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Meta-Predicates in Modules

As indicated in the introduction, the problem with a predicate based module system lies in the difficulty to find the correct predicate from a Prolog term. The predicate `solution(Solution)' can exist in more than one module, but `assert(solution(4))' in some module is supposed to refer to the correct version of solution/1.

Various approaches are possible to solve this problem. One is to add an extra argument to all predicates (e.g. `assert(Module, Term)'). Another is to tag the term somehow to indicate which module is desired (e.g. `assert(Module:Term)'). Both approaches are not very attractive as they make the user responsible for chosing the correct module, inviting unclear programming by asserting in other modules. The predicate assert/1 is supposed to assert in the module it is called from and should do so without being told explicitely. For this reason, the notion context module has been introduced.





Passani Luca
Tue Nov 14 08:58:33 MET 1995