src/Doc/Implementation/Syntax.thy

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theory Syntax
imports Base
begin

chapter {* Concrete syntax and type-checking *}

text {* Pure @{text "\<lambda>"}-calculus as introduced in \chref{ch:logic} is
  an adequate foundation for logical languages --- in the tradition of
  \emph{higher-order abstract syntax} --- but end-users require
  additional means for reading and printing of terms and types.  This
  important add-on outside the logical core is called \emph{inner
  syntax} in Isabelle jargon, as opposed to the \emph{outer syntax} of
  the theory and proof language \cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.

  For example, according to \cite{church40} quantifiers are represented as
  higher-order constants @{text "All :: ('a \<Rightarrow> bool) \<Rightarrow> bool"} such that @{text
  "All (\<lambda>x::'a. B x)"} faithfully represents the idea that is displayed in
  Isabelle as @{text "\<forall>x::'a. B x"} via @{keyword "binder"} notation.
  Moreover, type-inference in the style of Hindley-Milner \cite{hindleymilner}
  (and extensions) enables users to write @{text "\<forall>x. B x"} concisely, when
  the type @{text "'a"} is already clear from the
  context.\footnote{Type-inference taken to the extreme can easily confuse
  users. Beginners often stumble over unexpectedly general types inferred by
  the system.}

  \medskip The main inner syntax operations are \emph{read} for
  parsing together with type-checking, and \emph{pretty} for formatted
  output.  See also \secref{sec:read-print}.

  Furthermore, the input and output syntax layers are sub-divided into
  separate phases for \emph{concrete syntax} versus \emph{abstract
  syntax}, see also \secref{sec:parse-unparse} and
  \secref{sec:term-check}, respectively.  This results in the
  following decomposition of the main operations:

  \begin{itemize}

  \item @{text "read = parse; check"}

  \item @{text "pretty = uncheck; unparse"}

  \end{itemize}

  For example, some specification package might thus intercept syntax
  processing at a well-defined stage after @{text "parse"}, to a augment the
  resulting pre-term before full type-reconstruction is performed by @{text
  "check"}. Note that the formal status of bound variables, versus free
  variables, versus constants must not be changed between these phases.

  \medskip In general, @{text check} and @{text uncheck} operate
  simultaneously on a list of terms. This is particular important for
  type-checking, to reconstruct types for several terms of the same context
  and scope. In contrast, @{text parse} and @{text unparse} operate separately
  on single terms.

  There are analogous operations to read and print types, with the same
  sub-division into phases.
*}


section {* Reading and pretty printing \label{sec:read-print} *}

text {*
  Read and print operations are roughly dual to each other, such that for the
  user @{text "s' = pretty (read s)"} looks similar to the original source
  text @{text "s"}, but the details depend on many side-conditions. There are
  also explicit options to control the removal of type information in the
  output. The default configuration routinely looses information, so @{text
  "t' = read (pretty t)"} might fail, or produce a differently typed term, or
  a completely different term in the face of syntactic overloading.
*}

text %mlref {*
  \begin{mldecls}
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_typs: "Proof.context -> string list -> typ list"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_terms: "Proof.context -> string list -> term list"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_props: "Proof.context -> string list -> term list"} \\[0.5ex]
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_typ: "Proof.context -> string -> typ"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_term: "Proof.context -> string -> term"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.read_prop: "Proof.context -> string -> term"} \\[0.5ex]
  @{index_ML Syntax.pretty_typ: "Proof.context -> typ -> Pretty.T"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.pretty_term: "Proof.context -> term -> Pretty.T"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.string_of_typ: "Proof.context -> typ -> string"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.string_of_term: "Proof.context -> term -> string"} \\
  \end{mldecls}

  \begin{description}

  \item @{ML Syntax.read_typs}~@{text "ctxt strs"} parses and checks a
  simultaneous list of source strings as types of the logic.

  \item @{ML Syntax.read_terms}~@{text "ctxt strs"} parses and checks a
  simultaneous list of source strings as terms of the logic.
  Type-reconstruction puts all parsed terms into the same scope: types of
  free variables ultimately need to coincide.

  If particular type-constraints are required for some of the arguments, the
  read operations needs to be split into its parse and check phases. Then it
  is possible to use @{ML Type.constraint} on the intermediate pre-terms
  (\secref{sec:term-check}).

  \item @{ML Syntax.read_props}~@{text "ctxt strs"} parses and checks a
  simultaneous list of source strings as terms of the logic, with an implicit
  type-constraint for each argument to enforce type @{typ prop}; this also
  affects the inner syntax for parsing. The remaining type-reconstruction
  works as for @{ML Syntax.read_terms}.

  \item @{ML Syntax.read_typ}, @{ML Syntax.read_term}, @{ML Syntax.read_prop}
  are like the simultaneous versions, but operate on a single argument only.
  This convenient shorthand is adequate in situations where a single item in
  its own scope is processed. Do not use @{ML "map o Syntax.read_term"} where
  @{ML Syntax.read_terms} is actually intended!

  \item @{ML Syntax.pretty_typ}~@{text "ctxt T"} and @{ML
  Syntax.pretty_term}~@{text "ctxt t"} uncheck and pretty-print the given type
  or term, respectively. Although the uncheck phase acts on a simultaneous
  list as well, this is rarely used in practice, so only the singleton case is
  provided as combined pretty operation. There is no distinction of term vs.\
  proposition.

  \item @{ML Syntax.string_of_typ} and @{ML Syntax.string_of_term} are
  convenient compositions of @{ML Syntax.pretty_typ} and @{ML
  Syntax.pretty_term} with @{ML Pretty.string_of} for output. The result may
  be concatenated with other strings, as long as there is no further
  formatting and line-breaking involved.

  \end{description}

  @{ML Syntax.read_term}, @{ML Syntax.read_prop}, and @{ML
  Syntax.string_of_term} are the most important operations in practice.

  \medskip Note that the string values that are passed in and out are
  annotated by the system, to carry further markup that is relevant for the
  Prover IDE \cite{isabelle-jedit}. User code should neither compose its own
  input strings, nor try to analyze the output strings. Conceptually this is
  an abstract datatype, encoded as concrete string for historical reasons.

  The standard way to provide the required position markup for input works via
  the outer syntax parser wrapper @{ML Parse.inner_syntax}, which is already
  part of @{ML Parse.typ}, @{ML Parse.term}, @{ML Parse.prop}. So a string
  obtained from one of the latter may be directly passed to the corresponding
  read operation: this yields PIDE markup of the input and precise positions
  for warning and error messages.
*}


section {* Parsing and unparsing \label{sec:parse-unparse} *}

text {*
  Parsing and unparsing converts between actual source text and a certain
  \emph{pre-term} format, where all bindings and scopes are already resolved
  faithfully. Thus the names of free variables or constants are determined in
  the sense of the logical context, but type information might be still
  missing. Pre-terms support an explicit language of \emph{type constraints}
  that may be augmented by user code to guide the later \emph{check} phase.

  Actual parsing is based on traditional lexical analysis and Earley parsing
  for arbitrary context-free grammars. The user can specify the grammar
  declaratively via mixfix annotations. Moreover, there are \emph{syntax
  translations} that can be augmented by the user, either declaratively via
  @{command translations} or programmatically via @{command
  parse_translation}, @{command print_translation} \cite{isabelle-isar-ref}.
  The final scope-resolution is performed by the system, according to name
  spaces for types, term variables and constants determined by the context.
*}

text %mlref {*
  \begin{mldecls}
  @{index_ML Syntax.parse_typ: "Proof.context -> string -> typ"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.parse_term: "Proof.context -> string -> term"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.parse_prop: "Proof.context -> string -> term"} \\[0.5ex]
  @{index_ML Syntax.unparse_typ: "Proof.context -> typ -> Pretty.T"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.unparse_term: "Proof.context -> term -> Pretty.T"} \\
  \end{mldecls}

  \begin{description}

  \item @{ML Syntax.parse_typ}~@{text "ctxt str"} parses a source string as
  pre-type that is ready to be used with subsequent check operations.

  \item @{ML Syntax.parse_term}~@{text "ctxt str"} parses a source string as
  pre-term that is ready to be used with subsequent check operations.

  \item @{ML Syntax.parse_prop}~@{text "ctxt str"} parses a source string as
  pre-term that is ready to be used with subsequent check operations. The
  inner syntax category is @{typ prop} and a suitable type-constraint is
  included to ensure that this information is observed in subsequent type
  reconstruction.

  \item @{ML Syntax.unparse_typ}~@{text "ctxt T"} unparses a type after
  uncheck operations, to turn it into a pretty tree.

  \item @{ML Syntax.unparse_term}~@{text "ctxt T"} unparses a term after
  uncheck operations, to turn it into a pretty tree. There is no distinction
  for propositions here.

  \end{description}

  These operations always operate on a single item; use the combinator @{ML
  map} to apply them to a list.
*}


section {* Checking and unchecking \label{sec:term-check} *}

text {* These operations define the transition from pre-terms and
  fully-annotated terms in the sense of the logical core
  (\chref{ch:logic}).

  The \emph{check} phase is meant to subsume a variety of mechanisms
  in the manner of ``type-inference'' or ``type-reconstruction'' or
  ``type-improvement'', not just type-checking in the narrow sense.
  The \emph{uncheck} phase is roughly dual, it prunes type-information
  before pretty printing.

  A typical add-on for the check/uncheck syntax layer is the @{command
  abbreviation} mechanism \cite{isabelle-isar-ref}. Here the user specifies
  syntactic definitions that are managed by the system as polymorphic @{text
  "let"} bindings. These are expanded during the @{text "check"} phase, and
  contracted during the @{text "uncheck"} phase, without affecting the
  type-assignment of the given terms.

  \medskip The precise meaning of type checking depends on the context ---
  additional check/uncheck modules might be defined in user space.

  For example, the @{command class} command defines a context where
  @{text "check"} treats certain type instances of overloaded
  constants according to the ``dictionary construction'' of its
  logical foundation.  This involves ``type improvement''
  (specialization of slightly too general types) and replacement by
  certain locale parameters.  See also \cite{Haftmann-Wenzel:2009}.
*}

text %mlref {*
  \begin{mldecls}
  @{index_ML Syntax.check_typs: "Proof.context -> typ list -> typ list"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.check_terms: "Proof.context -> term list -> term list"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.check_props: "Proof.context -> term list -> term list"} \\[0.5ex]
  @{index_ML Syntax.uncheck_typs: "Proof.context -> typ list -> typ list"} \\
  @{index_ML Syntax.uncheck_terms: "Proof.context -> term list -> term list"} \\
  \end{mldecls}

  \begin{description}

  \item @{ML Syntax.check_typs}~@{text "ctxt Ts"} checks a simultaneous list
  of pre-types as types of the logic.  Typically, this involves normalization
  of type synonyms.

  \item @{ML Syntax.check_terms}~@{text "ctxt ts"} checks a simultaneous list
  of pre-terms as terms of the logic. Typically, this involves type-inference
  and normalization term abbreviations. The types within the given terms are
  treated in the same way as for @{ML Syntax.check_typs}.

  Applications sometimes need to check several types and terms together. The
  standard approach uses @{ML Logic.mk_type} to embed the language of types
  into that of terms; all arguments are appended into one list of terms that
  is checked; afterwards the type arguments are recovered with @{ML
  Logic.dest_type}.

  \item @{ML Syntax.check_props}~@{text "ctxt ts"} checks a simultaneous list
  of pre-terms as terms of the logic, such that all terms are constrained by
  type @{typ prop}. The remaining check operation works as @{ML
  Syntax.check_terms} above.

  \item @{ML Syntax.uncheck_typs}~@{text "ctxt Ts"} unchecks a simultaneous
  list of types of the logic, in preparation of pretty printing.

  \item @{ML Syntax.uncheck_terms}~@{text "ctxt ts"} unchecks a simultaneous
  list of terms of the logic, in preparation of pretty printing. There is no
  distinction for propositions here.

  \end{description}

  These operations always operate simultaneously on a list; use the combinator
  @{ML singleton} to apply them to a single item.
*}

end