argument variable.
390 Common Lisp's @code{&rest} is equivalent to that of Emacs Lisp.
391 Common Lisp accepts @code{&body} as a synonym for @code{&rest} in
392 macro contexts; this package accepts it all the time.
394 The fourth section consists of @dfn{keyword} arguments. These
395 are optional arguments which are specified by name rather than
396 positionally in the argument list. For example,
399 (cl-defun foo (a &optional b &key c d (e 17)))
403 defines a function which may be called with one, two, or more
404 arguments. The first two arguments are bound to @code{a} and
405 @code{b} in the usual way. The remaining arguments must be
406 pairs of the form @code{:c}, @code{:d}, or @code{:e} followed
407 by the value to be bound to the corresponding argument variable.
408 (Symbols whose names begin with a colon are called @dfn{keywords},
409 and they are self-quoting in the same way as @code{nil} and
412 For example, the call @code{(foo 1 2 :d 3 :c 4)} sets the five
413 arguments to 1, 2, 4, 3, and 17, respectively. If the same keyword
414 appears more than once in the function call, the first occurrence
415 takes precedence over the later ones. Note that it is not possible
416 to specify keyword arguments without specifying the optional
417 argument @code{b} as well, since @code{(foo 1 :c 2)} would bind
418 @code{b} to the keyword @code{:c}, then signal an error because
419 @code{2} is not a valid keyword.
421 You can also explicitly specify the keyword argument; it need not be
422 simply the variable name prefixed with a colon. For example,
425 (cl-defun bar (&key (a 1) ((baz b) 4)))
430 specifies a keyword @code{:a} that sets the variable @code{a} with
431 default value 1, as well as a keyword @code{baz} that sets the
432 variable @code{b} with default value 4. In this case, because
433 @code{baz} is not self-quoting, you must quote it explicitly in the
434 function call, like this:
440 Ordinarily, it is an error to pass an unrecognized keyword to
441 a function, e.g., @code{(foo 1 2 :c 3 :goober 4)}. You can ask
442 Lisp to ignore unrecognized keywords, either by adding the
443 marker @code{&allow-other-keys} after the keyword section
444 of the argument list, or by specifying an @code{:allow-other-keys}
445 argument in the call whose value is non-@code{nil}. If the
446 function uses both @code{&rest} and @code{&key} at the same time,
447 the ``rest'' argument is bound to the keyword list as it appears
448 in the call. For example:
451 (cl-defun find-thing (thing &rest rest &key need &allow-other-keys)
452 (or (apply 'cl-member thing thing-list :allow-other-keys t rest)
453 (if need (error "Thing not found"))))
457 This function takes a @code{:need} keyword argument, but also
458 accepts other keyword arguments which are passed on to the
459 @code{cl-member} function. @code{allow-other-keys} is used to
460 keep both @code{find-thing} and @code{cl-member} from complaining
461 about each others' keywords in the arguments.
463 The fifth section of the argument list consists of @dfn{auxiliary
464 variables}. These are not really arguments at all, but simply
465 variables which are bound to @code{nil} or to the specified
466 @var{initforms} during execution of the function. There is no
467 difference between the following two functions, except for a
468 matter of stylistic taste:
471 (cl-defun foo (a b &aux (c (+ a b)) d)
479 @cindex destructuring, in argument list
480 Argument lists support @dfn{destructuring}. In Common Lisp,
481 destructuring is only allowed with @code{defmacro}; this package
482 allows it with @code{cl-defun} and other argument lists as well.
483 In destructuring, any argument variable (@var{var} in the above
484 example) can be replaced by a list of variables, or more generally,
485 a recursive argument list. The corresponding argument value must
486 be a list whose elements match this recursive argument list.
490 (cl-defmacro dolist ((var listform &optional resultform)
495 This says that the first argument of @code{dolist} must be a list
496 of two or three items; if there are other arguments as well as this
497 list, they are stored in @code{body}. All features allowed in
498 regular argument lists are allowed in these recursive argument lists.
499 In addition, the clause @samp{&whole @var{var}} is allowed at the
500 front of a recursive argument list. It binds @var{var} to the
501 whole list being matched; thus @code{(&whole all a b)} matches
502 a list of two things, with @code{a} bound to the first thing,
503 @code{b} bound to the second thing, and @code{all} bound to the
504 list itself. (Common Lisp allows @code{&whole} in top-level
505 @code{defmacro} argument lists as well, but Emacs Lisp does not
508 One last feature of destructuring is that the argument list may be
509 dotted, so that the argument list @code{(a b . c)} is functionally
510 equivalent to @code{(a b &rest c)}.
512 If the optimization quality @code{safety} is set to 0
513 (@pxref{Declarations}), error checking for wrong number of
514 arguments and invalid keyword arguments is disabled. By default,
515 argument lists are rigorously checked.
517 @node Time of Evaluation
518 @section Time of Evaluation
521 Normally, the byte-compiler does not actually execute the forms in
522 a file it compiles. For example, if a file contains @code{(setq foo t)},
523 the act of compiling it will not actually set @code{foo} to @code{t}.
524 This is true even if the @code{setq} was a top-level form (i.e., not
525 enclosed in a @code{defun} or other form). Sometimes, though, you
526 would like to have certain top-level forms evaluated at compile-time.
527 For example, the compiler effectively evaluates @code{defmacro} forms
528 at compile-time so that later parts of the file can refer to the
529 macros that are defined.
531 @defmac cl-eval-when (situations@dots{}) forms@dots{}
532 This form controls when the body @var{forms} are evaluated.
533 The @var{situations} list may contain any set of the symbols
534 @code{compile}, @code{load}, and @code{eval} (or their long-winded
535 ANSI equivalents, @code{:compile-toplevel}, @code{:load-toplevel},
536 and @code{:execute}).
538 The @code{cl-eval-when} form is handled differently depending on
539 whether or not it is being compiled as a top-level form.
540 Specifically, it gets special treatment if it is being compiled
541 by a command such as @code{byte-compile-file} which compiles files
542 or buffers of code, and it appears either literally at the
543 top level of the file or inside a top-level @code{progn}.
545 For compiled top-level @code{cl-eval-when}s, the body @var{forms} are
546 executed at compile-time if @code{compile} is in the @var{situations}
547 list, and the @var{forms} are written out to the file (to be executed
548 at load-time) if @code{load} is in the @var{situations} list.
550 For non-compiled-top-level forms, only the @code{eval} situation is
551 relevant. (This includes forms executed by the interpreter, forms
552 compiled with @code{byte-compile} rather than @code{byte-compile-file},
553 and non-top-level forms.) The @code{cl-eval-when} acts like a
554 @code{progn} if @code{eval} is specified, and like @code{nil}
555 (ignoring the body @var{forms}) if not.
557 The rules become more subtle when @code{cl-eval-when}s are nested;
558 consult Steele (second edition) for the gruesome details (and
559 some gruesome examples).
561 Some simple examples:
564 ;; Top-level forms in foo.el:
565 (cl-eval-when (compile) (setq foo1 'bar))
566 (cl-eval-when (load) (setq foo2 'bar))
567 (cl-eval-when (compile load) (setq foo3 'bar))
568 (cl-eval-when (eval) (setq foo4 'bar))
569 (cl-eval-when (eval compile) (setq foo5 'bar))
570 (cl-eval-when (eval load) (setq foo6 'bar))
571 (cl-eval-when (eval compile load) (setq foo7 'bar))
574 When @file{foo.el} is compiled, these variables will be set during
575 the compilation itself:
578 foo1 foo3 foo5 foo7 ; 'compile'
581 When @file{foo.elc} is loaded, these variables will be set:
584 foo2 foo3 foo6 foo7 ; 'load'
587 And if @file{foo.el} is loaded uncompiled, these variables will
591 foo4 foo5 foo6 foo7 ; 'eval'
594 If these seven @code{cl-eval-when}s had been, say, inside a @code{defun},
595 then the first three would have been equivalent to @code{nil} and the
596 last four would have been equivalent to the corresponding @code{setq}s.
598 Note that @code{(cl-eval-when (load eval) @dots{})} is equivalent
599 to @code{(progn @dots{})} in all contexts. The compiler treats
600 certain top-level forms, like @code{defmacro} (sort-of) and
601 @code{require}, as if they were wrapped in @code{(cl-eval-when
602 (compile load eval) @dots{})}.
605 Emacs includes two special forms related to @code{cl-eval-when}.
606 @xref{Eval During Compile,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
607 One of these, @code{eval-when-compile}, is not quite equivalent to
608 any @code{cl-eval-when} construct and is described below.
610 The other form, @code{(eval-and-compile @dots{})}, is exactly
611 equivalent to @samp{(cl-eval-when (compile load eval) @dots{})}.
613 @defmac eval-when-compile forms@dots{}
614 The @var{forms} are evaluated at compile-time; at execution time,
615 this form acts like a quoted constant of the resulting value. Used
616 at top-level, @code{eval-when-compile} is just like @samp{eval-when
617 (compile eval)}. In other contexts, @code{eval-when-compile}
618 allows code to be evaluated once at compile-time for efficiency
621 This form is similar to the @samp{#.} syntax of true Common Lisp.
624 @defmac cl-load-time-value form
625 The @var{form} is evaluated at load-time; at execution time,
626 this form acts like a quoted constant of the resulting value.
628 Early Common Lisp had a @samp{#,} syntax that was similar to
629 this, but ANSI Common Lisp replaced it with @code{load-time-value}
630 and gave it more well-defined semantics.
632 In a compiled file, @code{cl-load-time-value} arranges for @var{form}
633 to be evaluated when the @file{.elc} file is loaded and then used
634 as if it were a quoted constant. In code compiled by
635 @code{byte-compile} rather than @code{byte-compile-file}, the
636 effect is identical to @code{eval-when-compile}. In uncompiled
637 code, both @code{eval-when-compile} and @code{cl-load-time-value}
638 act exactly like @code{progn}.
642 (insert "This function was executed on: "
643 (current-time-string)
645 (eval-when-compile (current-time-string))
646 ;; or '#.(current-time-string) in real Common Lisp
648 (cl-load-time-value (current-time-string))))
652 Byte-compiled, the above defun will result in the following code
653 (or its compiled equivalent, of course) in the @file{.elc} file:
656 (setq --temp-- (current-time-string))
658 (insert "This function was executed on: "
659 (current-time-string)
661 '"Wed Oct 31 16:32:28 2012"
671 This section describes functions for testing whether various
672 facts are true or false.
675 * Type Predicates:: @code{cl-typep}, @code{cl-deftype}, and @code{cl-coerce}.
676 * Equality Predicates:: @code{cl-equalp}.
679 @node Type Predicates
680 @section Type Predicates
682 @defun cl-typep object type
683 Check if @var{object} is of type @var{type}, where @var{type} is a
684 (quoted) type name of the sort used by Common Lisp. For example,
685 @code{(cl-typep foo 'integer)} is equivalent to @code{(integerp foo)}.
688 The @var{type} argument to the above function is either a symbol
689 or a list beginning with a symbol.
693 If the type name is a symbol, Emacs appends @samp{-p} to the
694 symbol name to form the name of a predicate function for testing
695 the type. (Built-in predicates whose names end in @samp{p} rather
696 than @samp{-p} are used when appropriate.)
699 The type symbol @code{t} stands for the union of all types.
700 @code{(cl-typep @var{object} t)} is always true. Likewise, the
701 type symbol @code{nil} stands for nothing at all, and
702 @code{(cl-typep @var{object} nil)} is always false.
705 The type symbol @code{null} represents the symbol @code{nil}.
706 Thus @code{(cl-typep @var{object} 'null)} is equivalent to
707 @code{(null @var{object})}.
710 The type symbol @code{atom} represents all objects that are not cons
711 cells. Thus @code{(cl-typep @var{object} 'atom)} is equivalent to
712 @code{(atom @var{object})}.
715 The type symbol @code{real} is a synonym for @code{number}, and
716 @code{fixnum} is a synonym for @code{integer}.
719 The type symbols @code{character} and @code{string-char} match
720 integers in the range from 0 to 255.
723 The type list @code{(integer @var{low} @var{high})} represents all
724 integers between @var{low} and @var{high}, inclusive. Either bound
725 may be a list of a single integer to specify an exclusive limit,
726 or a @code{*} to specify no limit. The type @code{(integer * *)}
727 is thus equivalent to @code{integer}.
730 Likewise, lists beginning with @code{float}, @code{real}, or
731 @code{number} represent numbers of that type falling in a particular
735 Lists beginning with @code{and}, @code{or}, and @code{not} form
736 combinations of types. For example, @code{(or integer (float 0 *))}
737 represents all objects that are integers or non-negative floats.
740 Lists beginning with @code{member} or @code{cl-member} represent
741 objects @code{eql} to any of the following values. For example,
742 @code{(member 1 2 3 4)} is equivalent to @code{(integer 1 4)},
743 and @code{(member nil)} is equivalent to @code{null}.
746 Lists of the form @code{(satisfies @var{predicate})} represent
747 all objects for which @var{predicate} returns true when called
748 with that object as an argument.
751 The following function and macro (not technically predicates) are
752 related to @code{cl-typep}.
754 @defun cl-coerce object type
755 This function attempts to convert @var{object} to the specified
756 @var{type}. If @var{object} is already of that type as determined by
757 @code{cl-typep}, it is simply returned. Otherwise, certain types of
758 conversions will be made: If @var{type} is any sequence type
759 (@code{string}, @code{list}, etc.)@: then @var{object} will be
760 converted to that type if possible. If @var{type} is
761 @code{character}, then strings of length one and symbols with
762 one-character names can be coerced. If @var{type} is @code{float},
763 then integers can be coerced in versions of Emacs that support
764 floats. In all other circumstances, @code{cl-coerce} signals an
768 @defmac cl-deftype name arglist forms@dots{}
769 This macro defines a new type called @var{name}. It is similar
770 to @code{defmacro} in many ways; when @var{name} is encountered
771 as a type name, the body @var{forms} are evaluated and should
772 return a type specifier that is equivalent to the type. The
773 @var{arglist} is a Common Lisp argument list of the sort accepted
774 by @code{cl-defmacro}. The type specifier @samp{(@var{name} @var{args}@dots{})}
775 is expanded by calling the expander with those arguments; the type
776 symbol @samp{@var{name}} is expanded by calling the expander with
777 no arguments. The @var{arglist} is processed the same as for
778 @code{cl-defmacro} except that optional arguments without explicit
779 defaults use @code{*} instead of @code{nil} as the ``default''
780 default. Some examples:
783 (cl-deftype null () '(satisfies null)) ; predefined
784 (cl-deftype list () '(or null cons)) ; predefined
785 (cl-deftype unsigned-byte (&optional bits)
786 (list 'integer 0 (if (eq bits '*) bits (1- (lsh 1 bits)))))
787 (unsigned-byte 8) @equiv{} (integer 0 255)
788 (unsigned-byte) @equiv{} (integer 0 *)
789 unsigned-byte @equiv{} (integer 0 *)
793 The last example shows how the Common Lisp @code{unsigned-byte}
794 type specifier could be implemented if desired; this package does
795 not implement @code{unsigned-byte} by default.
798 The @code{cl-typecase} (@pxref{Conditionals}) and @code{cl-check-type}
799 (@pxref{Assertions}) macros also use type names. The @code{cl-map},
800 @code{cl-concatenate}, and @code{cl-merge} functions take type-name
801 arguments to specify the type of sequence to return. @xref{Sequences}.
803 @node Equality Predicates
804 @section Equality Predicates
807 This package defines the Common Lisp predicate @code{cl-equalp}.
810 This function is a more flexible version of @code{equal}. In
811 particular, it compares strings case-insensitively, and it compares
812 numbers without regard to type (so that @code{(cl-equalp 3 3.0)} is
813 true). Vectors and conses are compared recursively. All other
814 objects are compared as if by @code{equal}.
816 This function differs from Common Lisp @code{equalp} in several
817 respects. First, Common Lisp's @code{equalp} also compares
818 @emph{characters} case-insensitively, which would be impractical
819 in this package since Emacs does not distinguish between integers
820 and characters. In keeping with the idea that strings are less
821 vector-like in Emacs Lisp, this package's @code{cl-equalp} also will
822 not compare strings against vectors of integers.
825 Also note that the Common Lisp functions @code{member} and @code{assoc}
826 use @code{eql} to compare elements, whereas Emacs Lisp follows the
827 MacLisp tradition and uses @code{equal} for these two functions.
828 The functions @code{cl-member} and @code{cl-assoc} use @code{eql},
829 as in Common Lisp. The standard Emacs Lisp functions @code{memq} and
830 @code{assq} use @code{eq}, and the standard @code{memql} uses @code{eql}.
832 @node Control Structure
833 @chapter Control Structure
836 The features described in the following sections implement
837 various advanced control structures, including extensions to the
838 standard @code{setf} facility, and a number of looping and conditional
842 * Assignment:: The @code{cl-psetq} form.
843 * Generalized Variables:: Extensions to generalized variables.
844 * Variable Bindings:: @code{cl-progv}, @code{cl-flet}, @code{cl-macrolet}.
845 * Conditionals:: @code{cl-case}, @code{cl-typecase}.
846 * Blocks and Exits:: @code{cl-block}, @code{cl-return}, @code{cl-return-from}.
847 * Iteration:: @code{cl-do}, @code{cl-dotimes}, @code{cl-dolist}, @code{cl-do-symbols}.
848 * Loop Facility:: The Common Lisp @code{loop} macro.
849 * Multiple Values:: @code{cl-values}, @code{cl-multiple-value-bind}, etc.
856 The @code{cl-psetq} form is just like @code{setq}, except that multiple
857 assignments are done in parallel rather than sequentially.
859 @defmac cl-psetq [symbol form]@dots{}
860 This special form (actually a macro) is used to assign to several
861 variables simultaneously. Given only one @var{symbol} and @var{form},
862 it has the same effect as @code{setq}. Given several @var{symbol}
863 and @var{form} pairs, it evaluates all the @var{form}s in advance
864 and then stores the corresponding variables afterwards.
868 (setq x (+ x y) y (* x y))
871 y ; @r{@code{y} was computed after @code{x} was set.}
874 (cl-psetq x (+ x y) y (* x y))
877 y ; @r{@code{y} was computed before @code{x} was set.}
881 The simplest use of @code{cl-psetq} is @code{(cl-psetq x y y x)}, which
882 exchanges the values of two variables. (The @code{cl-rotatef} form
883 provides an even more convenient way to swap two variables;
884 @pxref{Modify Macros}.)
886 @code{cl-psetq} always returns @code{nil}.
889 @node Generalized Variables
890 @section Generalized Variables
892 A @dfn{generalized variable} or @dfn{place form} is one of the many
893 places in Lisp memory where values can be stored. The simplest place
894 form is a regular Lisp variable. But the @sc{car}s and @sc{cdr}s of lists,
895 elements of arrays, properties of symbols, and many other locations
896 are also places where Lisp values are stored. For basic information,
897 @pxref{Generalized Variables,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
898 This package provides several additional features related to
899 generalized variables.
902 * Setf Extensions:: Additional @code{setf} places.
903 * Modify Macros:: @code{cl-incf}, @code{cl-rotatef}, @code{cl-letf}, @code{cl-callf}, etc.
906 @node Setf Extensions
907 @subsection Setf Extensions
909 Several standard (e.g., @code{car}) and Emacs-specific
910 (e.g., @code{window-point}) Lisp functions are @code{setf}-able by default.
911 This package defines @code{setf} handlers for several additional functions:
915 Functions from this package:
917 cl-rest cl-subseq cl-get cl-getf
918 cl-caaar@dots{}cl-cddddr cl-first@dots{}cl-tenth
922 Note that for @code{cl-getf} (as for @code{nthcdr}), the list argument
923 of the function must itself be a valid @var{place} form.
926 General Emacs Lisp functions:
928 buffer-file-name getenv
929 buffer-modified-p global-key-binding
930 buffer-name local-key-binding
932 buffer-substring mark-marker
933 current-buffer marker-position
934 current-case-table mouse-position
936 current-global-map point-marker
937 current-input-mode point-max
938 current-local-map point-min
939 current-window-configuration read-mouse-position
940 default-file-modes screen-height
941 documentation-property screen-width
942 face-background selected-window
943 face-background-pixmap selected-screen
944 face-font selected-frame
945 face-foreground standard-case-table
946 face-underline-p syntax-table
947 file-modes visited-file-modtime
948 frame-height window-height
949 frame-parameters window-width
950 frame-visible-p x-get-secondary-selection
951 frame-width x-get-selection
955 Most of these have directly corresponding ``set'' functions, like
956 @code{use-local-map} for @code{current-local-map}, or @code{goto-char}
957 for @code{point}. A few, like @code{point-min}, expand to longer
958 sequences of code when they are used with @code{setf}
959 (@code{(narrow-to-region x (point-max))} in this case).
962 A call of the form @code{(substring @var{subplace} @var{n} [@var{m}])},
963 where @var{subplace} is itself a valid generalized variable whose
964 current value is a string, and where the value stored is also a
965 string. The new string is spliced into the specified part of the
966 destination string. For example:
969 (setq a (list "hello" "world"))
970 @result{} ("hello" "world")
973 (substring (cadr a) 2 4)
975 (setf (substring (cadr a) 2 4) "o")
980 @result{} ("hello" "wood")
983 The generalized variable @code{buffer-substring}, listed above,
984 also works in this way by replacing a portion of the current buffer.
986 @c FIXME? Also 'eq'? (see cl-lib.el)
988 @c Currently commented out in cl.el.
991 A call of the form @code{(apply '@var{func} @dots{})} or
992 @code{(apply (function @var{func}) @dots{})}, where @var{func}
993 is a @code{setf}-able function whose store function is ``suitable''
994 in the sense described in Steele's book; since none of the standard
995 Emacs place functions are suitable in this sense, this feature is
996 only interesting when used with places you define yourself with
997 @code{define-setf-method} or the long form of @code{defsetf}.
998 @xref{Obsolete Setf Customization}.
1001 @c FIXME? Is this still true?
1003 A macro call, in which case the macro is expanded and @code{setf}
1004 is applied to the resulting form.
1007 @c FIXME should this be in lispref? It seems self-evident.
1008 @c Contrast with the cl-incf example later on.
1009 @c Here it really only serves as a contrast to wrong-order.
1010 The @code{setf} macro takes care to evaluate all subforms in
1011 the proper left-to-right order; for example,
1014 (setf (aref vec (cl-incf i)) i)
1018 looks like it will evaluate @code{(cl-incf i)} exactly once, before the
1019 following access to @code{i}; the @code{setf} expander will insert
1020 temporary variables as necessary to ensure that it does in fact work
1021 this way no matter what setf-method is defined for @code{aref}.
1022 (In this case, @code{aset} would be used and no such steps would
1023 be necessary since @code{aset} takes its arguments in a convenient
1026 However, if the @var{place} form is a macro which explicitly
1027 evaluates its arguments in an unusual order, this unusual order
1028 will be preserved. Adapting an example from Steele, given
1031 (defmacro wrong-order (x y) (list 'aref y x))
1035 the form @code{(setf (wrong-order @var{a} @var{b}) 17)} will
1036 evaluate @var{b} first, then @var{a}, just as in an actual call
1037 to @code{wrong-order}.
1040 @subsection Modify Macros
1043 This package defines a number of macros that operate on generalized
1044 variables. Many are interesting and useful even when the @var{place}
1045 is just a variable name.
1047 @defmac cl-psetf [place form]@dots{}
1048 This macro is to @code{setf} what @code{cl-psetq} is to @code{setq}:
1049 When several @var{place}s and @var{form}s are involved, the
1050 assignments take place in parallel rather than sequentially.
1051 Specifically, all subforms are evaluated from left to right, then
1052 all the assignments are done (in an undefined order).
1055 @defmac cl-incf place &optional x
1056 This macro increments the number stored in @var{place} by one, or
1057 by @var{x} if specified. The incremented value is returned. For
1058 example, @code{(cl-incf i)} is equivalent to @code{(setq i (1+ i))}, and
1059 @code{(cl-incf (car x) 2)} is equivalent to @code{(setcar x (+ (car x) 2))}.
1061 As with @code{setf}, care is taken to preserve the ``apparent'' order
1062 of evaluation. For example,
1065 (cl-incf (aref vec (cl-incf i)))
1069 appears to increment @code{i} once, then increment the element of
1070 @code{vec} addressed by @code{i}; this is indeed exactly what it
1071 does, which means the above form is @emph{not} equivalent to the
1072 ``obvious'' expansion,
1075 (setf (aref vec (cl-incf i))
1076 (1+ (aref vec (cl-incf i)))) ; wrong!
1080 but rather to something more like
1083 (let ((temp (cl-incf i)))
1084 (setf (aref vec temp) (1+ (aref vec temp))))
1088 Again, all of this is taken care of automatically by @code{cl-incf} and
1089 the other generalized-variable macros.
1091 As a more Emacs-specific example of @code{cl-incf}, the expression
1092 @code{(cl-incf (point) @var{n})} is essentially equivalent to
1093 @code{(forward-char @var{n})}.
1096 @defmac cl-decf place &optional x
1097 This macro decrements the number stored in @var{place} by one, or
1098 by @var{x} if specified.
1101 @defmac cl-pushnew x place @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
1102 This macro inserts @var{x} at the front of the list stored in
1103 @var{place}, but only if @var{x} was not @code{eql} to any
1104 existing element of the list. The optional keyword arguments
1105 are interpreted in the same way as for @code{cl-adjoin}.
1106 @xref{Lists as Sets}.
1109 @defmac cl-shiftf place@dots{} newvalue
1110 This macro shifts the @var{place}s left by one, shifting in the
1111 value of @var{newvalue} (which may be any Lisp expression, not just
1112 a generalized variable), and returning the value shifted out of
1113 the first @var{place}. Thus, @code{(cl-shiftf @var{a} @var{b} @var{c}
1114 @var{d})} is equivalent to
1119 (cl-psetf @var{a} @var{b}
1125 except that the subforms of @var{a}, @var{b}, and @var{c} are actually
1126 evaluated only once each and in the apparent order.
1129 @defmac cl-rotatef place@dots{}
1130 This macro rotates the @var{place}s left by one in circular fashion.
1131 Thus, @code{(cl-rotatef @var{a} @var{b} @var{c} @var{d})} is equivalent to
1134 (cl-psetf @var{a} @var{b}
1141 except for the evaluation of subforms. @code{cl-rotatef} always
1142 returns @code{nil}. Note that @code{(cl-rotatef @var{a} @var{b})}
1143 conveniently exchanges @var{a} and @var{b}.
1146 The following macros were invented for this package; they have no
1147 analogues in Common Lisp.
1149 @defmac cl-letf (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1150 This macro is analogous to @code{let}, but for generalized variables
1151 rather than just symbols. Each @var{binding} should be of the form
1152 @code{(@var{place} @var{value})}; the original contents of the
1153 @var{place}s are saved, the @var{value}s are stored in them, and
1154 then the body @var{form}s are executed. Afterwards, the @var{places}
1155 are set back to their original saved contents. This cleanup happens
1156 even if the @var{form}s exit irregularly due to a @code{throw} or an
1162 (cl-letf (((point) (point-min))
1168 moves point in the current buffer to the beginning of the buffer,
1169 and also binds @code{a} to 17 (as if by a normal @code{let}, since
1170 @code{a} is just a regular variable). After the body exits, @code{a}
1171 is set back to its original value and point is moved back to its
1174 Note that @code{cl-letf} on @code{(point)} is not quite like a
1175 @code{save-excursion}, as the latter effectively saves a marker
1176 which tracks insertions and deletions in the buffer. Actually,
1177 a @code{cl-letf} of @code{(point-marker)} is much closer to this
1178 behavior. (@code{point} and @code{point-marker} are equivalent
1179 as @code{setf} places; each will accept either an integer or a
1180 marker as the stored value.)
1182 Like in the case of @code{let}, the @var{value} forms are evaluated in
1183 the order they appear, but the order of bindings is unspecified.
1184 Therefore, avoid binding the same @var{place} more than once in a
1185 single @code{cl-letf} form.
1187 Since generalized variables look like lists, @code{let}'s shorthand
1188 of using @samp{foo} for @samp{(foo nil)} as a @var{binding} would
1189 be ambiguous in @code{cl-letf} and is not allowed.
1191 However, a @var{binding} specifier may be a one-element list
1192 @samp{(@var{place})}, which is similar to @samp{(@var{place}
1193 @var{place})}. In other words, the @var{place} is not disturbed
1194 on entry to the body, and the only effect of the @code{cl-letf} is
1195 to restore the original value of @var{place} afterwards.
1196 @c I suspect this may no longer be true; either way it's
1197 @c implementation detail and so not essential to document.
1199 (The redundant access-and-store suggested by the @code{(@var{place}
1200 @var{place})} example does not actually occur.)
1203 Note that in this case, and in fact almost every case, @var{place}
1204 must have a well-defined value outside the @code{cl-letf} body.
1205 There is essentially only one exception to this, which is @var{place}
1206 a plain variable with a specified @var{value} (such as @code{(a 17)}
1207 in the above example).
1208 @c See http://debbugs.gnu.org/12758
1209 @c Some or all of this was true for cl.el, but not for cl-lib.el.
1211 The only exceptions are plain variables and calls to
1212 @code{symbol-value} and @code{symbol-function}. If the symbol is not
1213 bound on entry, it is simply made unbound by @code{makunbound} or
1214 @code{fmakunbound} on exit.
1218 @defmac cl-letf* (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1219 This macro is to @code{cl-letf} what @code{let*} is to @code{let}:
1220 It does the bindings in sequential rather than parallel order.
1223 @defmac cl-callf @var{function} @var{place} @var{args}@dots{}
1224 This is the ``generic'' modify macro. It calls @var{function},
1225 which should be an unquoted function name, macro name, or lambda.
1226 It passes @var{place} and @var{args} as arguments, and assigns the
1227 result back to @var{place}. For example, @code{(cl-incf @var{place}
1228 @var{n})} is the same as @code{(cl-callf + @var{place} @var{n})}.
1232 (cl-callf abs my-number)
1233 (cl-callf concat (buffer-name) "<" (number-to-string n) ">")
1234 (cl-callf cl-union happy-people (list joe bob) :test 'same-person)
1237 Note again that @code{cl-callf} is an extension to standard Common Lisp.
1240 @defmac cl-callf2 @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{place} @var{args}@dots{}
1241 This macro is like @code{cl-callf}, except that @var{place} is
1242 the @emph{second} argument of @var{function} rather than the
1243 first. For example, @code{(push @var{x} @var{place})} is
1244 equivalent to @code{(cl-callf2 cons @var{x} @var{place})}.
1247 The @code{cl-callf} and @code{cl-callf2} macros serve as building
1248 blocks for other macros like @code{cl-incf}, and @code{cl-pushnew}.
1249 The @code{cl-letf} and @code{cl-letf*} macros are used in the processing
1250 of symbol macros; @pxref{Macro Bindings}.
1253 @node Variable Bindings
1254 @section Variable Bindings
1257 These Lisp forms make bindings to variables and function names,
1258 analogous to Lisp's built-in @code{let} form.
1260 @xref{Modify Macros}, for the @code{cl-letf} and @code{cl-letf*} forms which
1261 are also related to variable bindings.
1264 * Dynamic Bindings:: The @code{cl-progv} form.
1265 * Function Bindings:: @code{cl-flet} and @code{cl-labels}.
1266 * Macro Bindings:: @code{cl-macrolet} and @code{cl-symbol-macrolet}.
1269 @node Dynamic Bindings
1270 @subsection Dynamic Bindings
1273 The standard @code{let} form binds variables whose names are known
1274 at compile-time. The @code{cl-progv} form provides an easy way to
1275 bind variables whose names are computed at run-time.
1277 @defmac cl-progv symbols values forms@dots{}
1278 This form establishes @code{let}-style variable bindings on a
1279 set of variables computed at run-time. The expressions
1280 @var{symbols} and @var{values} are evaluated, and must return lists
1281 of symbols and values, respectively. The symbols are bound to the
1282 corresponding values for the duration of the body @var{form}s.
1283 If @var{values} is shorter than @var{symbols}, the last few symbols
1284 are bound to @code{nil}.
1285 If @var{symbols} is shorter than @var{values}, the excess values
1289 @node Function Bindings
1290 @subsection Function Bindings
1293 These forms make @code{let}-like bindings to functions instead
1296 @defmac cl-flet (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1297 This form establishes @code{let}-style bindings on the function
1298 cells of symbols rather than on the value cells. Each @var{binding}
1299 must be a list of the form @samp{(@var{name} @var{arglist}
1300 @var{forms}@dots{})}, which defines a function exactly as if
1301 it were a @code{cl-defun} form. The function @var{name} is defined
1302 accordingly but only within the body of the @code{cl-flet}, hiding any external
1303 definition if applicable.
1305 The bindings are lexical in scope. This means that all references to
1306 the named functions must appear physically within the body of the
1307 @code{cl-flet} form.
1309 Functions defined by @code{cl-flet} may use the full Common Lisp
1310 argument notation supported by @code{cl-defun}; also, the function
1311 body is enclosed in an implicit block as if by @code{cl-defun}.
1312 @xref{Program Structure}.
1314 Note that the @file{cl.el} version of this macro behaves slightly
1315 differently. In particular, its binding is dynamic rather than
1316 lexical. @xref{Obsolete Macros}.
1319 @defmac cl-labels (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1320 The @code{cl-labels} form is like @code{cl-flet}, except that
1321 the function bindings can be recursive. The scoping is lexical,
1322 but you can only capture functions in closures if
1323 @code{lexical-binding} is @code{t}.
1324 @xref{Closures,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}, and
1325 @ref{Using Lexical Binding,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
1327 Lexical scoping means that all references to the named
1328 functions must appear physically within the body of the
1329 @code{cl-labels} form. References may appear both in the body
1330 @var{forms} of @code{cl-labels} itself, and in the bodies of
1331 the functions themselves. Thus, @code{cl-labels} can define
1332 local recursive functions, or mutually-recursive sets of functions.
1334 A ``reference'' to a function name is either a call to that
1335 function, or a use of its name quoted by @code{quote} or
1336 @code{function} to be passed on to, say, @code{mapcar}.
1338 Note that the @file{cl.el} version of this macro behaves slightly
1339 differently. @xref{Obsolete Macros}.
1342 @node Macro Bindings
1343 @subsection Macro Bindings
1346 These forms create local macros and ``symbol macros''.
1348 @defmac cl-macrolet (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1349 This form is analogous to @code{cl-flet}, but for macros instead of
1350 functions. Each @var{binding} is a list of the same form as the
1351 arguments to @code{cl-defmacro} (i.e., a macro name, argument list,
1352 and macro-expander forms). The macro is defined accordingly for
1353 use within the body of the @code{cl-macrolet}.
1355 Because of the nature of macros, @code{cl-macrolet} is always lexically
1356 scoped. The @code{cl-macrolet} binding will
1357 affect only calls that appear physically within the body
1358 @var{forms}, possibly after expansion of other macros in the
1362 @defmac cl-symbol-macrolet (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
1363 This form creates @dfn{symbol macros}, which are macros that look
1364 like variable references rather than function calls. Each
1365 @var{binding} is a list @samp{(@var{var} @var{expansion})};
1366 any reference to @var{var} within the body @var{forms} is
1367 replaced by @var{expansion}.
1371 (cl-symbol-macrolet ((foo (car bar)))
1377 A @code{setq} of a symbol macro is treated the same as a @code{setf}.
1378 I.e., @code{(setq foo 4)} in the above would be equivalent to
1379 @code{(setf foo 4)}, which in turn expands to @code{(setf (car bar) 4)}.
1381 Likewise, a @code{let} or @code{let*} binding a symbol macro is
1382 treated like a @code{cl-letf} or @code{cl-letf*}. This differs from true
1383 Common Lisp, where the rules of lexical scoping cause a @code{let}
1384 binding to shadow a @code{symbol-macrolet} binding. In this package,
1385 such shadowing does not occur, even when @code{lexical-binding} is
1386 @c See http://debbugs.gnu.org/12119
1387 @code{t}. (This behavior predates the addition of lexical binding to
1388 Emacs Lisp, and may change in future to respect @code{lexical-binding}.)
1389 At present in this package, only @code{lexical-let} and
1390 @code{lexical-let*} will shadow a symbol macro. @xref{Obsolete
1393 There is no analogue of @code{defmacro} for symbol macros; all symbol
1394 macros are local. A typical use of @code{cl-symbol-macrolet} is in the
1395 expansion of another macro:
1398 (cl-defmacro my-dolist ((x list) &rest body)
1399 (let ((var (cl-gensym)))
1400 (list 'cl-loop 'for var 'on list 'do
1401 (cl-list* 'cl-symbol-macrolet
1402 (list (list x (list 'car var)))
1405 (setq mylist '(1 2 3 4))
1406 (my-dolist (x mylist) (cl-incf x))
1412 In this example, the @code{my-dolist} macro is similar to @code{dolist}
1413 (@pxref{Iteration}) except that the variable @code{x} becomes a true
1414 reference onto the elements of the list. The @code{my-dolist} call
1415 shown here expands to
1418 (cl-loop for G1234 on mylist do
1419 (cl-symbol-macrolet ((x (car G1234)))
1424 which in turn expands to
1427 (cl-loop for G1234 on mylist do (cl-incf (car G1234)))
1430 @xref{Loop Facility}, for a description of the @code{cl-loop} macro.
1431 This package defines a nonstandard @code{in-ref} loop clause that
1432 works much like @code{my-dolist}.
1436 @section Conditionals
1439 These conditional forms augment Emacs Lisp's simple @code{if},
1440 @code{and}, @code{or}, and @code{cond} forms.
1442 @defmac cl-case keyform clause@dots{}
1443 This macro evaluates @var{keyform}, then compares it with the key
1444 values listed in the various @var{clause}s. Whichever clause matches
1445 the key is executed; comparison is done by @code{eql}. If no clause
1446 matches, the @code{cl-case} form returns @code{nil}. The clauses are
1450 (@var{keylist} @var{body-forms}@dots{})
1454 where @var{keylist} is a list of key values. If there is exactly
1455 one value, and it is not a cons cell or the symbol @code{nil} or
1456 @code{t}, then it can be used by itself as a @var{keylist} without
1457 being enclosed in a list. All key values in the @code{cl-case} form
1458 must be distinct. The final clauses may use @code{t} in place of
1459 a @var{keylist} to indicate a default clause that should be taken
1460 if none of the other clauses match. (The symbol @code{otherwise}
1461 is also recognized in place of @code{t}. To make a clause that
1462 matches the actual symbol @code{t}, @code{nil}, or @code{otherwise},
1463 enclose the symbol in a list.)
1465 For example, this expression reads a keystroke, then does one of
1466 four things depending on whether it is an @samp{a}, a @samp{b},
1467 a @key{RET} or @kbd{C-j}, or anything else.
1470 (cl-case (read-char)
1473 ((?\r ?\n) (do-ret-thing))
1474 (t (do-other-thing)))
1478 @defmac cl-ecase keyform clause@dots{}
1479 This macro is just like @code{cl-case}, except that if the key does
1480 not match any of the clauses, an error is signaled rather than
1481 simply returning @code{nil}.
1484 @defmac cl-typecase keyform clause@dots{}
1485 This macro is a version of @code{cl-case} that checks for types
1486 rather than values. Each @var{clause} is of the form
1487 @samp{(@var{type} @var{body}@dots{})}. @xref{Type Predicates},
1488 for a description of type specifiers. For example,
1492 (integer (munch-integer x))
1493 (float (munch-float x))
1494 (string (munch-integer (string-to-number x)))
1495 (t (munch-anything x)))
1498 The type specifier @code{t} matches any type of object; the word
1499 @code{otherwise} is also allowed. To make one clause match any of
1500 several types, use an @code{(or @dots{})} type specifier.
1503 @defmac cl-etypecase keyform clause@dots{}
1504 This macro is just like @code{cl-typecase}, except that if the key does
1505 not match any of the clauses, an error is signaled rather than
1506 simply returning @code{nil}.
1509 @node Blocks and Exits
1510 @section Blocks and Exits
1514 Common Lisp @dfn{blocks} provide a non-local exit mechanism very
1515 similar to @code{catch} and @code{throw}, with lexical scoping.
1516 This package actually implements @code{cl-block}
1517 in terms of @code{catch}; however, the lexical scoping allows the
1518 byte-compiler to omit the costly @code{catch} step if the
1519 body of the block does not actually @code{cl-return-from} the block.
1521 @defmac cl-block name forms@dots{}
1522 The @var{forms} are evaluated as if by a @code{progn}. However,
1523 if any of the @var{forms} execute @code{(cl-return-from @var{name})},
1524 they will jump out and return directly from the @code{cl-block} form.
1525 The @code{cl-block} returns the result of the last @var{form} unless
1526 a @code{cl-return-from} occurs.
1528 The @code{cl-block}/@code{cl-return-from} mechanism is quite similar to
1529 the @code{catch}/@code{throw} mechanism. The main differences are
1530 that block @var{name}s are unevaluated symbols, rather than forms
1531 (such as quoted symbols) that evaluate to a tag at run-time; and
1532 also that blocks are always lexically scoped.
1533 In a dynamically scoped @code{catch}, functions called from the
1534 @code{catch} body can also @code{throw} to the @code{catch}. This
1535 is not an option for @code{cl-block}, where
1536 the @code{cl-return-from} referring to a block name must appear
1537 physically within the @var{forms} that make up the body of the block.
1538 They may not appear within other called functions, although they may
1539 appear within macro expansions or @code{lambda}s in the body. Block
1540 names and @code{catch} names form independent name-spaces.
1542 In true Common Lisp, @code{defun} and @code{defmacro} surround
1543 the function or expander bodies with implicit blocks with the
1544 same name as the function or macro. This does not occur in Emacs
1545 Lisp, but this package provides @code{cl-defun} and @code{cl-defmacro}
1546 forms, which do create the implicit block.
1548 The Common Lisp looping constructs defined by this package,
1549 such as @code{cl-loop} and @code{cl-dolist}, also create implicit blocks
1550 just as in Common Lisp.
1552 Because they are implemented in terms of Emacs Lisp's @code{catch}
1553 and @code{throw}, blocks have the same overhead as actual
1554 @code{catch} constructs (roughly two function calls). However,
1555 the byte compiler will optimize away the @code{catch}
1557 not in fact contain any @code{cl-return} or @code{cl-return-from} calls
1558 that jump to it. This means that @code{cl-do} loops and @code{cl-defun}
1559 functions that don't use @code{cl-return} don't pay the overhead to
1563 @defmac cl-return-from name [result]
1564 This macro returns from the block named @var{name}, which must be
1565 an (unevaluated) symbol. If a @var{result} form is specified, it
1566 is evaluated to produce the result returned from the @code{block}.
1567 Otherwise, @code{nil} is returned.
1570 @defmac cl-return [result]
1571 This macro is exactly like @code{(cl-return-from nil @var{result})}.
1572 Common Lisp loops like @code{cl-do} and @code{cl-dolist} implicitly enclose
1573 themselves in @code{nil} blocks.
1576 @c FIXME? Maybe this should be in a separate section?
1577 @defmac cl-tagbody &rest labels-or-statements
1578 This macro executes statements while allowing for control transfer to
1579 user-defined labels. Each element of @var{labels-or-statements} can
1580 be either a label (an integer or a symbol), or a cons-cell
1581 (a statement). This distinction is made before macroexpansion.
1582 Statements are executed in sequence, discarding any return value.
1583 Any statement can transfer control at any time to the statements that follow
1584 one of the labels with the special form @code{(go @var{label})}.
1585 Labels have lexical scope and dynamic extent.
1593 The macros described here provide more sophisticated, high-level
1594 looping constructs to complement Emacs Lisp's basic loop forms
1595 (@pxref{Iteration,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}).
1597 @defmac cl-loop forms@dots{}
1598 This package supports both the simple, old-style meaning of
1599 @code{loop} and the extremely powerful and flexible feature known as
1600 the @dfn{Loop Facility} or @dfn{Loop Macro}. This more advanced
1601 facility is discussed in the following section; @pxref{Loop Facility}.
1602 The simple form of @code{loop} is described here.
1604 If @code{cl-loop} is followed by zero or more Lisp expressions,
1605 then @code{(cl-loop @var{exprs}@dots{})} simply creates an infinite
1606 loop executing the expressions over and over. The loop is
1607 enclosed in an implicit @code{nil} block. Thus,
1610 (cl-loop (foo) (if (no-more) (return 72)) (bar))
1614 is exactly equivalent to
1617 (cl-block nil (while t (foo) (if (no-more) (return 72)) (bar)))
1620 If any of the expressions are plain symbols, the loop is instead
1621 interpreted as a Loop Macro specification as described later.
1622 (This is not a restriction in practice, since a plain symbol
1623 in the above notation would simply access and throw away the
1624 value of a variable.)
1627 @defmac cl-do (spec@dots{}) (end-test [result@dots{}]) forms@dots{}
1628 This macro creates a general iterative loop. Each @var{spec} is
1632 (@var{var} [@var{init} [@var{step}]])
1635 The loop works as follows: First, each @var{var} is bound to the
1636 associated @var{init} value as if by a @code{let} form. Then, in
1637 each iteration of the loop, the @var{end-test} is evaluated; if
1638 true, the loop is finished. Otherwise, the body @var{forms} are
1639 evaluated, then each @var{var} is set to the associated @var{step}
1640 expression (as if by a @code{cl-psetq} form) and the next iteration
1641 begins. Once the @var{end-test} becomes true, the @var{result}
1642 forms are evaluated (with the @var{var}s still bound to their
1643 values) to produce the result returned by @code{cl-do}.
1645 The entire @code{cl-do} loop is enclosed in an implicit @code{nil}
1646 block, so that you can use @code{(cl-return)} to break out of the
1649 If there are no @var{result} forms, the loop returns @code{nil}.
1650 If a given @var{var} has no @var{step} form, it is bound to its
1651 @var{init} value but not otherwise modified during the @code{cl-do}
1652 loop (unless the code explicitly modifies it); this case is just
1653 a shorthand for putting a @code{(let ((@var{var} @var{init})) @dots{})}
1654 around the loop. If @var{init} is also omitted it defaults to
1655 @code{nil}, and in this case a plain @samp{@var{var}} can be used
1656 in place of @samp{(@var{var})}, again following the analogy with
1659 This example (from Steele) illustrates a loop that applies the
1660 function @code{f} to successive pairs of values from the lists
1661 @code{foo} and @code{bar}; it is equivalent to the call
1662 @code{(cl-mapcar 'f foo bar)}. Note that this loop has no body
1663 @var{forms} at all, performing all its work as side effects of
1664 the rest of the loop.
1667 (cl-do ((x foo (cdr x))
1669 (z nil (cons (f (car x) (car y)) z)))
1670 ((or (null x) (null y))
1675 @defmac cl-do* (spec@dots{}) (end-test [result@dots{}]) forms@dots{}
1676 This is to @code{cl-do} what @code{let*} is to @code{let}. In
1677 particular, the initial values are bound as if by @code{let*}
1678 rather than @code{let}, and the steps are assigned as if by
1679 @code{setq} rather than @code{cl-psetq}.
1681 Here is another way to write the above loop:
1684 (cl-do* ((xp foo (cdr xp))
1686 (x (car xp) (car xp))
1687 (y (car yp) (car yp))
1689 ((or (null xp) (null yp))
1695 @defmac cl-dolist (var list [result]) forms@dots{}
1696 This is exactly like the standard Emacs Lisp macro @code{dolist},
1697 but surrounds the loop with an implicit @code{nil} block.
1700 @defmac cl-dotimes (var count [result]) forms@dots{}
1701 This is exactly like the standard Emacs Lisp macro @code{dotimes},
1702 but surrounds the loop with an implicit @code{nil} block.
1703 The body is executed with @var{var} bound to the integers
1704 from zero (inclusive) to @var{count} (exclusive), in turn. Then
1705 @c FIXME lispref does not state this part explicitly, could move this there.
1706 the @code{result} form is evaluated with @var{var} bound to the total
1707 number of iterations that were done (i.e., @code{(max 0 @var{count})})
1708 to get the return value for the loop form.
1711 @defmac cl-do-symbols (var [obarray [result]]) forms@dots{}
1712 This loop iterates over all interned symbols. If @var{obarray}
1713 is specified and is not @code{nil}, it loops over all symbols in
1714 that obarray. For each symbol, the body @var{forms} are evaluated
1715 with @var{var} bound to that symbol. The symbols are visited in
1716 an unspecified order. Afterward the @var{result} form, if any,
1717 is evaluated (with @var{var} bound to @code{nil}) to get the return
1718 value. The loop is surrounded by an implicit @code{nil} block.
1721 @defmac cl-do-all-symbols (var [result]) forms@dots{}
1722 This is identical to @code{cl-do-symbols} except that the @var{obarray}
1723 argument is omitted; it always iterates over the default obarray.
1726 @xref{Mapping over Sequences}, for some more functions for
1727 iterating over vectors or lists.
1730 @section Loop Facility
1733 A common complaint with Lisp's traditional looping constructs was
1734 that they were either too simple and limited, such as @code{dotimes}
1735 or @code{while}, or too unreadable and obscure, like Common Lisp's
1738 To remedy this, Common Lisp added a construct called the ``Loop
1739 Facility'' or ``@code{loop} macro'', with an easy-to-use but very
1740 powerful and expressive syntax.
1743 * Loop Basics:: The @code{cl-loop} macro, basic clause structure.
1744 * Loop Examples:: Working examples of the @code{cl-loop} macro.
1745 * For Clauses:: Clauses introduced by @code{for} or @code{as}.
1746 * Iteration Clauses:: @code{repeat}, @code{while}, @code{thereis}, etc.
1747 * Accumulation Clauses:: @code{collect}, @code{sum}, @code{maximize}, etc.
1748 * Other Clauses:: @code{with}, @code{if}, @code{initially}, @code{finally}.
1752 @subsection Loop Basics
1755 The @code{cl-loop} macro essentially creates a mini-language within
1756 Lisp that is specially tailored for describing loops. While this
1757 language is a little strange-looking by the standards of regular Lisp,
1758 it turns out to be very easy to learn and well-suited to its purpose.
1760 Since @code{cl-loop} is a macro, all parsing of the loop language
1761 takes place at byte-compile time; compiled @code{cl-loop}s are just
1762 as efficient as the equivalent @code{while} loops written longhand.
1764 @defmac cl-loop clauses@dots{}
1765 A loop construct consists of a series of @var{clause}s, each
1766 introduced by a symbol like @code{for} or @code{do}. Clauses
1767 are simply strung together in the argument list of @code{cl-loop},
1768 with minimal extra parentheses. The various types of clauses
1769 specify initializations, such as the binding of temporary
1770 variables, actions to be taken in the loop, stepping actions,
1773 Common Lisp specifies a certain general order of clauses in a
1777 (loop @var{name-clause}
1778 @var{var-clauses}@dots{}
1779 @var{action-clauses}@dots{})
1782 The @var{name-clause} optionally gives a name to the implicit
1783 block that surrounds the loop. By default, the implicit block
1784 is named @code{nil}. The @var{var-clauses} specify what
1785 variables should be bound during the loop, and how they should
1786 be modified or iterated throughout the course of the loop. The
1787 @var{action-clauses} are things to be done during the loop, such
1788 as computing, collecting, and returning values.
1790 The Emacs version of the @code{cl-loop} macro is less restrictive about
1791 the order of clauses, but things will behave most predictably if
1792 you put the variable-binding clauses @code{with}, @code{for}, and
1793 @code{repeat} before the action clauses. As in Common Lisp,
1794 @code{initially} and @code{finally} clauses can go anywhere.
1796 Loops generally return @code{nil} by default, but you can cause
1797 them to return a value by using an accumulation clause like
1798 @code{collect}, an end-test clause like @code{always}, or an
1799 explicit @code{return} clause to jump out of the implicit block.
1800 (Because the loop body is enclosed in an implicit block, you can
1801 also use regular Lisp @code{cl-return} or @code{cl-return-from} to
1802 break out of the loop.)
1805 The following sections give some examples of the loop macro in
1806 action, and describe the particular loop clauses in great detail.
1807 Consult the second edition of Steele for additional discussion
1811 @subsection Loop Examples
1814 Before listing the full set of clauses that are allowed, let's
1815 look at a few example loops just to get a feel for the @code{cl-loop}
1819 (cl-loop for buf in (buffer-list)
1820 collect (buffer-file-name buf))
1824 This loop iterates over all Emacs buffers, using the list
1825 returned by @code{buffer-list}. For each buffer @var{buf},
1826 it calls @code{buffer-file-name} and collects the results into
1827 a list, which is then returned from the @code{cl-loop} construct.
1828 The result is a list of the file names of all the buffers in
1829 Emacs's memory. The words @code{for}, @code{in}, and @code{collect}
1830 are reserved words in the @code{cl-loop} language.
1833 (cl-loop repeat 20 do (insert "Yowsa\n"))
1837 This loop inserts the phrase ``Yowsa'' twenty times in the
1841 (cl-loop until (eobp) do (munch-line) (forward-line 1))
1845 This loop calls @code{munch-line} on every line until the end
1846 of the buffer. If point is already at the end of the buffer,
1847 the loop exits immediately.
1850 (cl-loop do (munch-line) until (eobp) do (forward-line 1))
1854 This loop is similar to the above one, except that @code{munch-line}
1855 is always called at least once.
1858 (cl-loop for x from 1 to 100
1861 finally return (list x (= y 729)))
1865 This more complicated loop searches for a number @code{x} whose
1866 square is 729. For safety's sake it only examines @code{x}
1867 values up to 100; dropping the phrase @samp{to 100} would
1868 cause the loop to count upwards with no limit. The second
1869 @code{for} clause defines @code{y} to be the square of @code{x}
1870 within the loop; the expression after the @code{=} sign is
1871 reevaluated each time through the loop. The @code{until}
1872 clause gives a condition for terminating the loop, and the
1873 @code{finally} clause says what to do when the loop finishes.
1874 (This particular example was written less concisely than it
1875 could have been, just for the sake of illustration.)
1877 Note that even though this loop contains three clauses (two
1878 @code{for}s and an @code{until}) that would have been enough to
1879 define loops all by themselves, it still creates a single loop
1880 rather than some sort of triple-nested loop. You must explicitly
1881 nest your @code{cl-loop} constructs if you want nested loops.
1884 @subsection For Clauses
1887 Most loops are governed by one or more @code{for} clauses.
1888 A @code{for} clause simultaneously describes variables to be
1889 bound, how those variables are to be stepped during the loop,
1890 and usually an end condition based on those variables.
1892 The word @code{as} is a synonym for the word @code{for}. This
1893 word is followed by a variable name, then a word like @code{from}
1894 or @code{across} that describes the kind of iteration desired.
1895 In Common Lisp, the phrase @code{being the} sometimes precedes
1896 the type of iteration; in this package both @code{being} and
1897 @code{the} are optional. The word @code{each} is a synonym
1898 for @code{the}, and the word that follows it may be singular
1899 or plural: @samp{for x being the elements of y} or
1900 @samp{for x being each element of y}. Which form you use
1901 is purely a matter of style.
1903 The variable is bound around the loop as if by @code{let}:
1907 (cl-loop for i from 1 to 10 do (do-something-with i))
1913 @item for @var{var} from @var{expr1} to @var{expr2} by @var{expr3}
1914 This type of @code{for} clause creates a counting loop. Each of
1915 the three sub-terms is optional, though there must be at least one
1916 term so that the clause is marked as a counting clause.
1918 The three expressions are the starting value, the ending value, and
1919 the step value, respectively, of the variable. The loop counts
1920 upwards by default (@var{expr3} must be positive), from @var{expr1}
1921 to @var{expr2} inclusively. If you omit the @code{from} term, the
1922 loop counts from zero; if you omit the @code{to} term, the loop
1923 counts forever without stopping (unless stopped by some other
1924 loop clause, of course); if you omit the @code{by} term, the loop
1925 counts in steps of one.
1927 You can replace the word @code{from} with @code{upfrom} or
1928 @code{downfrom} to indicate the direction of the loop. Likewise,
1929 you can replace @code{to} with @code{upto} or @code{downto}.
1930 For example, @samp{for x from 5 downto 1} executes five times
1931 with @code{x} taking on the integers from 5 down to 1 in turn.
1932 Also, you can replace @code{to} with @code{below} or @code{above},
1933 which are like @code{upto} and @code{downto} respectively except
1934 that they are exclusive rather than inclusive limits:
1937 (cl-loop for x to 10 collect x)
1938 @result{} (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
1939 (cl-loop for x below 10 collect x)
1940 @result{} (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)
1943 The @code{by} value is always positive, even for downward-counting
1944 loops. Some sort of @code{from} value is required for downward
1945 loops; @samp{for x downto 5} is not a valid loop clause all by
1948 @item for @var{var} in @var{list} by @var{function}
1949 This clause iterates @var{var} over all the elements of @var{list},
1950 in turn. If you specify the @code{by} term, then @var{function}
1951 is used to traverse the list instead of @code{cdr}; it must be a
1952 function taking one argument. For example:
1955 (cl-loop for x in '(1 2 3 4 5 6) collect (* x x))
1956 @result{} (1 4 9 16 25 36)
1957 (cl-loop for x in '(1 2 3 4 5 6) by 'cddr collect (* x x))
1961 @item for @var{var} on @var{list} by @var{function}
1962 This clause iterates @var{var} over all the cons cells of @var{list}.
1965 (cl-loop for x on '(1 2 3 4) collect x)
1966 @result{} ((1 2 3 4) (2 3 4) (3 4) (4))
1969 With @code{by}, there is no real reason that the @code{on} expression
1970 must be a list. For example:
1973 (cl-loop for x on first-animal by 'next-animal collect x)
1977 where @code{(next-animal x)} takes an ``animal'' @var{x} and returns
1978 the next in the (assumed) sequence of animals, or @code{nil} if
1979 @var{x} was the last animal in the sequence.
1981 @item for @var{var} in-ref @var{list} by @var{function}
1982 This is like a regular @code{in} clause, but @var{var} becomes
1983 a @code{setf}-able ``reference'' onto the elements of the list
1984 rather than just a temporary variable. For example,
1987 (cl-loop for x in-ref my-list do (cl-incf x))
1991 increments every element of @code{my-list} in place. This clause
1992 is an extension to standard Common Lisp.
1994 @item for @var{var} across @var{array}
1995 This clause iterates @var{var} over all the elements of @var{array},
1996 which may be a vector or a string.
1999 (cl-loop for x across "aeiou"
2000 do (use-vowel (char-to-string x)))
2003 @item for @var{var} across-ref @var{array}
2004 This clause iterates over an array, with @var{var} a @code{setf}-able
2005 reference onto the elements; see @code{in-ref} above.
2007 @item for @var{var} being the elements of @var{sequence}
2008 This clause iterates over the elements of @var{sequence}, which may
2009 be a list, vector, or string. Since the type must be determined
2010 at run-time, this is somewhat less efficient than @code{in} or
2011 @code{across}. The clause may be followed by the additional term
2012 @samp{using (index @var{var2})} to cause @var{var2} to be bound to
2013 the successive indices (starting at 0) of the elements.
2015 This clause type is taken from older versions of the @code{loop} macro,
2016 and is not present in modern Common Lisp. The @samp{using (sequence @dots{})}
2017 term of the older macros is not supported.
2019 @item for @var{var} being the elements of-ref @var{sequence}
2020 This clause iterates over a sequence, with @var{var} a @code{setf}-able
2021 reference onto the elements; see @code{in-ref} above.
2023 @item for @var{var} being the symbols [of @var{obarray}]
2024 This clause iterates over symbols, either over all interned symbols
2025 or over all symbols in @var{obarray}. The loop is executed with
2026 @var{var} bound to each symbol in turn. The symbols are visited in
2027 an unspecified order.
2032 (cl-loop for sym being the symbols
2034 when (string-match "^map" (symbol-name sym))
2039 returns a list of all the functions whose names begin with @samp{map}.
2041 The Common Lisp words @code{external-symbols} and @code{present-symbols}
2042 are also recognized but are equivalent to @code{symbols} in Emacs Lisp.
2044 Due to a minor implementation restriction, it will not work to have
2045 more than one @code{for} clause iterating over symbols, hash tables,
2046 keymaps, overlays, or intervals in a given @code{cl-loop}. Fortunately,
2047 it would rarely if ever be useful to do so. It @emph{is} valid to mix
2048 one of these types of clauses with other clauses like @code{for @dots{} to}
2051 @item for @var{var} being the hash-keys of @var{hash-table}
2052 @itemx for @var{var} being the hash-values of @var{hash-table}
2053 This clause iterates over the entries in @var{hash-table} with
2054 @var{var} bound to each key, or value. A @samp{using} clause can bind
2055 a second variable to the opposite part.
2058 (cl-loop for k being the hash-keys of h
2059 using (hash-values v)
2061 (message "key %S -> value %S" k v))
2064 @item for @var{var} being the key-codes of @var{keymap}
2065 @itemx for @var{var} being the key-bindings of @var{keymap}
2066 This clause iterates over the entries in @var{keymap}.
2067 The iteration does not enter nested keymaps but does enter inherited
2069 A @code{using} clause can access both the codes and the bindings
2073 (cl-loop for c being the key-codes of (current-local-map)
2074 using (key-bindings b)
2076 (message "key %S -> binding %S" c b))
2080 @item for @var{var} being the key-seqs of @var{keymap}
2081 This clause iterates over all key sequences defined by @var{keymap}
2082 and its nested keymaps, where @var{var} takes on values which are
2083 vectors. The strings or vectors
2084 are reused for each iteration, so you must copy them if you wish to keep
2085 them permanently. You can add a @samp{using (key-bindings @dots{})}
2086 clause to get the command bindings as well.
2088 @item for @var{var} being the overlays [of @var{buffer}] @dots{}
2089 This clause iterates over the ``overlays'' of a buffer
2090 (the clause @code{extents} is synonymous
2091 with @code{overlays}). If the @code{of} term is omitted, the current
2093 This clause also accepts optional @samp{from @var{pos}} and
2094 @samp{to @var{pos}} terms, limiting the clause to overlays which
2095 overlap the specified region.
2097 @item for @var{var} being the intervals [of @var{buffer}] @dots{}
2098 This clause iterates over all intervals of a buffer with constant
2099 text properties. The variable @var{var} will be bound to conses
2100 of start and end positions, where one start position is always equal
2101 to the previous end position. The clause allows @code{of},
2102 @code{from}, @code{to}, and @code{property} terms, where the latter
2103 term restricts the search to just the specified property. The
2104 @code{of} term may specify either a buffer or a string.
2106 @item for @var{var} being the frames
2107 This clause iterates over all Emacs frames. The clause @code{screens} is
2108 a synonym for @code{frames}. The frames are visited in
2109 @code{next-frame} order starting from @code{selected-frame}.
2111 @item for @var{var} being the windows [of @var{frame}]
2112 This clause iterates over the windows (in the Emacs sense) of
2113 the current frame, or of the specified @var{frame}. It visits windows
2114 in @code{next-window} order starting from @code{selected-window}
2115 (or @code{frame-selected-window} if you specify @var{frame}).
2116 This clause treats the minibuffer window in the same way as
2117 @code{next-window} does. For greater flexibility, consider using
2118 @code{walk-windows} instead.
2120 @item for @var{var} being the buffers
2121 This clause iterates over all buffers in Emacs. It is equivalent
2122 to @samp{for @var{var} in (buffer-list)}.
2124 @item for @var{var} = @var{expr1} then @var{expr2}
2125 This clause does a general iteration. The first time through
2126 the loop, @var{var} will be bound to @var{expr1}. On the second
2127 and successive iterations it will be set by evaluating @var{expr2}
2128 (which may refer to the old value of @var{var}). For example,
2129 these two loops are effectively the same:
2132 (cl-loop for x on my-list by 'cddr do @dots{})
2133 (cl-loop for x = my-list then (cddr x) while x do @dots{})
2136 Note that this type of @code{for} clause does not imply any sort
2137 of terminating condition; the above example combines it with a
2138 @code{while} clause to tell when to end the loop.
2140 If you omit the @code{then} term, @var{expr1} is used both for
2141 the initial setting and for successive settings:
2144 (cl-loop for x = (random) when (> x 0) return x)
2148 This loop keeps taking random numbers from the @code{(random)}
2149 function until it gets a positive one, which it then returns.
2152 If you include several @code{for} clauses in a row, they are
2153 treated sequentially (as if by @code{let*} and @code{setq}).
2154 You can instead use the word @code{and} to link the clauses,
2155 in which case they are processed in parallel (as if by @code{let}
2156 and @code{cl-psetq}).
2159 (cl-loop for x below 5 for y = nil then x collect (list x y))
2160 @result{} ((0 nil) (1 1) (2 2) (3 3) (4 4))
2161 (cl-loop for x below 5 and y = nil then x collect (list x y))
2162 @result{} ((0 nil) (1 0) (2 1) (3 2) (4 3))
2166 In the first loop, @code{y} is set based on the value of @code{x}
2167 that was just set by the previous clause; in the second loop,
2168 @code{x} and @code{y} are set simultaneously so @code{y} is set
2169 based on the value of @code{x} left over from the previous time
2172 @cindex destructuring, in cl-loop
2173 Another feature of the @code{cl-loop} macro is @emph{destructuring},
2174 similar in concept to the destructuring provided by @code{defmacro}
2175 (@pxref{Argument Lists}).
2176 The @var{var} part of any @code{for} clause can be given as a list
2177 of variables instead of a single variable. The values produced
2178 during loop execution must be lists; the values in the lists are
2179 stored in the corresponding variables.
2182 (cl-loop for (x y) in '((2 3) (4 5) (6 7)) collect (+ x y))
2186 In loop destructuring, if there are more values than variables
2187 the trailing values are ignored, and if there are more variables
2188 than values the trailing variables get the value @code{nil}.
2189 If @code{nil} is used as a variable name, the corresponding
2190 values are ignored. Destructuring may be nested, and dotted
2191 lists of variables like @code{(x . y)} are allowed, so for example
2195 (cl-loop for (key . value) in '((a . 1) (b . 2))
2200 @node Iteration Clauses
2201 @subsection Iteration Clauses
2204 Aside from @code{for} clauses, there are several other loop clauses
2205 that control the way the loop operates. They might be used by
2206 themselves, or in conjunction with one or more @code{for} clauses.
2209 @item repeat @var{integer}
2210 This clause simply counts up to the specified number using an
2211 internal temporary variable. The loops
2214 (cl-loop repeat (1+ n) do @dots{})
2215 (cl-loop for temp to n do @dots{})
2219 are identical except that the second one forces you to choose
2220 a name for a variable you aren't actually going to use.
2222 @item while @var{condition}
2223 This clause stops the loop when the specified condition (any Lisp
2224 expression) becomes @code{nil}. For example, the following two
2225 loops are equivalent, except for the implicit @code{nil} block
2226 that surrounds the second one:
2229 (while @var{cond} @var{forms}@dots{})
2230 (cl-loop while @var{cond} do @var{forms}@dots{})
2233 @item until @var{condition}
2234 This clause stops the loop when the specified condition is true,
2235 i.e., non-@code{nil}.
2237 @item always @var{condition}
2238 This clause stops the loop when the specified condition is @code{nil}.
2239 Unlike @code{while}, it stops the loop using @code{return nil} so that
2240 the @code{finally} clauses are not executed. If all the conditions
2241 were non-@code{nil}, the loop returns @code{t}:
2244 (if (cl-loop for size in size-list always (> size 10))
2249 @item never @var{condition}
2250 This clause is like @code{always}, except that the loop returns
2251 @code{t} if any conditions were false, or @code{nil} otherwise.
2253 @item thereis @var{condition}
2254 This clause stops the loop when the specified form is non-@code{nil};
2255 in this case, it returns that non-@code{nil} value. If all the
2256 values were @code{nil}, the loop returns @code{nil}.
2258 @item iter-by @var{iterator}
2259 This clause iterates over the values from the specified form, an
2260 iterator object. See (@pxref{Generators,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp
2264 @node Accumulation Clauses
2265 @subsection Accumulation Clauses
2268 These clauses cause the loop to accumulate information about the
2269 specified Lisp @var{form}. The accumulated result is returned
2270 from the loop unless overridden, say, by a @code{return} clause.
2273 @item collect @var{form}
2274 This clause collects the values of @var{form} into a list. Several
2275 examples of @code{collect} appear elsewhere in this manual.
2277 The word @code{collecting} is a synonym for @code{collect}, and
2278 likewise for the other accumulation clauses.
2280 @item append @var{form}
2281 This clause collects lists of values into a result list using
2284 @item nconc @var{form}
2285 This clause collects lists of values into a result list by
2286 destructively modifying the lists rather than copying them.
2288 @item concat @var{form}
2289 This clause concatenates the values of the specified @var{form}
2290 into a string. (It and the following clause are extensions to
2291 standard Common Lisp.)
2293 @item vconcat @var{form}
2294 This clause concatenates the values of the specified @var{form}
2297 @item count @var{form}
2298 This clause counts the number of times the specified @var{form}
2299 evaluates to a non-@code{nil} value.
2301 @item sum @var{form}
2302 This clause accumulates the sum of the values of the specified
2303 @var{form}, which must evaluate to a number.
2305 @item maximize @var{form}
2306 This clause accumulates the maximum value of the specified @var{form},
2307 which must evaluate to a number. The return value is undefined if
2308 @code{maximize} is executed zero times.
2310 @item minimize @var{form}
2311 This clause accumulates the minimum value of the specified @var{form}.
2314 Accumulation clauses can be followed by @samp{into @var{var}} to
2315 cause the data to be collected into variable @var{var} (which is
2316 automatically @code{let}-bound during the loop) rather than an
2317 unnamed temporary variable. Also, @code{into} accumulations do
2318 not automatically imply a return value. The loop must use some
2319 explicit mechanism, such as @code{finally return}, to return
2320 the accumulated result.
2322 It is valid for several accumulation clauses of the same type to
2323 accumulate into the same place. From Steele:
2326 (cl-loop for name in '(fred sue alice joe june)
2327 for kids in '((bob ken) () () (kris sunshine) ())
2330 @result{} (fred bob ken sue alice joe kris sunshine june)
2334 @subsection Other Clauses
2337 This section describes the remaining loop clauses.
2340 @item with @var{var} = @var{value}
2341 This clause binds a variable to a value around the loop, but
2342 otherwise leaves the variable alone during the loop. The following
2343 loops are basically equivalent:
2346 (cl-loop with x = 17 do @dots{})
2347 (let ((x 17)) (cl-loop do @dots{}))
2348 (cl-loop for x = 17 then x do @dots{})
2351 Naturally, the variable @var{var} might be used for some purpose
2352 in the rest of the loop. For example:
2355 (cl-loop for x in my-list with res = nil do (push x res)
2359 This loop inserts the elements of @code{my-list} at the front of
2360 a new list being accumulated in @code{res}, then returns the
2361 list @code{res} at the end of the loop. The effect is similar
2362 to that of a @code{collect} clause, but the list gets reversed
2363 by virtue of the fact that elements are being pushed onto the
2364 front of @code{res} rather than the end.
2366 If you omit the @code{=} term, the variable is initialized to
2367 @code{nil}. (Thus the @samp{= nil} in the above example is
2370 Bindings made by @code{with} are sequential by default, as if
2371 by @code{let*}. Just like @code{for} clauses, @code{with} clauses
2372 can be linked with @code{and} to cause the bindings to be made by
2375 @item if @var{condition} @var{clause}
2376 This clause executes the following loop clause only if the specified
2377 condition is true. The following @var{clause} should be an accumulation,
2378 @code{do}, @code{return}, @code{if}, or @code{unless} clause.
2379 Several clauses may be linked by separating them with @code{and}.
2380 These clauses may be followed by @code{else} and a clause or clauses
2381 to execute if the condition was false. The whole construct may
2382 optionally be followed by the word @code{end} (which may be used to
2383 disambiguate an @code{else} or @code{and} in a nested @code{if}).
2385 The actual non-@code{nil} value of the condition form is available
2386 by the name @code{it} in the ``then'' part. For example:
2389 (setq funny-numbers '(6 13 -1))
2391 (cl-loop for x below 10
2394 and if (memq x funny-numbers) return (cdr it) end
2396 collect x into evens
2397 finally return (vector odds evens))
2398 @result{} [(1 3 5 7 9) (0 2 4 6 8)]
2399 (setq funny-numbers '(6 7 13 -1))
2400 @result{} (6 7 13 -1)
2401 (cl-loop <@r{same thing again}>)
2405 Note the use of @code{and} to put two clauses into the ``then''
2406 part, one of which is itself an @code{if} clause. Note also that
2407 @code{end}, while normally optional, was necessary here to make
2408 it clear that the @code{else} refers to the outermost @code{if}
2409 clause. In the first case, the loop returns a vector of lists
2410 of the odd and even values of @var{x}. In the second case, the
2411 odd number 7 is one of the @code{funny-numbers} so the loop
2412 returns early; the actual returned value is based on the result
2413 of the @code{memq} call.
2415 @item when @var{condition} @var{clause}
2416 This clause is just a synonym for @code{if}.
2418 @item unless @var{condition} @var{clause}
2419 The @code{unless} clause is just like @code{if} except that the
2420 sense of the condition is reversed.
2422 @item named @var{name}
2423 This clause gives a name other than @code{nil} to the implicit
2424 block surrounding the loop. The @var{name} is the symbol to be
2425 used as the block name.
2427 @item initially [do] @var{forms}@dots{}
2428 This keyword introduces one or more Lisp forms which will be
2429 executed before the loop itself begins (but after any variables
2430 requested by @code{for} or @code{with} have been bound to their
2431 initial values). @code{initially} clauses can appear anywhere;
2432 if there are several, they are executed in the order they appear
2433 in the loop. The keyword @code{do} is optional.
2435 @item finally [do] @var{forms}@dots{}
2436 This introduces Lisp forms which will be executed after the loop
2437 finishes (say, on request of a @code{for} or @code{while}).
2438 @code{initially} and @code{finally} clauses may appear anywhere
2439 in the loop construct, but they are executed (in the specified
2440 order) at the beginning or end, respectively, of the loop.
2442 @item finally return @var{form}
2443 This says that @var{form} should be executed after the loop
2444 is done to obtain a return value. (Without this, or some other
2445 clause like @code{collect} or @code{return}, the loop will simply
2446 return @code{nil}.) Variables bound by @code{for}, @code{with},
2447 or @code{into} will still contain their final values when @var{form}
2450 @item do @var{forms}@dots{}
2451 The word @code{do} may be followed by any number of Lisp expressions
2452 which are executed as an implicit @code{progn} in the body of the
2453 loop. Many of the examples in this section illustrate the use of
2456 @item return @var{form}
2457 This clause causes the loop to return immediately. The following
2458 Lisp form is evaluated to give the return value of the loop
2459 form. The @code{finally} clauses, if any, are not executed.
2460 Of course, @code{return} is generally used inside an @code{if} or
2461 @code{unless}, as its use in a top-level loop clause would mean
2462 the loop would never get to ``loop'' more than once.
2464 The clause @samp{return @var{form}} is equivalent to
2465 @samp{do (cl-return @var{form})} (or @code{cl-return-from} if the loop
2466 was named). The @code{return} clause is implemented a bit more
2467 efficiently, though.
2470 While there is no high-level way to add user extensions to @code{cl-loop},
2471 this package does offer two properties called @code{cl-loop-handler}
2472 and @code{cl-loop-for-handler} which are functions to be called when a
2473 given symbol is encountered as a top-level loop clause or @code{for}
2474 clause, respectively. Consult the source code in file
2475 @file{cl-macs.el} for details.
2477 This package's @code{cl-loop} macro is compatible with that of Common
2478 Lisp, except that a few features are not implemented: @code{loop-finish}
2479 and data-type specifiers. Naturally, the @code{for} clauses that
2480 iterate over keymaps, overlays, intervals, frames, windows, and
2481 buffers are Emacs-specific extensions.
2483 @node Multiple Values
2484 @section Multiple Values
2487 Common Lisp functions can return zero or more results. Emacs Lisp
2488 functions, by contrast, always return exactly one result. This
2489 package makes no attempt to emulate Common Lisp multiple return
2490 values; Emacs versions of Common Lisp functions that return more
2491 than one value either return just the first value (as in
2492 @code{cl-compiler-macroexpand}) or return a list of values.
2493 This package @emph{does} define placeholders
2494 for the Common Lisp functions that work with multiple values, but
2495 in Emacs Lisp these functions simply operate on lists instead.
2496 The @code{cl-values} form, for example, is a synonym for @code{list}
2499 @defmac cl-multiple-value-bind (var@dots{}) values-form forms@dots{}
2500 This form evaluates @var{values-form}, which must return a list of
2501 values. It then binds the @var{var}s to these respective values,
2502 as if by @code{let}, and then executes the body @var{forms}.
2503 If there are more @var{var}s than values, the extra @var{var}s
2504 are bound to @code{nil}. If there are fewer @var{var}s than
2505 values, the excess values are ignored.
2508 @defmac cl-multiple-value-setq (var@dots{}) form
2509 This form evaluates @var{form}, which must return a list of values.
2510 It then sets the @var{var}s to these respective values, as if by
2511 @code{setq}. Extra @var{var}s or values are treated the same as
2512 in @code{cl-multiple-value-bind}.
2515 Since a perfect emulation is not feasible in Emacs Lisp, this
2516 package opts to keep it as simple and predictable as possible.
2522 This package implements the various Common Lisp features of
2523 @code{defmacro}, such as destructuring, @code{&environment},
2524 and @code{&body}. Top-level @code{&whole} is not implemented
2525 for @code{defmacro} due to technical difficulties.
2526 @xref{Argument Lists}.
2528 Destructuring is made available to the user by way of the
2531 @defmac cl-destructuring-bind arglist expr forms@dots{}
2532 This macro expands to code that executes @var{forms}, with
2533 the variables in @var{arglist} bound to the list of values
2534 returned by @var{expr}. The @var{arglist} can include all
2535 the features allowed for @code{cl-defmacro} argument lists,
2536 including destructuring. (The @code{&environment} keyword
2537 is not allowed.) The macro expansion will signal an error
2538 if @var{expr} returns a list of the wrong number of arguments
2539 or with incorrect keyword arguments.
2542 @cindex compiler macros
2543 @cindex define compiler macros
2544 This package also includes the Common Lisp @code{define-compiler-macro}
2545 facility, which allows you to define compile-time expansions and
2546 optimizations for your functions.
2548 @defmac cl-define-compiler-macro name arglist forms@dots{}
2549 This form is similar to @code{defmacro}, except that it only expands
2550 calls to @var{name} at compile-time; calls processed by the Lisp
2551 interpreter are not expanded, nor are they expanded by the
2552 @code{macroexpand} function.
2554 The argument list may begin with a @code{&whole} keyword and a
2555 variable. This variable is bound to the macro-call form itself,
2556 i.e., to a list of the form @samp{(@var{name} @var{args}@dots{})}.
2557 If the macro expander returns this form unchanged, then the
2558 compiler treats it as a normal function call. This allows
2559 compiler macros to work as optimizers for special cases of a
2560 function, leaving complicated cases alone.
2562 For example, here is a simplified version of a definition that
2563 appears as a standard part of this package:
2566 (cl-define-compiler-macro cl-member (&whole form a list &rest keys)
2567 (if (and (null keys)
2568 (eq (car-safe a) 'quote)
2569 (not (floatp (cadr a))))
2575 This definition causes @code{(cl-member @var{a} @var{list})} to change
2576 to a call to the faster @code{memq} in the common case where @var{a}
2577 is a non-floating-point constant; if @var{a} is anything else, or
2578 if there are any keyword arguments in the call, then the original
2579 @code{cl-member} call is left intact. (The actual compiler macro
2580 for @code{cl-member} optimizes a number of other cases, including
2581 common @code{:test} predicates.)
2584 @defun cl-compiler-macroexpand form
2585 This function is analogous to @code{macroexpand}, except that it
2586 expands compiler macros rather than regular macros. It returns
2587 @var{form} unchanged if it is not a call to a function for which
2588 a compiler macro has been defined, or if that compiler macro
2589 decided to punt by returning its @code{&whole} argument. Like
2590 @code{macroexpand}, it expands repeatedly until it reaches a form
2591 for which no further expansion is possible.
2594 @xref{Macro Bindings}, for descriptions of the @code{cl-macrolet}
2595 and @code{cl-symbol-macrolet} forms for making ``local'' macro
2599 @chapter Declarations
2602 Common Lisp includes a complex and powerful ``declaration''
2603 mechanism that allows you to give the compiler special hints
2604 about the types of data that will be stored in particular variables,
2605 and about the ways those variables and functions will be used. This
2606 package defines versions of all the Common Lisp declaration forms:
2607 @code{declare}, @code{locally}, @code{proclaim}, @code{declaim},
2610 Most of the Common Lisp declarations are not currently useful in Emacs
2611 Lisp. For example, the byte-code system provides little
2612 opportunity to benefit from type information.
2614 and @code{special} declarations are redundant in a fully
2615 dynamically-scoped Lisp.
2617 A few declarations are meaningful when byte compiler optimizations
2618 are enabled, as they are by the default. Otherwise these
2619 declarations will effectively be ignored.
2621 @defun cl-proclaim decl-spec
2622 This function records a ``global'' declaration specified by
2623 @var{decl-spec}. Since @code{cl-proclaim} is a function, @var{decl-spec}
2624 is evaluated and thus should normally be quoted.
2627 @defmac cl-declaim decl-specs@dots{}
2628 This macro is like @code{cl-proclaim}, except that it takes any number
2629 of @var{decl-spec} arguments, and the arguments are unevaluated and
2630 unquoted. The @code{cl-declaim} macro also puts @code{(cl-eval-when
2631 (compile load eval) @dots{})} around the declarations so that they will
2632 be registered at compile-time as well as at run-time. (This is vital,
2633 since normally the declarations are meant to influence the way the
2634 compiler treats the rest of the file that contains the @code{cl-declaim}
2638 @defmac cl-declare decl-specs@dots{}
2639 This macro is used to make declarations within functions and other
2640 code. Common Lisp allows declarations in various locations, generally
2641 at the beginning of any of the many ``implicit @code{progn}s''
2642 throughout Lisp syntax, such as function bodies, @code{let} bodies,
2643 etc. Currently the only declaration understood by @code{cl-declare}
2647 @defmac cl-locally declarations@dots{} forms@dots{}
2648 In this package, @code{cl-locally} is no different from @code{progn}.
2651 @defmac cl-the type form
2652 @code{cl-the} returns the value of @code{form}, first checking (if
2653 optimization settings permit) that it is of type @code{type}. Future
2654 byte-compiler optimizations may also make use of this information to
2655 improve runtime efficiency.
2657 For example, @code{mapcar} can map over both lists and arrays. It is
2658 hard for the compiler to expand @code{mapcar} into an in-line loop
2659 unless it knows whether the sequence will be a list or an array ahead
2660 of time. With @code{(mapcar 'car (cl-the vector foo))}, a future
2661 compiler would have enough information to expand the loop in-line.
2662 For now, Emacs Lisp will treat the above code as exactly equivalent
2663 to @code{(mapcar 'car foo)}.
2666 Each @var{decl-spec} in a @code{cl-proclaim}, @code{cl-declaim}, or
2667 @code{cl-declare} should be a list beginning with a symbol that says
2668 what kind of declaration it is. This package currently understands
2669 @code{special}, @code{inline}, @code{notinline}, @code{optimize},
2670 and @code{warn} declarations. (The @code{warn} declaration is an
2671 extension of standard Common Lisp.) Other Common Lisp declarations,
2672 such as @code{type} and @code{ftype}, are silently ignored.
2677 Since all variables in Emacs Lisp are ``special'' (in the Common
2678 Lisp sense), @code{special} declarations are only advisory. They
2679 simply tell the byte compiler that the specified
2680 variables are intentionally being referred to without being
2681 bound in the body of the function. The compiler normally emits
2682 warnings for such references, since they could be typographical
2683 errors for references to local variables.
2685 The declaration @code{(cl-declare (special @var{var1} @var{var2}))} is
2686 equivalent to @code{(defvar @var{var1}) (defvar @var{var2})}.
2688 In top-level contexts, it is generally better to write
2689 @code{(defvar @var{var})} than @code{(cl-declaim (special @var{var}))},
2690 since @code{defvar} makes your intentions clearer.
2693 The @code{inline} @var{decl-spec} lists one or more functions
2694 whose bodies should be expanded ``in-line'' into calling functions
2695 whenever the compiler is able to arrange for it. For example,
2696 the function @code{cl-acons} is declared @code{inline}
2697 by this package so that the form @code{(cl-acons @var{key} @var{value}
2699 expand directly into @code{(cons (cons @var{key} @var{value}) @var{alist})}
2700 when it is called in user functions, so as to save function calls.
2702 The following declarations are all equivalent. Note that the
2703 @code{defsubst} form is a convenient way to define a function
2704 and declare it inline all at once.
2707 (cl-declaim (inline foo bar))
2708 (cl-eval-when (compile load eval)
2709 (cl-proclaim '(inline foo bar)))
2710 (defsubst foo (@dots{}) @dots{}) ; instead of defun
2713 @strong{Please note:} this declaration remains in effect after the
2714 containing source file is done. It is correct to use it to
2715 request that a function you have defined should be inlined,
2716 but it is impolite to use it to request inlining of an external
2719 In Common Lisp, it is possible to use @code{(declare (inline @dots{}))}
2720 before a particular call to a function to cause just that call to
2721 be inlined; the current byte compilers provide no way to implement
2722 this, so @code{(cl-declare (inline @dots{}))} is currently ignored by
2726 The @code{notinline} declaration lists functions which should
2727 not be inlined after all; it cancels a previous @code{inline}
2731 This declaration controls how much optimization is performed by
2734 The word @code{optimize} is followed by any number of lists like
2735 @code{(speed 3)} or @code{(safety 2)}. Common Lisp defines several
2736 optimization ``qualities''; this package ignores all but @code{speed}
2737 and @code{safety}. The value of a quality should be an integer from
2738 0 to 3, with 0 meaning ``unimportant'' and 3 meaning ``very important''.
2739 The default level for both qualities is 1.
2741 In this package, the @code{speed} quality is tied to the @code{byte-optimize}
2742 flag, which is set to @code{nil} for @code{(speed 0)} and to
2743 @code{t} for higher settings; and the @code{safety} quality is
2744 tied to the @code{byte-compile-delete-errors} flag, which is
2745 set to @code{nil} for @code{(safety 3)} and to @code{t} for all
2746 lower settings. (The latter flag controls whether the compiler
2747 is allowed to optimize out code whose only side-effect could
2748 be to signal an error, e.g., rewriting @code{(progn foo bar)} to
2749 @code{bar} when it is not known whether @code{foo} will be bound
2752 Note that even compiling with @code{(safety 0)}, the Emacs
2753 byte-code system provides sufficient checking to prevent real
2754 harm from being done. For example, barring serious bugs in
2755 Emacs itself, Emacs will not crash with a segmentation fault
2756 just because of an error in a fully-optimized Lisp program.
2758 The @code{optimize} declaration is normally used in a top-level
2759 @code{cl-proclaim} or @code{cl-declaim} in a file; Common Lisp allows
2760 it to be used with @code{declare} to set the level of optimization
2761 locally for a given form, but this will not work correctly with the
2762 current byte-compiler. (The @code{cl-declare}
2763 will set the new optimization level, but that level will not
2764 automatically be unset after the enclosing form is done.)
2767 This declaration controls what sorts of warnings are generated
2768 by the byte compiler. The word @code{warn} is followed by any
2769 number of ``warning qualities'', similar in form to optimization
2770 qualities. The currently supported warning types are
2771 @code{redefine}, @code{callargs}, @code{unresolved}, and
2772 @code{free-vars}; in the current system, a value of 0 will
2773 disable these warnings and any higher value will enable them.
2774 See the documentation of the variable @code{byte-compile-warnings}
2782 This package defines several symbol-related features that were
2783 missing from Emacs Lisp.
2786 * Property Lists:: @code{cl-get}, @code{cl-remprop}, @code{cl-getf}, @code{cl-remf}.
2787 * Creating Symbols:: @code{cl-gensym}, @code{cl-gentemp}.
2790 @node Property Lists
2791 @section Property Lists
2794 These functions augment the standard Emacs Lisp functions @code{get}
2795 and @code{put} for operating on properties attached to symbols.
2796 There are also functions for working with property lists as
2797 first-class data structures not attached to particular symbols.
2799 @defun cl-get symbol property &optional default
2800 This function is like @code{get}, except that if the property is
2801 not found, the @var{default} argument provides the return value.
2802 (The Emacs Lisp @code{get} function always uses @code{nil} as
2803 the default; this package's @code{cl-get} is equivalent to Common
2806 The @code{cl-get} function is @code{setf}-able; when used in this
2807 fashion, the @var{default} argument is allowed but ignored.
2810 @defun cl-remprop symbol property
2811 This function removes the entry for @var{property} from the property
2812 list of @var{symbol}. It returns a true value if the property was
2813 indeed found and removed, or @code{nil} if there was no such property.
2814 (This function was probably omitted from Emacs originally because,
2815 since @code{get} did not allow a @var{default}, it was very difficult
2816 to distinguish between a missing property and a property whose value
2817 was @code{nil}; thus, setting a property to @code{nil} was close
2818 enough to @code{cl-remprop} for most purposes.)
2821 @defun cl-getf place property &optional default
2822 This function scans the list @var{place} as if it were a property
2823 list, i.e., a list of alternating property names and values. If
2824 an even-numbered element of @var{place} is found which is @code{eq}
2825 to @var{property}, the following odd-numbered element is returned.
2826 Otherwise, @var{default} is returned (or @code{nil} if no default
2832 (get sym prop) @equiv{} (cl-getf (symbol-plist sym) prop)
2835 It is valid to use @code{cl-getf} as a @code{setf} place, in which case
2836 its @var{place} argument must itself be a valid @code{setf} place.
2837 The @var{default} argument, if any, is ignored in this context.
2838 The effect is to change (via @code{setcar}) the value cell in the
2839 list that corresponds to @var{property}, or to cons a new property-value
2840 pair onto the list if the property is not yet present.
2843 (put sym prop val) @equiv{} (setf (cl-getf (symbol-plist sym) prop) val)
2846 The @code{get} and @code{cl-get} functions are also @code{setf}-able.
2847 The fact that @code{default} is ignored can sometimes be useful:
2850 (cl-incf (cl-get 'foo 'usage-count 0))
2853 Here, symbol @code{foo}'s @code{usage-count} property is incremented
2854 if it exists, or set to 1 (an incremented 0) otherwise.
2856 When not used as a @code{setf} form, @code{cl-getf} is just a regular
2857 function and its @var{place} argument can actually be any Lisp
2861 @defmac cl-remf place property
2862 This macro removes the property-value pair for @var{property} from
2863 the property list stored at @var{place}, which is any @code{setf}-able
2864 place expression. It returns true if the property was found. Note
2865 that if @var{property} happens to be first on the list, this will
2866 effectively do a @code{(setf @var{place} (cddr @var{place}))},
2867 whereas if it occurs later, this simply uses @code{setcdr} to splice
2868 out the property and value cells.
2871 @node Creating Symbols
2872 @section Creating Symbols
2875 These functions create unique symbols, typically for use as
2876 temporary variables.
2878 @defun cl-gensym &optional x
2879 This function creates a new, uninterned symbol (using @code{make-symbol})
2880 with a unique name. (The name of an uninterned symbol is relevant
2881 only if the symbol is printed.) By default, the name is generated
2882 from an increasing sequence of numbers, @samp{G1000}, @samp{G1001},
2883 @samp{G1002}, etc. If the optional argument @var{x} is a string, that
2884 string is used as a prefix instead of @samp{G}. Uninterned symbols
2885 are used in macro expansions for temporary variables, to ensure that
2886 their names will not conflict with ``real'' variables in the user's
2889 (Internally, the variable @code{cl--gensym-counter} holds the counter
2890 used to generate names. It is initialized with zero and incremented
2894 @defun cl-gentemp &optional x
2895 This function is like @code{cl-gensym}, except that it produces a new
2896 @emph{interned} symbol. If the symbol that is generated already
2897 exists, the function keeps incrementing the counter and trying
2898 again until a new symbol is generated.
2901 This package automatically creates all keywords that are called for by
2902 @code{&key} argument specifiers, and discourages the use of keywords
2903 as data unrelated to keyword arguments, so the related function
2904 @code{defkeyword} (to create self-quoting keyword symbols) is not
2911 This section defines a few simple Common Lisp operations on numbers
2912 that were left out of Emacs Lisp.
2915 * Predicates on Numbers:: @code{cl-plusp}, @code{cl-oddp}, etc.
2916 * Numerical Functions:: @code{cl-floor}, @code{cl-ceiling}, etc.
2917 * Random Numbers:: @code{cl-random}, @code{cl-make-random-state}.
2918 * Implementation Parameters:: @code{cl-most-positive-float}, etc.
2921 @node Predicates on Numbers
2922 @section Predicates on Numbers
2925 These functions return @code{t} if the specified condition is
2926 true of the numerical argument, or @code{nil} otherwise.
2928 @defun cl-plusp number
2929 This predicate tests whether @var{number} is positive. It is an
2930 error if the argument is not a number.
2933 @defun cl-minusp number
2934 This predicate tests whether @var{number} is negative. It is an
2935 error if the argument is not a number.
2938 @defun cl-oddp integer
2939 This predicate tests whether @var{integer} is odd. It is an
2940 error if the argument is not an integer.
2943 @defun cl-evenp integer
2944 This predicate tests whether @var{integer} is even. It is an
2945 error if the argument is not an integer.
2948 @defun cl-digit-char-p char radix
2949 Test if @var{char} is a digit in the specified @var{radix} (default is
2950 10). If it is, return the numerical value of digit @var{char} in
2954 @node Numerical Functions
2955 @section Numerical Functions
2958 These functions perform various arithmetic operations on numbers.
2960 @defun cl-gcd &rest integers
2961 This function returns the Greatest Common Divisor of the arguments.
2962 For one argument, it returns the absolute value of that argument.
2963 For zero arguments, it returns zero.
2966 @defun cl-lcm &rest integers
2967 This function returns the Least Common Multiple of the arguments.
2968 For one argument, it returns the absolute value of that argument.
2969 For zero arguments, it returns one.
2972 @defun cl-isqrt integer
2973 This function computes the ``integer square root'' of its integer
2974 argument, i.e., the greatest integer less than or equal to the true
2975 square root of the argument.
2978 @defun cl-floor number &optional divisor
2979 With one argument, @code{cl-floor} returns a list of two numbers:
2980 The argument rounded down (toward minus infinity) to an integer,
2981 and the ``remainder'' which would have to be added back to the
2982 first return value to yield the argument again. If the argument
2983 is an integer @var{x}, the result is always the list @code{(@var{x} 0)}.
2984 If the argument is a floating-point number, the first
2985 result is a Lisp integer and the second is a Lisp float between
2986 0 (inclusive) and 1 (exclusive).
2988 With two arguments, @code{cl-floor} divides @var{number} by
2989 @var{divisor}, and returns the floor of the quotient and the
2990 corresponding remainder as a list of two numbers. If
2991 @code{(cl-floor @var{x} @var{y})} returns @code{(@var{q} @var{r})},
2992 then @code{@var{q}*@var{y} + @var{r} = @var{x}}, with @var{r}
2993 between 0 (inclusive) and @var{r} (exclusive). Also, note
2994 that @code{(cl-floor @var{x})} is exactly equivalent to
2995 @code{(cl-floor @var{x} 1)}.
2997 This function is entirely compatible with Common Lisp's @code{floor}
2998 function, except that it returns the two results in a list since
2999 Emacs Lisp does not support multiple-valued functions.
3002 @defun cl-ceiling number &optional divisor
3003 This function implements the Common Lisp @code{ceiling} function,
3004 which is analogous to @code{floor} except that it rounds the
3005 argument or quotient of the arguments up toward plus infinity.
3006 The remainder will be between 0 and minus @var{r}.
3009 @defun cl-truncate number &optional divisor
3010 This function implements the Common Lisp @code{truncate} function,
3011 which is analogous to @code{floor} except that it rounds the
3012 argument or quotient of the arguments toward zero. Thus it is
3013 equivalent to @code{cl-floor} if the argument or quotient is
3014 positive, or to @code{cl-ceiling} otherwise. The remainder has
3015 the same sign as @var{number}.
3018 @defun cl-round number &optional divisor
3019 This function implements the Common Lisp @code{round} function,
3020 which is analogous to @code{floor} except that it rounds the
3021 argument or quotient of the arguments to the nearest integer.
3022 In the case of a tie (the argument or quotient is exactly
3023 halfway between two integers), it rounds to the even integer.
3026 @defun cl-mod number divisor
3027 This function returns the same value as the second return value
3031 @defun cl-rem number divisor
3032 This function returns the same value as the second return value
3033 of @code{cl-truncate}.
3036 @defun cl-parse-integer string &key start end radix junk-allowed
3037 This function implements the Common Lisp @code{parse-integer}
3038 function. It parses an integer in the specified @var{radix} from the
3039 substring of @var{string} between @var{start} and @var{end}. Any
3040 leading and trailing whitespace chars are ignored. The function
3041 signals an error if the substring between @var{start} and @var{end}
3042 cannot be parsed as an integer, unless @var{junk-allowed} is
3046 @node Random Numbers
3047 @section Random Numbers
3050 This package also provides an implementation of the Common Lisp
3051 random number generator. It uses its own additive-congruential
3052 algorithm, which is much more likely to give statistically clean
3053 @c FIXME? Still true?
3054 random numbers than the simple generators supplied by many
3057 @defun cl-random number &optional state
3058 This function returns a random nonnegative number less than
3059 @var{number}, and of the same type (either integer or floating-point).
3060 The @var{state} argument should be a @code{random-state} object
3061 that holds the state of the random number generator. The
3062 function modifies this state object as a side effect. If
3063 @var{state} is omitted, it defaults to the internal variable
3064 @code{cl--random-state}, which contains a pre-initialized
3065 default @code{random-state} object. (Since any number of programs in
3066 the Emacs process may be accessing @code{cl--random-state} in
3067 interleaved fashion, the sequence generated from this will be
3068 irreproducible for all intents and purposes.)
3071 @defun cl-make-random-state &optional state
3072 This function creates or copies a @code{random-state} object.
3073 If @var{state} is omitted or @code{nil}, it returns a new copy of
3074 @code{cl--random-state}. This is a copy in the sense that future
3075 sequences of calls to @code{(cl-random @var{n})} and
3076 @code{(cl-random @var{n} @var{s})} (where @var{s} is the new
3077 random-state object) will return identical sequences of random
3080 If @var{state} is a @code{random-state} object, this function
3081 returns a copy of that object. If @var{state} is @code{t}, this
3082 function returns a new @code{random-state} object seeded from the
3083 date and time. As an extension to Common Lisp, @var{state} may also
3084 be an integer in which case the new object is seeded from that
3085 integer; each different integer seed will result in a completely
3086 different sequence of random numbers.
3088 It is valid to print a @code{random-state} object to a buffer or
3089 file and later read it back with @code{read}. If a program wishes
3090 to use a sequence of pseudo-random numbers which can be reproduced
3091 later for debugging, it can call @code{(cl-make-random-state t)} to
3092 get a new sequence, then print this sequence to a file. When the
3093 program is later rerun, it can read the original run's random-state
3097 @defun cl-random-state-p object
3098 This predicate returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a
3099 @code{random-state} object, or @code{nil} otherwise.
3102 @node Implementation Parameters
3103 @section Implementation Parameters
3106 This package defines several useful constants having to do with
3107 floating-point numbers.
3109 It determines their values by exercising the computer's
3110 floating-point arithmetic in various ways. Because this operation
3111 might be slow, the code for initializing them is kept in a separate
3112 function that must be called before the parameters can be used.
3114 @defun cl-float-limits
3115 This function makes sure that the Common Lisp floating-point parameters
3116 like @code{cl-most-positive-float} have been initialized. Until it is
3117 called, these parameters will be @code{nil}.
3118 @c If this version of Emacs does not support floats, the parameters will
3119 @c remain @code{nil}.
3120 If the parameters have already been initialized, the function returns
3123 The algorithm makes assumptions that will be valid for almost all
3124 machines, but will fail if the machine's arithmetic is extremely
3125 unusual, e.g., decimal.
3128 Since true Common Lisp supports up to four different floating-point
3129 precisions, it has families of constants like
3130 @code{most-positive-single-float}, @code{most-positive-double-float},
3131 @code{most-positive-long-float}, and so on. Emacs has only one
3132 floating-point precision, so this package omits the precision word
3133 from the constants' names.
3135 @defvar cl-most-positive-float
3136 This constant equals the largest value a Lisp float can hold.
3137 For those systems whose arithmetic supports infinities, this is
3138 the largest @emph{finite} value. For IEEE machines, the value
3139 is approximately @code{1.79e+308}.
3142 @defvar cl-most-negative-float
3143 This constant equals the most negative value a Lisp float can hold.
3144 (It is assumed to be equal to @code{(- cl-most-positive-float)}.)
3147 @defvar cl-least-positive-float
3148 This constant equals the smallest Lisp float value greater than zero.
3149 For IEEE machines, it is about @code{4.94e-324} if denormals are
3150 supported or @code{2.22e-308} if not.
3153 @defvar cl-least-positive-normalized-float
3154 This constant equals the smallest @emph{normalized} Lisp float greater
3155 than zero, i.e., the smallest value for which IEEE denormalization
3156 will not result in a loss of precision. For IEEE machines, this
3157 value is about @code{2.22e-308}. For machines that do not support
3158 the concept of denormalization and gradual underflow, this constant
3159 will always equal @code{cl-least-positive-float}.
3162 @defvar cl-least-negative-float
3163 This constant is the negative counterpart of @code{cl-least-positive-float}.
3166 @defvar cl-least-negative-normalized-float
3167 This constant is the negative counterpart of
3168 @code{cl-least-positive-normalized-float}.
3171 @defvar cl-float-epsilon
3172 This constant is the smallest positive Lisp float that can be added
3173 to 1.0 to produce a distinct value. Adding a smaller number to 1.0
3174 will yield 1.0 again due to roundoff. For IEEE machines, epsilon
3175 is about @code{2.22e-16}.
3178 @defvar cl-float-negative-epsilon
3179 This is the smallest positive value that can be subtracted from
3180 1.0 to produce a distinct value. For IEEE machines, it is about
3188 Common Lisp defines a number of functions that operate on
3189 @dfn{sequences}, which are either lists, strings, or vectors.
3190 Emacs Lisp includes a few of these, notably @code{elt} and
3191 @code{length}; this package defines most of the rest.
3194 * Sequence Basics:: Arguments shared by all sequence functions.
3195 * Mapping over Sequences:: @code{cl-mapcar}, @code{cl-map}, @code{cl-maplist}, etc.
3196 * Sequence Functions:: @code{cl-subseq}, @code{cl-remove}, @code{cl-substitute}, etc.
3197 * Searching Sequences:: @code{cl-find}, @code{cl-count}, @code{cl-search}, etc.
3198 * Sorting Sequences:: @code{cl-sort}, @code{cl-stable-sort}, @code{cl-merge}.
3201 @node Sequence Basics
3202 @section Sequence Basics
3205 Many of the sequence functions take keyword arguments; @pxref{Argument
3206 Lists}. All keyword arguments are optional and, if specified,
3207 may appear in any order.
3209 The @code{:key} argument should be passed either @code{nil}, or a
3210 function of one argument. This key function is used as a filter
3211 through which the elements of the sequence are seen; for example,
3212 @code{(cl-find x y :key 'car)} is similar to @code{(cl-assoc x y)}.
3213 It searches for an element of the list whose @sc{car} equals
3214 @code{x}, rather than for an element which equals @code{x} itself.
3215 If @code{:key} is omitted or @code{nil}, the filter is effectively
3216 the identity function.
3218 The @code{:test} and @code{:test-not} arguments should be either
3219 @code{nil}, or functions of two arguments. The test function is
3220 used to compare two sequence elements, or to compare a search value
3221 with sequence elements. (The two values are passed to the test
3222 function in the same order as the original sequence function
3223 arguments from which they are derived, or, if they both come from
3224 the same sequence, in the same order as they appear in that sequence.)
3225 The @code{:test} argument specifies a function which must return
3226 true (non-@code{nil}) to indicate a match; instead, you may use
3227 @code{:test-not} to give a function which returns @emph{false} to
3228 indicate a match. The default test function is @code{eql}.
3230 Many functions that take @var{item} and @code{:test} or @code{:test-not}
3231 arguments also come in @code{-if} and @code{-if-not} varieties,
3232 where a @var{predicate} function is passed instead of @var{item},
3233 and sequence elements match if the predicate returns true on them
3234 (or false in the case of @code{-if-not}). For example:
3237 (cl-remove 0 seq :test '=) @equiv{} (cl-remove-if 'zerop seq)
3241 to remove all zeros from sequence @code{seq}.
3243 Some operations can work on a subsequence of the argument sequence;
3244 these function take @code{:start} and @code{:end} arguments, which
3245 default to zero and the length of the sequence, respectively.
3246 Only elements between @var{start} (inclusive) and @var{end}
3247 (exclusive) are affected by the operation. The @var{end} argument
3248 may be passed @code{nil} to signify the length of the sequence;
3249 otherwise, both @var{start} and @var{end} must be integers, with
3250 @code{0 <= @var{start} <= @var{end} <= (length @var{seq})}.
3251 If the function takes two sequence arguments, the limits are
3252 defined by keywords @code{:start1} and @code{:end1} for the first,
3253 and @code{:start2} and @code{:end2} for the second.
3255 A few functions accept a @code{:from-end} argument, which, if
3256 non-@code{nil}, causes the operation to go from right-to-left
3257 through the sequence instead of left-to-right, and a @code{:count}
3258 argument, which specifies an integer maximum number of elements
3259 to be removed or otherwise processed.
3261 The sequence functions make no guarantees about the order in
3262 which the @code{:test}, @code{:test-not}, and @code{:key} functions
3263 are called on various elements. Therefore, it is a bad idea to depend
3264 on side effects of these functions. For example, @code{:from-end}
3265 may cause the sequence to be scanned actually in reverse, or it may
3266 be scanned forwards but computing a result ``as if'' it were scanned
3267 backwards. (Some functions, like @code{cl-mapcar} and @code{cl-every},
3268 @emph{do} specify exactly the order in which the function is called
3269 so side effects are perfectly acceptable in those cases.)
3271 Strings may contain ``text properties'' as well
3272 as character data. Except as noted, it is undefined whether or
3273 not text properties are preserved by sequence functions. For
3274 example, @code{(cl-remove ?A @var{str})} may or may not preserve
3275 the properties of the characters copied from @var{str} into the
3278 @node Mapping over Sequences
3279 @section Mapping over Sequences
3282 These functions ``map'' the function you specify over the elements
3283 of lists or arrays. They are all variations on the theme of the
3284 built-in function @code{mapcar}.
3286 @defun cl-mapcar function seq &rest more-seqs
3287 This function calls @var{function} on successive parallel sets of
3288 elements from its argument sequences. Given a single @var{seq}
3289 argument it is equivalent to @code{mapcar}; given @var{n} sequences,
3290 it calls the function with the first elements of each of the sequences
3291 as the @var{n} arguments to yield the first element of the result
3292 list, then with the second elements, and so on. The mapping stops as
3293 soon as the shortest sequence runs out. The argument sequences may
3294 be any mixture of lists, strings, and vectors; the return sequence
3297 Common Lisp's @code{mapcar} accepts multiple arguments but works
3298 only on lists; Emacs Lisp's @code{mapcar} accepts a single sequence
3299 argument. This package's @code{cl-mapcar} works as a compatible
3303 @defun cl-map result-type function seq &rest more-seqs
3304 This function maps @var{function} over the argument sequences,
3305 just like @code{cl-mapcar}, but it returns a sequence of type
3306 @var{result-type} rather than a list. @var{result-type} must
3307 be one of the following symbols: @code{vector}, @code{string},
3308 @code{list} (in which case the effect is the same as for
3309 @code{cl-mapcar}), or @code{nil} (in which case the results are
3310 thrown away and @code{cl-map} returns @code{nil}).
3313 @defun cl-maplist function list &rest more-lists
3314 This function calls @var{function} on each of its argument lists,
3315 then on the @sc{cdr}s of those lists, and so on, until the
3316 shortest list runs out. The results are returned in the form
3317 of a list. Thus, @code{cl-maplist} is like @code{cl-mapcar} except
3318 that it passes in the list pointers themselves rather than the
3319 @sc{car}s of the advancing pointers.
3322 @defun cl-mapc function seq &rest more-seqs
3323 This function is like @code{cl-mapcar}, except that the values returned
3324 by @var{function} are ignored and thrown away rather than being
3325 collected into a list. The return value of @code{cl-mapc} is @var{seq},
3326 the first sequence. This function is more general than the Emacs
3327 primitive @code{mapc}. (Note that this function is called
3328 @code{cl-mapc} even in @file{cl.el}, rather than @code{mapc*} as you
3330 @c http://debbugs.gnu.org/6575
3333 @defun cl-mapl function list &rest more-lists
3334 This function is like @code{cl-maplist}, except that it throws away
3335 the values returned by @var{function}.
3338 @defun cl-mapcan function seq &rest more-seqs
3339 This function is like @code{cl-mapcar}, except that it concatenates
3340 the return values (which must be lists) using @code{nconc},
3341 rather than simply collecting them into a list.
3344 @defun cl-mapcon function list &rest more-lists
3345 This function is like @code{cl-maplist}, except that it concatenates
3346 the return values using @code{nconc}.
3349 @defun cl-some predicate seq &rest more-seqs
3350 This function calls @var{predicate} on each element of @var{seq}
3351 in turn; if @var{predicate} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3352 @code{cl-some} returns that value, otherwise it returns @code{nil}.
3353 Given several sequence arguments, it steps through the sequences
3354 in parallel until the shortest one runs out, just as in
3355 @code{cl-mapcar}. You can rely on the left-to-right order in which
3356 the elements are visited, and on the fact that mapping stops
3357 immediately as soon as @var{predicate} returns non-@code{nil}.
3360 @defun cl-every predicate seq &rest more-seqs
3361 This function calls @var{predicate} on each element of the sequence(s)
3362 in turn; it returns @code{nil} as soon as @var{predicate} returns
3363 @code{nil} for any element, or @code{t} if the predicate was true
3367 @defun cl-notany predicate seq &rest more-seqs
3368 This function calls @var{predicate} on each element of the sequence(s)
3369 in turn; it returns @code{nil} as soon as @var{predicate} returns
3370 a non-@code{nil} value for any element, or @code{t} if the predicate
3371 was @code{nil} for all elements.
3374 @defun cl-notevery predicate seq &rest more-seqs
3375 This function calls @var{predicate} on each element of the sequence(s)
3376 in turn; it returns a non-@code{nil} value as soon as @var{predicate}
3377 returns @code{nil} for any element, or @code{nil} if the predicate was
3378 true for all elements.
3381 @defun cl-reduce function seq @t{&key :from-end :start :end :initial-value :key}
3382 This function combines the elements of @var{seq} using an associative
3383 binary operation. Suppose @var{function} is @code{*} and @var{seq} is
3384 the list @code{(2 3 4 5)}. The first two elements of the list are
3385 combined with @code{(* 2 3) = 6}; this is combined with the next
3386 element, @code{(* 6 4) = 24}, and that is combined with the final
3387 element: @code{(* 24 5) = 120}. Note that the @code{*} function happens
3388 to be self-reducing, so that @code{(* 2 3 4 5)} has the same effect as
3389 an explicit call to @code{cl-reduce}.
3391 If @code{:from-end} is true, the reduction is right-associative instead
3392 of left-associative:
3395 (cl-reduce '- '(1 2 3 4))
3396 @equiv{} (- (- (- 1 2) 3) 4) @result{} -8
3397 (cl-reduce '- '(1 2 3 4) :from-end t)
3398 @equiv{} (- 1 (- 2 (- 3 4))) @result{} -2
3401 If @code{:key} is specified, it is a function of one argument, which
3402 is called on each of the sequence elements in turn.
3404 If @code{:initial-value} is specified, it is effectively added to the
3405 front (or rear in the case of @code{:from-end}) of the sequence.
3406 The @code{:key} function is @emph{not} applied to the initial value.
3408 If the sequence, including the initial value, has exactly one element
3409 then that element is returned without ever calling @var{function}.
3410 If the sequence is empty (and there is no initial value), then
3411 @var{function} is called with no arguments to obtain the return value.
3414 All of these mapping operations can be expressed conveniently in
3415 terms of the @code{cl-loop} macro. In compiled code, @code{cl-loop} will
3416 be faster since it generates the loop as in-line code with no
3419 @node Sequence Functions
3420 @section Sequence Functions
3423 This section describes a number of Common Lisp functions for
3424 operating on sequences.
3426 @defun cl-subseq sequence start &optional end
3427 This function returns a given subsequence of the argument
3428 @var{sequence}, which may be a list, string, or vector.
3429 The indices @var{start} and @var{end} must be in range, and
3430 @var{start} must be no greater than @var{end}. If @var{end}
3431 is omitted, it defaults to the length of the sequence. The
3432 return value is always a copy; it does not share structure
3433 with @var{sequence}.
3435 As an extension to Common Lisp, @var{start} and/or @var{end}
3436 may be negative, in which case they represent a distance back
3437 from the end of the sequence. This is for compatibility with
3438 Emacs's @code{substring} function. Note that @code{cl-subseq} is
3439 the @emph{only} sequence function that allows negative
3440 @var{start} and @var{end}.
3442 You can use @code{setf} on a @code{cl-subseq} form to replace a
3443 specified range of elements with elements from another sequence.
3444 The replacement is done as if by @code{cl-replace}, described below.
3447 @defun cl-concatenate result-type &rest seqs
3448 This function concatenates the argument sequences together to
3449 form a result sequence of type @var{result-type}, one of the
3450 symbols @code{vector}, @code{string}, or @code{list}. The
3451 arguments are always copied, even in cases such as
3452 @code{(cl-concatenate 'list '(1 2 3))} where the result is
3453 identical to an argument.
3456 @defun cl-fill seq item @t{&key :start :end}
3457 This function fills the elements of the sequence (or the specified
3458 part of the sequence) with the value @var{item}.
3461 @defun cl-replace seq1 seq2 @t{&key :start1 :end1 :start2 :end2}
3462 This function copies part of @var{seq2} into part of @var{seq1}.
3463 The sequence @var{seq1} is not stretched or resized; the amount
3464 of data copied is simply the shorter of the source and destination
3465 (sub)sequences. The function returns @var{seq1}.
3467 If @var{seq1} and @var{seq2} are @code{eq}, then the replacement
3468 will work correctly even if the regions indicated by the start
3469 and end arguments overlap. However, if @var{seq1} and @var{seq2}
3470 are lists that share storage but are not @code{eq}, and the
3471 start and end arguments specify overlapping regions, the effect
3475 @defun cl-remove item seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :count :start :end :from-end}
3476 This returns a copy of @var{seq} with all elements matching
3477 @var{item} removed. The result may share storage with or be
3478 @code{eq} to @var{seq} in some circumstances, but the original
3479 @var{seq} will not be modified. The @code{:test}, @code{:test-not},
3480 and @code{:key} arguments define the matching test that is used;
3481 by default, elements @code{eql} to @var{item} are removed. The
3482 @code{:count} argument specifies the maximum number of matching
3483 elements that can be removed (only the leftmost @var{count} matches
3484 are removed). The @code{:start} and @code{:end} arguments specify
3485 a region in @var{seq} in which elements will be removed; elements
3486 outside that region are not matched or removed. The @code{:from-end}
3487 argument, if true, says that elements should be deleted from the
3488 end of the sequence rather than the beginning (this matters only
3489 if @var{count} was also specified).
3492 @defun cl-delete item seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :count :start :end :from-end}
3493 This deletes all elements of @var{seq} that match @var{item}.
3494 It is a destructive operation. Since Emacs Lisp does not support
3495 stretchable strings or vectors, this is the same as @code{cl-remove}
3496 for those sequence types. On lists, @code{cl-remove} will copy the
3497 list if necessary to preserve the original list, whereas
3498 @code{cl-delete} will splice out parts of the argument list.
3499 Compare @code{append} and @code{nconc}, which are analogous
3500 non-destructive and destructive list operations in Emacs Lisp.
3503 @findex cl-remove-if
3504 @findex cl-remove-if-not
3505 @findex cl-delete-if
3506 @findex cl-delete-if-not
3507 The predicate-oriented functions @code{cl-remove-if}, @code{cl-remove-if-not},
3508 @code{cl-delete-if}, and @code{cl-delete-if-not} are defined similarly.
3510 @defun cl-remove-duplicates seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start :end :from-end}
3511 This function returns a copy of @var{seq} with duplicate elements
3512 removed. Specifically, if two elements from the sequence match
3513 according to the @code{:test}, @code{:test-not}, and @code{:key}
3514 arguments, only the rightmost one is retained. If @code{:from-end}
3515 is true, the leftmost one is retained instead. If @code{:start} or
3516 @code{:end} is specified, only elements within that subsequence are
3517 examined or removed.
3520 @defun cl-delete-duplicates seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start :end :from-end}
3521 This function deletes duplicate elements from @var{seq}. It is
3522 a destructive version of @code{cl-remove-duplicates}.
3525 @defun cl-substitute new old seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :count :start :end :from-end}
3526 This function returns a copy of @var{seq}, with all elements
3527 matching @var{old} replaced with @var{new}. The @code{:count},
3528 @code{:start}, @code{:end}, and @code{:from-end} arguments may be
3529 used to limit the number of substitutions made.
3532 @defun cl-nsubstitute new old seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :count :start :end :from-end}
3533 This is a destructive version of @code{cl-substitute}; it performs
3534 the substitution using @code{setcar} or @code{aset} rather than
3535 by returning a changed copy of the sequence.
3538 @findex cl-substitute-if
3539 @findex cl-substitute-if-not
3540 @findex cl-nsubstitute-if
3541 @findex cl-nsubstitute-if-not
3542 The functions @code{cl-substitute-if}, @code{cl-substitute-if-not},
3543 @code{cl-nsubstitute-if}, and @code{cl-nsubstitute-if-not} are defined
3544 similarly. For these, a @var{predicate} is given in place of the
3547 @node Searching Sequences
3548 @section Searching Sequences
3551 These functions search for elements or subsequences in a sequence.
3552 (See also @code{cl-member} and @code{cl-assoc}; @pxref{Lists}.)
3554 @defun cl-find item seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start :end :from-end}
3555 This function searches @var{seq} for an element matching @var{item}.
3556 If it finds a match, it returns the matching element. Otherwise,
3557 it returns @code{nil}. It returns the leftmost match, unless
3558 @code{:from-end} is true, in which case it returns the rightmost
3559 match. The @code{:start} and @code{:end} arguments may be used to
3560 limit the range of elements that are searched.
3563 @defun cl-position item seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start :end :from-end}
3564 This function is like @code{cl-find}, except that it returns the
3565 integer position in the sequence of the matching item rather than
3566 the item itself. The position is relative to the start of the
3567 sequence as a whole, even if @code{:start} is non-zero. The function
3568 returns @code{nil} if no matching element was found.
3571 @defun cl-count item seq @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start :end}
3572 This function returns the number of elements of @var{seq} which
3573 match @var{item}. The result is always a nonnegative integer.
3577 @findex cl-find-if-not
3578 @findex cl-position-if
3579 @findex cl-position-if-not
3581 @findex cl-count-if-not
3582 The @code{cl-find-if}, @code{cl-find-if-not}, @code{cl-position-if},
3583 @code{cl-position-if-not}, @code{cl-count-if}, and @code{cl-count-if-not}
3584 functions are defined similarly.
3586 @defun cl-mismatch seq1 seq2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key :start1 :end1 :start2 :end2 :from-end}
3587 This function compares the specified parts of @var{seq1} and
3588 @var{seq2}. If they are the same length and the corresponding
3589 elements match (according to @code{:test}, @code{:test-not},
3590 and @code{:key}), the function returns @code{nil}. If there is
3591 a mismatch, the function returns the index (relative to @var{seq1})
3592 of the first mismatching element. This will be the leftmost pair of
3593 elements that do not match, or the position at which the shorter of
3594 the two otherwise-matching sequences runs out.
3596 If @code{:from-end} is true, then the elements are compared from right
3597 to left starting at @code{(1- @var{end1})} and @code{(1- @var{end2})}.
3598 If the sequences differ, then one plus the index of the rightmost
3599 difference (relative to @var{seq1}) is returned.
3601 An interesting example is @code{(cl-mismatch str1 str2 :key 'upcase)},
3602 which compares two strings case-insensitively.
3605 @defun cl-search seq1 seq2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key :from-end :start1 :end1 :start2 :end2}
3606 This function searches @var{seq2} for a subsequence that matches
3607 @var{seq1} (or part of it specified by @code{:start1} and
3608 @code{:end1}). Only matches that fall entirely within the region
3609 defined by @code{:start2} and @code{:end2} will be considered.
3610 The return value is the index of the leftmost element of the
3611 leftmost match, relative to the start of @var{seq2}, or @code{nil}
3612 if no matches were found. If @code{:from-end} is true, the
3613 function finds the @emph{rightmost} matching subsequence.
3616 @node Sorting Sequences
3617 @section Sorting Sequences
3619 @defun cl-sort seq predicate @t{&key :key}
3620 This function sorts @var{seq} into increasing order as determined
3621 by using @var{predicate} to compare pairs of elements. @var{predicate}
3622 should return true (non-@code{nil}) if and only if its first argument
3623 is less than (not equal to) its second argument. For example,
3624 @code{<} and @code{string-lessp} are suitable predicate functions
3625 for sorting numbers and strings, respectively; @code{>} would sort
3626 numbers into decreasing rather than increasing order.
3628 This function differs from Emacs's built-in @code{sort} in that it
3629 can operate on any type of sequence, not just lists. Also, it
3630 accepts a @code{:key} argument, which is used to preprocess data
3631 fed to the @var{predicate} function. For example,
3634 (setq data (cl-sort data 'string-lessp :key 'downcase))
3638 sorts @var{data}, a sequence of strings, into increasing alphabetical
3639 order without regard to case. A @code{:key} function of @code{car}
3640 would be useful for sorting association lists. It should only be a
3641 simple accessor though, since it's used heavily in the current
3644 The @code{cl-sort} function is destructive; it sorts lists by actually
3645 rearranging the @sc{cdr} pointers in suitable fashion.
3648 @defun cl-stable-sort seq predicate @t{&key :key}
3649 This function sorts @var{seq} @dfn{stably}, meaning two elements
3650 which are equal in terms of @var{predicate} are guaranteed not to
3651 be rearranged out of their original order by the sort.
3653 In practice, @code{cl-sort} and @code{cl-stable-sort} are equivalent
3654 in Emacs Lisp because the underlying @code{sort} function is
3655 stable by default. However, this package reserves the right to
3656 use non-stable methods for @code{cl-sort} in the future.
3659 @defun cl-merge type seq1 seq2 predicate @t{&key :key}
3660 This function merges two sequences @var{seq1} and @var{seq2} by
3661 interleaving their elements. The result sequence, of type @var{type}
3662 (in the sense of @code{cl-concatenate}), has length equal to the sum
3663 of the lengths of the two input sequences. The sequences may be
3664 modified destructively. Order of elements within @var{seq1} and
3665 @var{seq2} is preserved in the interleaving; elements of the two
3666 sequences are compared by @var{predicate} (in the sense of
3667 @code{sort}) and the lesser element goes first in the result.
3668 When elements are equal, those from @var{seq1} precede those from
3669 @var{seq2} in the result. Thus, if @var{seq1} and @var{seq2} are
3670 both sorted according to @var{predicate}, then the result will be
3671 a merged sequence which is (stably) sorted according to
3679 The functions described here operate on lists.
3682 * List Functions:: @code{cl-caddr}, @code{cl-first}, @code{cl-list*}, etc.
3683 * Substitution of Expressions:: @code{cl-subst}, @code{cl-sublis}, etc.
3684 * Lists as Sets:: @code{cl-member}, @code{cl-adjoin}, @code{cl-union}, etc.
3685 * Association Lists:: @code{cl-assoc}, @code{cl-acons}, @code{cl-pairlis}, etc.
3688 @node List Functions
3689 @section List Functions
3692 This section describes a number of simple operations on lists,
3693 i.e., chains of cons cells.
3696 This function is equivalent to @code{(car (cdr (cdr @var{x})))}.
3697 Likewise, this package defines all 24 @code{c@var{xxx}r} functions
3698 where @var{xxx} is up to four @samp{a}s and/or @samp{d}s.
3699 All of these functions are @code{setf}-able, and calls to them
3700 are expanded inline by the byte-compiler for maximum efficiency.
3704 This function is a synonym for @code{(car @var{x})}. Likewise,
3705 the functions @code{cl-second}, @code{cl-third}, @dots{}, through
3706 @code{cl-tenth} return the given element of the list @var{x}.
3710 This function is a synonym for @code{(cdr @var{x})}.
3714 This function acts like @code{null}, but signals an error if @code{x}
3715 is neither a @code{nil} nor a cons cell.
3718 @defun cl-list-length x
3719 This function returns the length of list @var{x}, exactly like
3720 @code{(length @var{x})}, except that if @var{x} is a circular
3721 list (where the @sc{cdr}-chain forms a loop rather than terminating
3722 with @code{nil}), this function returns @code{nil}. (The regular
3723 @code{length} function would get stuck if given a circular list.
3724 See also the @code{safe-length} function.)
3727 @defun cl-list* arg &rest others
3728 This function constructs a list of its arguments. The final
3729 argument becomes the @sc{cdr} of the last cell constructed.
3730 Thus, @code{(cl-list* @var{a} @var{b} @var{c})} is equivalent to
3731 @code{(cons @var{a} (cons @var{b} @var{c}))}, and
3732 @code{(cl-list* @var{a} @var{b} nil)} is equivalent to
3733 @code{(list @var{a} @var{b})}.
3736 @defun cl-ldiff list sublist
3737 If @var{sublist} is a sublist of @var{list}, i.e., is @code{eq} to
3738 one of the cons cells of @var{list}, then this function returns
3739 a copy of the part of @var{list} up to but not including
3740 @var{sublist}. For example, @code{(cl-ldiff x (cddr x))} returns
3741 the first two elements of the list @code{x}. The result is a
3742 copy; the original @var{list} is not modified. If @var{sublist}
3743 is not a sublist of @var{list}, a copy of the entire @var{list}
3747 @defun cl-copy-list list
3748 This function returns a copy of the list @var{list}. It copies
3749 dotted lists like @code{(1 2 . 3)} correctly.
3752 @defun cl-tree-equal x y @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3753 This function compares two trees of cons cells. If @var{x} and
3754 @var{y} are both cons cells, their @sc{car}s and @sc{cdr}s are
3755 compared recursively. If neither @var{x} nor @var{y} is a cons
3756 cell, they are compared by @code{eql}, or according to the
3757 specified test. The @code{:key} function, if specified, is
3758 applied to the elements of both trees. @xref{Sequences}.
3761 @node Substitution of Expressions
3762 @section Substitution of Expressions
3765 These functions substitute elements throughout a tree of cons
3766 cells. (@xref{Sequence Functions}, for the @code{cl-substitute}
3767 function, which works on just the top-level elements of a list.)
3769 @defun cl-subst new old tree @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3770 This function substitutes occurrences of @var{old} with @var{new}
3771 in @var{tree}, a tree of cons cells. It returns a substituted
3772 tree, which will be a copy except that it may share storage with
3773 the argument @var{tree} in parts where no substitutions occurred.
3774 The original @var{tree} is not modified. This function recurses
3775 on, and compares against @var{old}, both @sc{car}s and @sc{cdr}s
3776 of the component cons cells. If @var{old} is itself a cons cell,
3777 then matching cells in the tree are substituted as usual without
3778 recursively substituting in that cell. Comparisons with @var{old}
3779 are done according to the specified test (@code{eql} by default).
3780 The @code{:key} function is applied to the elements of the tree
3781 but not to @var{old}.
3784 @defun cl-nsubst new old tree @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3785 This function is like @code{cl-subst}, except that it works by
3786 destructive modification (by @code{setcar} or @code{setcdr})
3787 rather than copying.
3791 @findex cl-subst-if-not
3792 @findex cl-nsubst-if
3793 @findex cl-nsubst-if-not
3794 The @code{cl-subst-if}, @code{cl-subst-if-not}, @code{cl-nsubst-if}, and
3795 @code{cl-nsubst-if-not} functions are defined similarly.
3797 @defun cl-sublis alist tree @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3798 This function is like @code{cl-subst}, except that it takes an
3799 association list @var{alist} of @var{old}-@var{new} pairs.
3800 Each element of the tree (after applying the @code{:key}
3801 function, if any), is compared with the @sc{car}s of
3802 @var{alist}; if it matches, it is replaced by the corresponding
3806 @defun cl-nsublis alist tree @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3807 This is a destructive version of @code{cl-sublis}.
3811 @section Lists as Sets
3814 These functions perform operations on lists that represent sets
3817 @defun cl-member item list @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3818 This function searches @var{list} for an element matching @var{item}.
3819 If a match is found, it returns the cons cell whose @sc{car} was
3820 the matching element. Otherwise, it returns @code{nil}. Elements
3821 are compared by @code{eql} by default; you can use the @code{:test},
3822 @code{:test-not}, and @code{:key} arguments to modify this behavior.
3825 The standard Emacs lisp function @code{member} uses @code{equal} for
3826 comparisons; it is equivalent to @code{(cl-member @var{item} @var{list}
3827 :test 'equal)}. With no keyword arguments, @code{cl-member} is
3828 equivalent to @code{memq}.
3831 @findex cl-member-if
3832 @findex cl-member-if-not
3833 The @code{cl-member-if} and @code{cl-member-if-not} functions
3834 analogously search for elements that satisfy a given predicate.
3836 @defun cl-tailp sublist list
3837 This function returns @code{t} if @var{sublist} is a sublist of
3838 @var{list}, i.e., if @var{sublist} is @code{eql} to @var{list} or to
3839 any of its @sc{cdr}s.
3842 @defun cl-adjoin item list @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3843 This function conses @var{item} onto the front of @var{list},
3844 like @code{(cons @var{item} @var{list})}, but only if @var{item}
3845 is not already present on the list (as determined by @code{cl-member}).
3846 If a @code{:key} argument is specified, it is applied to
3847 @var{item} as well as to the elements of @var{list} during
3848 the search, on the reasoning that @var{item} is ``about'' to
3849 become part of the list.
3852 @defun cl-union list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3853 This function combines two lists that represent sets of items,
3854 returning a list that represents the union of those two sets.
3855 The resulting list contains all items that appear in @var{list1}
3856 or @var{list2}, and no others. If an item appears in both
3857 @var{list1} and @var{list2} it is copied only once. If
3858 an item is duplicated in @var{list1} or @var{list2}, it is
3859 undefined whether or not that duplication will survive in the
3860 result list. The order of elements in the result list is also
3864 @defun cl-nunion list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3865 This is a destructive version of @code{cl-union}; rather than copying,
3866 it tries to reuse the storage of the argument lists if possible.
3869 @defun cl-intersection list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3870 This function computes the intersection of the sets represented
3871 by @var{list1} and @var{list2}. It returns the list of items
3872 that appear in both @var{list1} and @var{list2}.
3875 @defun cl-nintersection list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3876 This is a destructive version of @code{cl-intersection}. It
3877 tries to reuse storage of @var{list1} rather than copying.
3878 It does @emph{not} reuse the storage of @var{list2}.
3881 @defun cl-set-difference list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3882 This function computes the ``set difference'' of @var{list1}
3883 and @var{list2}, i.e., the set of elements that appear in
3884 @var{list1} but @emph{not} in @var{list2}.
3887 @defun cl-nset-difference list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3888 This is a destructive @code{cl-set-difference}, which will try
3889 to reuse @var{list1} if possible.
3892 @defun cl-set-exclusive-or list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3893 This function computes the ``set exclusive or'' of @var{list1}
3894 and @var{list2}, i.e., the set of elements that appear in
3895 exactly one of @var{list1} and @var{list2}.
3898 @defun cl-nset-exclusive-or list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3899 This is a destructive @code{cl-set-exclusive-or}, which will try
3900 to reuse @var{list1} and @var{list2} if possible.
3903 @defun cl-subsetp list1 list2 @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3904 This function checks whether @var{list1} represents a subset
3905 of @var{list2}, i.e., whether every element of @var{list1}
3906 also appears in @var{list2}.
3909 @node Association Lists
3910 @section Association Lists
3913 An @dfn{association list} is a list representing a mapping from
3914 one set of values to another; any list whose elements are cons
3915 cells is an association list.
3917 @defun cl-assoc item a-list @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3918 This function searches the association list @var{a-list} for an
3919 element whose @sc{car} matches (in the sense of @code{:test},
3920 @code{:test-not}, and @code{:key}, or by comparison with @code{eql})
3921 a given @var{item}. It returns the matching element, if any,
3922 otherwise @code{nil}. It ignores elements of @var{a-list} that
3923 are not cons cells. (This corresponds to the behavior of
3924 @code{assq} and @code{assoc} in Emacs Lisp; Common Lisp's
3925 @code{assoc} ignores @code{nil}s but considers any other non-cons
3926 elements of @var{a-list} to be an error.)
3929 @defun cl-rassoc item a-list @t{&key :test :test-not :key}
3930 This function searches for an element whose @sc{cdr} matches
3931 @var{item}. If @var{a-list} represents a mapping, this applies
3932 the inverse of the mapping to @var{item}.
3936 @findex cl-assoc-if-not
3937 @findex cl-rassoc-if
3938 @findex cl-rassoc-if-not
3939 The @code{cl-assoc-if}, @code{cl-assoc-if-not}, @code{cl-rassoc-if},
3940 and @code{cl-rassoc-if-not} functions are defined similarly.
3942 Two simple functions for constructing association lists are:
3944 @defun cl-acons key value alist
3945 This is equivalent to @code{(cons (cons @var{key} @var{value}) @var{alist})}.
3948 @defun cl-pairlis keys values &optional alist
3949 This is equivalent to @code{(nconc (cl-mapcar 'cons @var{keys} @var{values})
3957 The Common Lisp @dfn{structure} mechanism provides a general way
3958 to define data types similar to C's @code{struct} types. A
3959 structure is a Lisp object containing some number of @dfn{slots},
3960 each of which can hold any Lisp data object. Functions are
3961 provided for accessing and setting the slots, creating or copying
3962 structure objects, and recognizing objects of a particular structure
3965 In true Common Lisp, each structure type is a new type distinct
3966 from all existing Lisp types. Since the underlying Emacs Lisp
3967 system provides no way to create new distinct types, this package
3968 implements structures as vectors (or lists upon request) with a
3969 special ``tag'' symbol to identify them.
3971 @defmac cl-defstruct name slots@dots{}
3972 The @code{cl-defstruct} form defines a new structure type called
3973 @var{name}, with the specified @var{slots}. (The @var{slots}
3974 may begin with a string which documents the structure type.)
3975 In the simplest case, @var{name} and each of the @var{slots}
3976 are symbols. For example,
3979 (cl-defstruct person name age sex)
3983 defines a struct type called @code{person} that contains three
3984 slots. Given a @code{person} object @var{p}, you can access those
3985 slots by calling @code{(person-name @var{p})}, @code{(person-age @var{p})},
3986 and @code{(person-sex @var{p})}. You can also change these slots by
3987 using @code{setf} on any of these place forms, for example:
3990 (cl-incf (person-age birthday-boy))
3993 You can create a new @code{person} by calling @code{make-person},
3994 which takes keyword arguments @code{:name}, @code{:age}, and
3995 @code{:sex} to specify the initial values of these slots in the
3996 new object. (Omitting any of these arguments leaves the corresponding
3997 slot ``undefined'', according to the Common Lisp standard; in Emacs
3998 Lisp, such uninitialized slots are filled with @code{nil}.)
4000 Given a @code{person}, @code{(copy-person @var{p})} makes a new
4001 object of the same type whose slots are @code{eq} to those of @var{p}.
4003 Given any Lisp object @var{x}, @code{(person-p @var{x})} returns
4004 true if @var{x} looks like a @code{person}, and false otherwise. (Again,
4005 in Common Lisp this predicate would be exact; in Emacs Lisp the
4006 best it can do is verify that @var{x} is a vector of the correct
4007 length that starts with the correct tag symbol.)
4009 Accessors like @code{person-name} normally check their arguments
4010 (effectively using @code{person-p}) and signal an error if the
4011 argument is the wrong type. This check is affected by
4012 @code{(optimize (safety @dots{}))} declarations. Safety level 1,
4013 the default, uses a somewhat optimized check that will detect all
4014 incorrect arguments, but may use an uninformative error message
4015 (e.g., ``expected a vector'' instead of ``expected a @code{person}'').
4016 Safety level 0 omits all checks except as provided by the underlying
4017 @code{aref} call; safety levels 2 and 3 do rigorous checking that will
4018 always print a descriptive error message for incorrect inputs.
4019 @xref{Declarations}.
4022 (setq dave (make-person :name "Dave" :sex 'male))
4023 @result{} [cl-struct-person "Dave" nil male]
4024 (setq other (copy-person dave))
4025 @result{} [cl-struct-person "Dave" nil male]
4028 (eq (person-name dave) (person-name other))
4032 (person-p [1 2 3 4])
4036 (person-p '[cl-struct-person counterfeit person object])
4040 In general, @var{name} is either a name symbol or a list of a name
4041 symbol followed by any number of @dfn{struct options}; each @var{slot}
4042 is either a slot symbol or a list of the form @samp{(@var{slot-name}
4043 @var{default-value} @var{slot-options}@dots{})}. The @var{default-value}
4044 is a Lisp form that is evaluated any time an instance of the
4045 structure type is created without specifying that slot's value.
4047 Common Lisp defines several slot options, but the only one
4048 implemented in this package is @code{:read-only}. A non-@code{nil}
4049 value for this option means the slot should not be @code{setf}-able;
4050 the slot's value is determined when the object is created and does
4051 not change afterward.
4054 (cl-defstruct person
4055 (name nil :read-only t)
4060 Any slot options other than @code{:read-only} are ignored.
4062 For obscure historical reasons, structure options take a different
4063 form than slot options. A structure option is either a keyword
4064 symbol, or a list beginning with a keyword symbol possibly followed
4065 by arguments. (By contrast, slot options are key-value pairs not
4069 (cl-defstruct (person (:constructor create-person)
4075 The following structure options are recognized.
4079 The argument is a symbol whose print name is used as the prefix for
4080 the names of slot accessor functions. The default is the name of
4081 the struct type followed by a hyphen. The option @code{(:conc-name p-)}
4082 would change this prefix to @code{p-}. Specifying @code{nil} as an
4083 argument means no prefix, so that the slot names themselves are used
4084 to name the accessor functions.
4087 In the simple case, this option takes one argument which is an
4088 alternate name to use for the constructor function. The default
4089 is @code{make-@var{name}}, e.g., @code{make-person}. The above
4090 example changes this to @code{create-person}. Specifying @code{nil}
4091 as an argument means that no standard constructor should be
4094 In the full form of this option, the constructor name is followed
4095 by an arbitrary argument list. @xref{Program Structure}, for a
4096 description of the format of Common Lisp argument lists. All
4097 options, such as @code{&rest} and @code{&key}, are supported.
4098 The argument names should match the slot names; each slot is
4099 initialized from the corresponding argument. Slots whose names
4100 do not appear in the argument list are initialized based on the
4101 @var{default-value} in their slot descriptor. Also, @code{&optional}
4102 and @code{&key} arguments that don't specify defaults take their
4103 defaults from the slot descriptor. It is valid to include arguments
4104 that don't correspond to slot names; these are useful if they are
4105 referred to in the defaults for optional, keyword, or @code{&aux}
4106 arguments that @emph{do} correspond to slots.
4108 You can specify any number of full-format @code{:constructor}
4109 options on a structure. The default constructor is still generated
4110 as well unless you disable it with a simple-format @code{:constructor}
4116 (:constructor nil) ; no default constructor
4117 (:constructor new-person
4118 (name sex &optional (age 0)))
4119 (:constructor new-hound (&key (name "Rover")
4121 &aux (age (* 7 dog-years))
4126 The first constructor here takes its arguments positionally rather
4127 than by keyword. (In official Common Lisp terminology, constructors
4128 that work By Order of Arguments instead of by keyword are called
4129 ``BOA constructors''. No, I'm not making this up.) For example,
4130 @code{(new-person "Jane" 'female)} generates a person whose slots
4131 are @code{"Jane"}, 0, and @code{female}, respectively.
4133 The second constructor takes two keyword arguments, @code{:name},
4134 which initializes the @code{name} slot and defaults to @code{"Rover"},
4135 and @code{:dog-years}, which does not itself correspond to a slot
4136 but which is used to initialize the @code{age} slot. The @code{sex}
4137 slot is forced to the symbol @code{canine} with no syntax for
4141 The argument is an alternate name for the copier function for
4142 this type. The default is @code{copy-@var{name}}. @code{nil}
4143 means not to generate a copier function. (In this implementation,
4144 all copier functions are simply synonyms for @code{copy-sequence}.)
4147 The argument is an alternate name for the predicate that recognizes
4148 objects of this type. The default is @code{@var{name}-p}. @code{nil}
4149 means not to generate a predicate function. (If the @code{:type}
4150 option is used without the @code{:named} option, no predicate is
4153 In true Common Lisp, @code{typep} is always able to recognize a
4154 structure object even if @code{:predicate} was used. In this
4155 package, @code{cl-typep} simply looks for a function called
4156 @code{@var{typename}-p}, so it will work for structure types
4157 only if they used the default predicate name.
4160 This option implements a very limited form of C++-style inheritance.
4161 The argument is the name of another structure type previously
4162 created with @code{cl-defstruct}. The effect is to cause the new
4163 structure type to inherit all of the included structure's slots
4164 (plus, of course, any new slots described by this struct's slot
4165 descriptors). The new structure is considered a ``specialization''
4166 of the included one. In fact, the predicate and slot accessors
4167 for the included type will also accept objects of the new type.
4169 If there are extra arguments to the @code{:include} option after
4170 the included-structure name, these options are treated as replacement
4171 slot descriptors for slots in the included structure, possibly with
4172 modified default values. Borrowing an example from Steele:
4175 (cl-defstruct person name (age 0) sex)
4177 (cl-defstruct (astronaut (:include person (age 45)))
4179 (favorite-beverage 'tang))
4182 (setq joe (make-person :name "Joe"))
4183 @result{} [cl-struct-person "Joe" 0 nil]
4184 (setq buzz (make-astronaut :name "Buzz"))
4185 @result{} [cl-struct-astronaut "Buzz" 45 nil nil tang]
4187 (list (person-p joe) (person-p buzz))
4189 (list (astronaut-p joe) (astronaut-p buzz))
4194 (astronaut-name joe)
4195 @result{} error: "astronaut-name accessing a non-astronaut"
4198 Thus, if @code{astronaut} is a specialization of @code{person},
4199 then every @code{astronaut} is also a @code{person} (but not the
4200 other way around). Every @code{astronaut} includes all the slots
4201 of a @code{person}, plus extra slots that are specific to
4202 astronauts. Operations that work on people (like @code{person-name})
4203 work on astronauts just like other people.
4205 @item :print-function
4206 In full Common Lisp, this option allows you to specify a function
4207 that is called to print an instance of the structure type. The
4208 Emacs Lisp system offers no hooks into the Lisp printer which would
4209 allow for such a feature, so this package simply ignores
4210 @code{:print-function}.
4213 The argument should be one of the symbols @code{vector} or @code{list}.
4214 This tells which underlying Lisp data type should be used to implement
4215 the new structure type. Vectors are used by default, but
4216 @code{(:type list)} will cause structure objects to be stored as
4219 The vector representation for structure objects has the advantage
4220 that all structure slots can be accessed quickly, although creating
4221 vectors is a bit slower in Emacs Lisp. Lists are easier to create,
4222 but take a relatively long time accessing the later slots.
4225 This option, which takes no arguments, causes a characteristic ``tag''
4226 symbol to be stored at the front of the structure object. Using
4227 @code{:type} without also using @code{:named} will result in a
4228 structure type stored as plain vectors or lists with no identifying
4231 The default, if you don't specify @code{:type} explicitly, is to
4232 use named vectors. Therefore, @code{:named} is only useful in
4233 conjunction with @code{:type}.
4236 (cl-defstruct (person1) name age sex)
4237 (cl-defstruct (person2 (:type list) :named) name age sex)
4238 (cl-defstruct (person3 (:type list)) name age sex)
4240 (setq p1 (make-person1))
4241 @result{} [cl-struct-person1 nil nil nil]
4242 (setq p2 (make-person2))
4243 @result{} (person2 nil nil nil)
4244 (setq p3 (make-person3))
4245 @result{} (nil nil nil)
4252 @result{} error: function person3-p undefined
4255 Since unnamed structures don't have tags, @code{cl-defstruct} is not
4256 able to make a useful predicate for recognizing them. Also,
4257 accessors like @code{person3-name} will be generated but they
4258 will not be able to do any type checking. The @code{person3-name}
4259 function, for example, will simply be a synonym for @code{car} in
4260 this case. By contrast, @code{person2-name} is able to verify
4261 that its argument is indeed a @code{person2} object before
4264 @item :initial-offset
4265 The argument must be a nonnegative integer. It specifies a
4266 number of slots to be left ``empty'' at the front of the
4267 structure. If the structure is named, the tag appears at the
4268 specified position in the list or vector; otherwise, the first
4269 slot appears at that position. Earlier positions are filled
4270 with @code{nil} by the constructors and ignored otherwise. If
4271 the type @code{:include}s another type, then @code{:initial-offset}
4272 specifies a number of slots to be skipped between the last slot
4273 of the included type and the first new slot.
4277 Except as noted, the @code{cl-defstruct} facility of this package is
4278 entirely compatible with that of Common Lisp.
4280 The @code{cl-defstruct} package also provides a few structure
4281 introspection functions.
4283 @defun cl-struct-sequence-type struct-type
4284 This function returns the underlying data structure for
4285 @code{struct-type}, which is a symbol. It returns @code{vector} or
4286 @code{list}, or @code{nil} if @code{struct-type} is not actually a
4290 @defun cl-struct-slot-info struct-type
4291 This function returns a list of slot descriptors for structure
4292 @code{struct-type}. Each entry in the list is @code{(name . opts)},
4293 where @code{name} is the name of the slot and @code{opts} is the list
4294 of slot options given to @code{defstruct}. Dummy entries represent
4295 the slots used for the struct name and that are skipped to implement
4296 @code{:initial-offset}.
4299 @defun cl-struct-slot-offset struct-type slot-name
4300 Return the offset of slot @code{slot-name} in @code{struct-type}. The
4301 returned zero-based slot index is relative to the start of the
4302 structure data type and is adjusted for any structure name and
4303 :initial-offset slots. Signal error if struct @code{struct-type} does
4304 not contain @code{slot-name}.
4307 @defun cl-struct-slot-value struct-type slot-name inst
4308 Return the value of slot @code{slot-name} in @code{inst} of
4309 @code{struct-type}. @code{struct} and @code{slot-name} are symbols.
4310 @code{inst} is a structure instance. This routine is also a
4311 @code{setf} place. Can signal the same errors as @code{cl-struct-slot-offset}.
4315 @chapter Assertions and Errors
4318 This section describes two macros that test @dfn{assertions}, i.e.,
4319 conditions which must be true if the program is operating correctly.
4320 Assertions never add to the behavior of a Lisp program; they simply
4321 make ``sanity checks'' to make sure everything is as it should be.
4323 If the optimization property @code{speed} has been set to 3, and
4324 @code{safety} is less than 3, then the byte-compiler will optimize
4325 away the following assertions. Because assertions might be optimized
4326 away, it is a bad idea for them to include side-effects.
4328 @defmac cl-assert test-form [show-args string args@dots{}]
4329 This form verifies that @var{test-form} is true (i.e., evaluates to
4330 a non-@code{nil} value). If so, it returns @code{nil}. If the test
4331 is not satisfied, @code{cl-assert} signals an error.
4333 A default error message will be supplied which includes @var{test-form}.
4334 You can specify a different error message by including a @var{string}
4335 argument plus optional extra arguments. Those arguments are simply
4336 passed to @code{error} to signal the error.
4338 If the optional second argument @var{show-args} is @code{t} instead
4339 of @code{nil}, then the error message (with or without @var{string})
4340 will also include all non-constant arguments of the top-level
4341 @var{form}. For example:
4344 (cl-assert (> x 10) t "x is too small: %d")
4347 This usage of @var{show-args} is an extension to Common Lisp. In
4348 true Common Lisp, the second argument gives a list of @var{places}
4349 which can be @code{setf}'d by the user before continuing from the
4350 error. Since Emacs Lisp does not support continuable errors, it
4351 makes no sense to specify @var{places}.
4354 @defmac cl-check-type form type [string]
4355 This form verifies that @var{form} evaluates to a value of type
4356 @var{type}. If so, it returns @code{nil}. If not, @code{cl-check-type}
4357 signals a @code{wrong-type-argument} error. The default error message
4358 lists the erroneous value along with @var{type} and @var{form}
4359 themselves. If @var{string} is specified, it is included in the
4360 error message in place of @var{type}. For example:
4363 (cl-check-type x (integer 1 *) "a positive integer")
4366 @xref{Type Predicates}, for a description of the type specifiers
4367 that may be used for @var{type}.
4369 Note that in Common Lisp, the first argument to @code{check-type}
4370 must be a @var{place} suitable for use by @code{setf}, because
4371 @code{check-type} signals a continuable error that allows the
4372 user to modify @var{place}.
4375 @node Efficiency Concerns
4376 @appendix Efficiency Concerns
4381 Many of the advanced features of this package, such as @code{cl-defun},
4382 @code{cl-loop}, etc., are implemented as Lisp macros. In
4383 byte-compiled code, these complex notations will be expanded into
4384 equivalent Lisp code which is simple and efficient. For example,
4392 is expanded at compile-time to the Lisp form
4399 which is the most efficient ways of doing this operation
4400 in Lisp. Thus, there is no performance penalty for using the more
4401 readable @code{cl-incf} form in your compiled code.
4403 @emph{Interpreted} code, on the other hand, must expand these macros
4404 every time they are executed. For this reason it is strongly
4405 recommended that code making heavy use of macros be compiled.
4406 A loop using @code{cl-incf} a hundred times will execute considerably
4407 faster if compiled, and will also garbage-collect less because the
4408 macro expansion will not have to be generated, used, and thrown away a
4411 You can find out how a macro expands by using the
4412 @code{cl-prettyexpand} function.
4414 @defun cl-prettyexpand form &optional full
4415 This function takes a single Lisp form as an argument and inserts
4416 a nicely formatted copy of it in the current buffer (which must be
4417 in Lisp mode so that indentation works properly). It also expands
4418 all Lisp macros that appear in the form. The easiest way to use
4419 this function is to go to the @file{*scratch*} buffer and type, say,
4422 (cl-prettyexpand '(cl-loop for x below 10 collect x))
4426 and type @kbd{C-x C-e} immediately after the closing parenthesis;
4427 an expansion similar to:
4434 (setq G1004 (cons x G1004))
4440 will be inserted into the buffer. (The @code{cl-block} macro is
4441 expanded differently in the interpreter and compiler, so
4442 @code{cl-prettyexpand} just leaves it alone. The temporary
4443 variable @code{G1004} was created by @code{cl-gensym}.)
4445 If the optional argument @var{full} is true, then @emph{all}
4446 macros are expanded, including @code{cl-block}, @code{cl-eval-when},
4447 and compiler macros. Expansion is done as if @var{form} were
4448 a top-level form in a file being compiled.
4450 @c FIXME none of these examples are still applicable.
4455 (cl-prettyexpand '(cl-pushnew 'x list))
4456 @print{} (setq list (cl-adjoin 'x list))
4457 (cl-prettyexpand '(cl-pushnew 'x list) t)
4458 @print{} (setq list (if (memq 'x list) list (cons 'x list)))
4459 (cl-prettyexpand '(caddr (cl-member 'a list)) t)
4460 @print{} (car (cdr (cdr (memq 'a list))))
4464 Note that @code{cl-adjoin}, @code{cl-caddr}, and @code{cl-member} all
4465 have built-in compiler macros to optimize them in common cases.
4468 @appendixsec Error Checking
4471 Common Lisp compliance has in general not been sacrificed for the
4472 sake of efficiency. A few exceptions have been made for cases
4473 where substantial gains were possible at the expense of marginal
4476 The Common Lisp standard (as embodied in Steele's book) uses the
4477 phrase ``it is an error if'' to indicate a situation that is not
4478 supposed to arise in complying programs; implementations are strongly
4479 encouraged but not required to signal an error in these situations.
4480 This package sometimes omits such error checking in the interest of
4481 compactness and efficiency. For example, @code{cl-do} variable
4482 specifiers are supposed to be lists of one, two, or three forms; extra
4483 forms are ignored by this package rather than signaling a syntax
4484 error. Functions taking keyword arguments will accept an odd number
4485 of arguments, treating the trailing keyword as if it were followed by
4486 the value @code{nil}.
4488 Argument lists (as processed by @code{cl-defun} and friends)
4489 @emph{are} checked rigorously except for the minor point just
4490 mentioned; in particular, keyword arguments are checked for
4491 validity, and @code{&allow-other-keys} and @code{:allow-other-keys}
4492 are fully implemented. Keyword validity checking is slightly
4493 time consuming (though not too bad in byte-compiled code);
4494 you can use @code{&allow-other-keys} to omit this check. Functions
4495 defined in this package such as @code{cl-find} and @code{cl-member}
4496 do check their keyword arguments for validity.
4498 @appendixsec Compiler Optimizations
4501 Changing the value of @code{byte-optimize} from the default @code{t}
4502 is highly discouraged; many of the Common
4504 code that can be improved by optimization. In particular,
4505 @code{cl-block}s (whether explicit or implicit in constructs like
4506 @code{cl-defun} and @code{cl-loop}) carry a fair run-time penalty; the
4507 byte-compiler removes @code{cl-block}s that are not actually
4508 referenced by @code{cl-return} or @code{cl-return-from} inside the block.
4510 @node Common Lisp Compatibility
4511 @appendix Common Lisp Compatibility
4514 The following is a list of some of the most important
4515 incompatibilities between this package and Common Lisp as documented
4516 in Steele (2nd edition).
4518 The word @code{cl-defun} is required instead of @code{defun} in order
4519 to use extended Common Lisp argument lists in a function. Likewise,
4520 @code{cl-defmacro} and @code{cl-function} are versions of those forms
4521 which understand full-featured argument lists. The @code{&whole}
4522 keyword does not work in @code{cl-defmacro} argument lists (except
4523 inside recursive argument lists).
4525 The @code{equal} predicate does not distinguish
4526 between IEEE floating-point plus and minus zero. The @code{cl-equalp}
4527 predicate has several differences with Common Lisp; @pxref{Predicates}.
4529 The @code{cl-do-all-symbols} form is the same as @code{cl-do-symbols}
4530 with no @var{obarray} argument. In Common Lisp, this form would
4531 iterate over all symbols in all packages. Since Emacs obarrays
4532 are not a first-class package mechanism, there is no way for
4533 @code{cl-do-all-symbols} to locate any but the default obarray.
4535 The @code{cl-loop} macro is complete except that @code{loop-finish}
4536 and type specifiers are unimplemented.
4538 The multiple-value return facility treats lists as multiple
4539 values, since Emacs Lisp cannot support multiple return values
4540 directly. The macros will be compatible with Common Lisp if
4541 @code{cl-values} or @code{cl-values-list} is always used to return to
4542 a @code{cl-multiple-value-bind} or other multiple-value receiver;
4543 if @code{cl-values} is used without @code{cl-multiple-value-@dots{}}
4544 or vice-versa the effect will be different from Common Lisp.
4546 Many Common Lisp declarations are ignored, and others match
4547 the Common Lisp standard in concept but not in detail. For
4548 example, local @code{special} declarations, which are purely
4549 advisory in Emacs Lisp, do not rigorously obey the scoping rules
4550 set down in Steele's book.
4552 The variable @code{cl--gensym-counter} starts out with zero.
4554 The @code{cl-defstruct} facility is compatible, except that structures
4555 are of type @code{:type vector :named} by default rather than some
4556 special, distinct type. Also, the @code{:type} slot option is ignored.
4558 The second argument of @code{cl-check-type} is treated differently.
4560 @node Porting Common Lisp
4561 @appendix Porting Common Lisp
4564 This package is meant to be used as an extension to Emacs Lisp,
4565 not as an Emacs implementation of true Common Lisp. Some of the
4566 remaining differences between Emacs Lisp and Common Lisp make it
4567 difficult to port large Common Lisp applications to Emacs. For
4568 one, some of the features in this package are not fully compliant
4569 with ANSI or Steele; @pxref{Common Lisp Compatibility}. But there
4570 are also quite a few features that this package does not provide
4571 at all. Here are some major omissions that you will want to watch out
4572 for when bringing Common Lisp code into Emacs.
4576 Case-insensitivity. Symbols in Common Lisp are case-insensitive
4577 by default. Some programs refer to a function or variable as
4578 @code{foo} in one place and @code{Foo} or @code{FOO} in another.
4579 Emacs Lisp will treat these as three distinct symbols.
4581 Some Common Lisp code is written entirely in upper case. While Emacs
4582 is happy to let the program's own functions and variables use
4583 this convention, calls to Lisp builtins like @code{if} and
4584 @code{defun} will have to be changed to lower case.
4587 Lexical scoping. In Common Lisp, function arguments and @code{let}
4588 bindings apply only to references physically within their bodies (or
4589 within macro expansions in their bodies). Traditionally, Emacs Lisp
4590 uses @dfn{dynamic scoping} wherein a binding to a variable is visible
4591 even inside functions called from the body.
4592 @xref{Dynamic Binding,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
4593 Lexical binding is available since Emacs 24.1, so be sure to set
4594 @code{lexical-binding} to @code{t} if you need to emulate this aspect
4595 of Common Lisp. @xref{Lexical Binding,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
4597 Here is an example of a Common Lisp code fragment that would fail in
4598 Emacs Lisp if @code{lexical-binding} were set to @code{nil}:
4601 (defun map-odd-elements (func list)
4603 for flag = t then (not flag)
4604 collect (if flag x (funcall func x))))
4606 (defun add-odd-elements (list x)
4607 (map-odd-elements (lambda (a) (+ a x)) list))
4611 With lexical binding, the two functions' usages of @code{x} are
4612 completely independent. With dynamic binding, the binding to @code{x}
4613 made by @code{add-odd-elements} will have been hidden by the binding
4614 in @code{map-odd-elements} by the time the @code{(+ a x)} function is
4617 Internally, this package uses lexical binding so that such problems do
4618 not occur. @xref{Obsolete Lexical Binding}, for a description of the obsolete
4619 @code{lexical-let} form that emulates a Common Lisp-style lexical
4620 binding when dynamic binding is in use.
4623 Reader macros. Common Lisp includes a second type of macro that
4624 works at the level of individual characters. For example, Common
4625 Lisp implements the quote notation by a reader macro called @code{'},
4626 whereas Emacs Lisp's parser just treats quote as a special case.
4627 Some Lisp packages use reader macros to create special syntaxes
4628 for themselves, which the Emacs parser is incapable of reading.
4631 Other syntactic features. Common Lisp provides a number of
4632 notations beginning with @code{#} that the Emacs Lisp parser
4633 won't understand. For example, @samp{#| @dots{} |#} is an
4634 alternate comment notation, and @samp{#+lucid (foo)} tells
4635 the parser to ignore the @code{(foo)} except in Lucid Common
4639 Packages. In Common Lisp, symbols are divided into @dfn{packages}.
4640 Symbols that are Lisp built-ins are typically stored in one package;
4641 symbols that are vendor extensions are put in another, and each
4642 application program would have a package for its own symbols.
4643 Certain symbols are ``exported'' by a package and others are
4644 internal; certain packages ``use'' or import the exported symbols
4645 of other packages. To access symbols that would not normally be
4646 visible due to this importing and exporting, Common Lisp provides
4647 a syntax like @code{package:symbol} or @code{package::symbol}.
4649 Emacs Lisp has a single namespace for all interned symbols, and
4650 then uses a naming convention of putting a prefix like @code{cl-}
4651 in front of the name. Some Emacs packages adopt the Common Lisp-like
4652 convention of using @code{cl:} or @code{cl::} as the prefix.
4653 However, the Emacs parser does not understand colons and just
4654 treats them as part of the symbol name. Thus, while @code{mapcar}
4655 and @code{lisp:mapcar} may refer to the same symbol in Common
4656 Lisp, they are totally distinct in Emacs Lisp. Common Lisp
4657 programs that refer to a symbol by the full name sometimes
4658 and the short name other times will not port cleanly to Emacs.
4660 Emacs Lisp does have a concept of ``obarrays'', which are
4661 package-like collections of symbols, but this feature is not
4662 strong enough to be used as a true package mechanism.
4665 The @code{format} function is quite different between Common
4666 Lisp and Emacs Lisp. It takes an additional ``destination''
4667 argument before the format string. A destination of @code{nil}
4668 means to format to a string as in Emacs Lisp; a destination
4669 of @code{t} means to write to the terminal (similar to
4670 @code{message} in Emacs). Also, format control strings are
4671 utterly different; @code{~} is used instead of @code{%} to
4672 introduce format codes, and the set of available codes is
4673 much richer. There are no notations like @code{\n} for
4674 string literals; instead, @code{format} is used with the
4675 ``newline'' format code, @code{~%}. More advanced formatting
4676 codes provide such features as paragraph filling, case
4677 conversion, and even loops and conditionals.
4679 While it would have been possible to implement most of Common
4680 Lisp @code{format} in this package (under the name @code{cl-format},
4681 of course), it was not deemed worthwhile. It would have required
4682 a huge amount of code to implement even a decent subset of
4683 @code{format}, yet the functionality it would provide over
4684 Emacs Lisp's @code{format} would rarely be useful.
4687 Vector constants use square brackets in Emacs Lisp, but
4688 @code{#(a b c)} notation in Common Lisp. To further complicate
4689 matters, Emacs has its own @code{#(} notation for
4690 something entirely different---strings with properties.
4693 Characters are distinct from integers in Common Lisp. The notation
4694 for character constants is also different: @code{#\A} in Common Lisp
4695 where Emacs Lisp uses @code{?A}. Also, @code{string=} and
4696 @code{string-equal} are synonyms in Emacs Lisp, whereas the latter is
4697 case-insensitive in Common Lisp.
4700 Data types. Some Common Lisp data types do not exist in Emacs
4701 Lisp. Rational numbers and complex numbers are not present,
4702 nor are large integers (all integers are ``fixnums''). All
4703 arrays are one-dimensional. There are no readtables or pathnames;
4704 streams are a set of existing data types rather than a new data
4705 type of their own. Hash tables, random-states, structures, and
4706 packages (obarrays) are built from Lisp vectors or lists rather
4707 than being distinct types.
4710 The Common Lisp Object System (CLOS) is not implemented,
4711 nor is the Common Lisp Condition System. However, the EIEIO package
4712 (@pxref{Top, , Introduction, eieio, EIEIO}) does implement some
4716 Common Lisp features that are completely redundant with Emacs
4717 Lisp features of a different name generally have not been
4718 implemented. For example, Common Lisp writes @code{defconstant}
4719 where Emacs Lisp uses @code{defconst}. Similarly, @code{make-list}
4720 takes its arguments in different ways in the two Lisps but does
4721 exactly the same thing, so this package has not bothered to
4722 implement a Common Lisp-style @code{make-list}.
4725 A few more notable Common Lisp features not included in this package:
4726 @code{compiler-let}, @code{prog}, @code{ldb/dpb}, @code{cerror}.
4729 Recursion. While recursion works in Emacs Lisp just like it
4730 does in Common Lisp, various details of the Emacs Lisp system
4731 and compiler make recursion much less efficient than it is in
4732 most Lisps. Some schools of thought prefer to use recursion
4733 in Lisp over other techniques; they would sum a list of
4734 numbers using something like
4737 (defun sum-list (list)
4739 (+ (car list) (sum-list (cdr list)))
4744 where a more iteratively-minded programmer might write one of
4748 (let ((total 0)) (dolist (x my-list) (incf total x)) total)
4749 (loop for x in my-list sum x)
4752 While this would be mainly a stylistic choice in most Common Lisps,
4753 in Emacs Lisp you should be aware that the iterative forms are
4754 much faster than recursion. Also, Lisp programmers will want to
4755 note that the current Emacs Lisp compiler does not optimize tail
4759 @node Obsolete Features
4760 @appendix Obsolete Features
4762 This section describes some features of the package that are obsolete
4763 and should not be used in new code. They are either only provided by
4764 the old @file{cl.el} entry point, not by the newer @file{cl-lib.el};
4765 or where versions with a @samp{cl-} prefix do exist they do not behave
4766 in exactly the same way.
4769 * Obsolete Lexical Binding:: An approximation of lexical binding.
4770 * Obsolete Macros:: Obsolete macros.
4771 * Obsolete Setf Customization:: Obsolete ways to customize setf.
4774 @node Obsolete Lexical Binding
4775 @appendixsec Obsolete Lexical Binding
4777 The following macros are extensions to Common Lisp, where all bindings
4778 are lexical unless declared otherwise. These features are likewise
4779 obsolete since the introduction of true lexical binding in Emacs 24.1.
4781 @defmac lexical-let (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
4782 This form is exactly like @code{let} except that the bindings it
4783 establishes are purely lexical.
4786 @c FIXME remove this and refer to elisp manual.
4787 @c Maybe merge some stuff from here to there?
4789 Lexical bindings are similar to local variables in a language like C:
4790 Only the code physically within the body of the @code{lexical-let}
4791 (after macro expansion) may refer to the bound variables.
4795 (defun foo (b) (+ a b))
4796 (let ((a 2)) (foo a))
4798 (lexical-let ((a 2)) (foo a))
4803 In this example, a regular @code{let} binding of @code{a} actually
4804 makes a temporary change to the global variable @code{a}, so @code{foo}
4805 is able to see the binding of @code{a} to 2. But @code{lexical-let}
4806 actually creates a distinct local variable @code{a} for use within its
4807 body, without any effect on the global variable of the same name.
4809 The most important use of lexical bindings is to create @dfn{closures}.
4810 A closure is a function object that refers to an outside lexical
4811 variable (@pxref{Closures,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}).
4815 (defun make-adder (n)
4816 (lexical-let ((n n))
4817 (function (lambda (m) (+ n m)))))
4818 (setq add17 (make-adder 17))
4824 The call @code{(make-adder 17)} returns a function object which adds
4825 17 to its argument. If @code{let} had been used instead of
4826 @code{lexical-let}, the function object would have referred to the
4827 global @code{n}, which would have been bound to 17 only during the
4828 call to @code{make-adder} itself.
4831 (defun make-counter ()
4832 (lexical-let ((n 0))
4833 (cl-function (lambda (&optional (m 1)) (cl-incf n m)))))
4834 (setq count-1 (make-counter))
4837 (funcall count-1 14)
4839 (setq count-2 (make-counter))
4849 Here we see that each call to @code{make-counter} creates a distinct
4850 local variable @code{n}, which serves as a private counter for the
4851 function object that is returned.
4853 Closed-over lexical variables persist until the last reference to
4854 them goes away, just like all other Lisp objects. For example,
4855 @code{count-2} refers to a function object which refers to an
4856 instance of the variable @code{n}; this is the only reference
4857 to that variable, so after @code{(setq count-2 nil)} the garbage
4858 collector would be able to delete this instance of @code{n}.
4859 Of course, if a @code{lexical-let} does not actually create any
4860 closures, then the lexical variables are free as soon as the
4861 @code{lexical-let} returns.
4863 Many closures are used only during the extent of the bindings they
4864 refer to; these are known as ``downward funargs'' in Lisp parlance.
4865 When a closure is used in this way, regular Emacs Lisp dynamic
4866 bindings suffice and will be more efficient than @code{lexical-let}
4870 (defun add-to-list (x list)
4871 (mapcar (lambda (y) (+ x y))) list)
4872 (add-to-list 7 '(1 2 5))
4877 Since this lambda is only used while @code{x} is still bound,
4878 it is not necessary to make a true closure out of it.
4880 You can use @code{defun} or @code{flet} inside a @code{lexical-let}
4881 to create a named closure. If several closures are created in the
4882 body of a single @code{lexical-let}, they all close over the same
4883 instance of the lexical variable.
4885 @defmac lexical-let* (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
4886 This form is just like @code{lexical-let}, except that the bindings
4887 are made sequentially in the manner of @code{let*}.
4890 @node Obsolete Macros
4891 @appendixsec Obsolete Macros
4893 The following macros are obsolete, and are replaced by versions with
4894 a @samp{cl-} prefix that do not behave in exactly the same way.
4895 Consequently, the @file{cl.el} versions are not simply aliases to the
4896 @file{cl-lib.el} versions.
4898 @defmac flet (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
4899 This macro is replaced by @code{cl-flet} (@pxref{Function Bindings}),
4900 which behaves the same way as Common Lisp's @code{flet}.
4901 This @code{flet} takes the same arguments as @code{cl-flet}, but does
4902 not behave in precisely the same way.
4904 While @code{flet} in Common Lisp establishes a lexical function
4905 binding, this @code{flet} makes a dynamic binding (it dates from a
4906 time before Emacs had lexical binding). The result is
4907 that @code{flet} affects indirect calls to a function as well as calls
4908 directly inside the @code{flet} form itself.
4910 This will even work on Emacs primitives, although note that some calls
4911 to primitive functions internal to Emacs are made without going
4912 through the symbol's function cell, and so will not be affected by
4913 @code{flet}. For example,
4916 (flet ((message (&rest args) (push args saved-msgs)))
4920 This code attempts to replace the built-in function @code{message}
4921 with a function that simply saves the messages in a list rather
4922 than displaying them. The original definition of @code{message}
4923 will be restored after @code{do-something} exits. This code will
4924 work fine on messages generated by other Lisp code, but messages
4925 generated directly inside Emacs will not be caught since they make
4926 direct C-language calls to the message routines rather than going
4927 through the Lisp @code{message} function.
4929 For those cases where the dynamic scoping of @code{flet} is desired,
4930 @code{cl-flet} is clearly not a substitute. The most direct replacement would
4931 be instead to use @code{cl-letf} to temporarily rebind @code{(symbol-function
4932 '@var{fun})}. But in most cases, a better substitute is to use advice, such
4936 (defvar my-fun-advice-enable nil)
4937 (add-advice '@var{fun} :around
4938 (lambda (orig &rest args)
4939 (if my-fun-advice-enable (do-something)
4940 (apply orig args))))
4943 so that you can then replace the @code{flet} with a simple dynamically scoped
4944 binding of @code{my-fun-advice-enable}.
4947 Note that many primitives (e.g., @code{+}) have special byte-compile handling.
4948 Attempts to redefine such functions using @code{flet}, @code{cl-letf}, or
4949 advice will fail when byte-compiled.
4951 @c In such cases, use @code{labels} instead.
4954 @defmac labels (bindings@dots{}) forms@dots{}
4955 This macro is replaced by @code{cl-labels} (@pxref{Function Bindings}),
4956 which behaves the same way as Common Lisp's @code{labels}.
4957 This @code{labels} takes the same arguments as @code{cl-labels}, but
4958 does not behave in precisely the same way.
4960 This version of @code{labels} uses the obsolete @code{lexical-let}
4961 form (@pxref{Obsolete Lexical Binding}), rather than the true
4962 lexical binding that @code{cl-labels} uses.
4965 @node Obsolete Setf Customization
4966 @appendixsec Obsolete Ways to Customize Setf
4968 Common Lisp defines three macros, @code{define-modify-macro},
4969 @code{defsetf}, and @code{define-setf-method}, that allow the
4970 user to extend generalized variables in various ways.
4971 In Emacs, these are obsolete, replaced by various features of
4972 @file{gv.el} in Emacs 24.3.
4973 @xref{Adding Generalized Variables,,,elisp,GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
4976 @defmac define-modify-macro name arglist function [doc-string]
4977 This macro defines a ``read-modify-write'' macro similar to
4978 @code{cl-incf} and @code{cl-decf}. You can replace this macro
4979 with @code{gv-letplace}.
4981 The macro @var{name} is defined to take a @var{place} argument
4982 followed by additional arguments described by @var{arglist}. The call
4985 (@var{name} @var{place} @var{args}@dots{})
4992 (cl-callf @var{func} @var{place} @var{args}@dots{})
4996 which in turn is roughly equivalent to
4999 (setf @var{place} (@var{func} @var{place} @var{args}@dots{}))
5005 (define-modify-macro incf (&optional (n 1)) +)
5006 (define-modify-macro concatf (&rest args) concat)
5009 Note that @code{&key} is not allowed in @var{arglist}, but
5010 @code{&rest} is sufficient to pass keywords on to the function.
5012 Most of the modify macros defined by Common Lisp do not exactly
5013 follow the pattern of @code{define-modify-macro}. For example,
5014 @code{push} takes its arguments in the wrong order, and @code{pop}
5015 is completely irregular.
5017 The above @code{incf} example could be written using
5018 @code{gv-letplace} as:
5020 (defmacro incf (place &optional n)
5021 (gv-letplace (getter setter) place
5022 (macroexp-let2 nil v (or n 1)
5023 (funcall setter `(+ ,v ,getter)))))
5026 (defmacro concatf (place &rest args)
5027 (gv-letplace (getter setter) place
5028 (macroexp-let2 nil v (mapconcat 'identity args "")
5029 (funcall setter `(concat ,getter ,v)))))
5033 @defmac defsetf access-fn update-fn
5034 This is the simpler of two @code{defsetf} forms, and is
5035 replaced by @code{gv-define-simple-setter}.
5037 With @var{access-fn} the name of a function that accesses a place,
5038 this declares @var{update-fn} to be the corresponding store function.
5042 (setf (@var{access-fn} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @var{arg3}) @var{value})
5049 (@var{update-fn} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @var{arg3} @var{value})
5053 The @var{update-fn} is required to be either a true function, or
5054 a macro that evaluates its arguments in a function-like way. Also,
5055 the @var{update-fn} is expected to return @var{value} as its result.
5056 Otherwise, the above expansion would not obey the rules for the way
5057 @code{setf} is supposed to behave.
5059 As a special (non-Common-Lisp) extension, a third argument of @code{t}
5060 to @code{defsetf} says that the return value of @code{update-fn} is
5061 not suitable, so that the above @code{setf} should be expanded to
5065 (let ((temp @var{value}))
5066 (@var{update-fn} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @var{arg3} temp)
5073 (defsetf car setcar)
5074 (defsetf buffer-name rename-buffer t)
5077 These translate directly to @code{gv-define-simple-setter}:
5080 (gv-define-simple-setter car setcar)
5081 (gv-define-simple-setter buffer-name rename-buffer t)
5085 @defmac defsetf access-fn arglist (store-var) forms@dots{}
5086 This is the second, more complex, form of @code{defsetf}.
5087 It can be replaced by @code{gv-define-setter}.
5089 This form of @code{defsetf} is rather like @code{defmacro} except for
5090 the additional @var{store-var} argument. The @var{forms} should
5091 return a Lisp form that stores the value of @var{store-var} into the
5092 generalized variable formed by a call to @var{access-fn} with
5093 arguments described by @var{arglist}. The @var{forms} may begin with
5094 a string which documents the @code{setf} method (analogous to the doc
5095 string that appears at the front of a function).
5097 For example, the simple form of @code{defsetf} is shorthand for
5100 (defsetf @var{access-fn} (&rest args) (store)
5101 (append '(@var{update-fn}) args (list store)))
5104 The Lisp form that is returned can access the arguments from
5105 @var{arglist} and @var{store-var} in an unrestricted fashion;
5106 macros like @code{cl-incf} that invoke this
5107 setf-method will insert temporary variables as needed to make
5108 sure the apparent order of evaluation is preserved.
5110 Another standard example:
5113 (defsetf nth (n x) (store)
5114 `(setcar (nthcdr ,n ,x) ,store))
5117 You could write this using @code{gv-define-setter} as:
5120 (gv-define-setter nth (store n x)
5121 `(setcar (nthcdr ,n ,x) ,store))
5125 @defmac define-setf-method access-fn arglist forms@dots{}
5126 This is the most general way to create new place forms. You can
5127 replace this by @code{gv-define-setter} or @code{gv-define-expander}.
5129 When a @code{setf} to @var{access-fn} with arguments described by
5130 @var{arglist} is expanded, the @var{forms} are evaluated and must
5131 return a list of five items:
5135 A list of @dfn{temporary variables}.
5138 A list of @dfn{value forms} corresponding to the temporary variables
5139 above. The temporary variables will be bound to these value forms
5140 as the first step of any operation on the generalized variable.
5143 A list of exactly one @dfn{store variable} (generally obtained
5144 from a call to @code{gensym}).
5147 A Lisp form that stores the contents of the store variable into
5148 the generalized variable, assuming the temporaries have been
5149 bound as described above.
5152 A Lisp form that accesses the contents of the generalized variable,
5153 assuming the temporaries have been bound.
5156 This is exactly like the Common Lisp macro of the same name,
5157 except that the method returns a list of five values rather
5158 than the five values themselves, since Emacs Lisp does not
5159 support Common Lisp's notion of multiple return values.
5160 (Note that the @code{setf} implementation provided by @file{gv.el}
5161 does not use this five item format. Its use here is only for
5162 backwards compatibility.)
5164 Once again, the @var{forms} may begin with a documentation string.
5166 A setf-method should be maximally conservative with regard to
5167 temporary variables. In the setf-methods generated by
5168 @code{defsetf}, the second return value is simply the list of
5169 arguments in the place form, and the first return value is a
5170 list of a corresponding number of temporary variables generated
5171 @c FIXME I don't think this is true anymore.
5172 by @code{cl-gensym}. Macros like @code{cl-incf} that
5173 use this setf-method will optimize away most temporaries that
5174 turn out to be unnecessary, so there is little reason for the
5175 setf-method itself to optimize.
5178 @c Removed in Emacs 24.3, not possible to make a compatible replacement.
5180 @defun get-setf-method place &optional env
5181 This function returns the setf-method for @var{place}, by
5182 invoking the definition previously recorded by @code{defsetf}
5183 or @code{define-setf-method}. The result is a list of five
5184 values as described above. You can use this function to build
5185 your own @code{cl-incf}-like modify macros.
5187 The argument @var{env} specifies the ``environment'' to be
5188 passed on to @code{macroexpand} if @code{get-setf-method} should
5189 need to expand a macro in @var{place}. It should come from
5190 an @code{&environment} argument to the macro or setf-method
5191 that called @code{get-setf-method}.
5196 @node GNU Free Documentation License
5197 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
5198 @include doclicense.texi
5200 @node Function Index
5201 @unnumbered Function Index
5205 @node Variable Index
5206 @unnumbered Variable Index