Re: [Chicken-users] Redefining a macro in terms of its earlier definition

[Peter Bex]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 12:14:54PM +0000, Tony Sidaway wrote:
> Suppose I have a macro, mac.
> 
> I want to modify the expansion to expand to something along these lines:
> 
> (if condition new-code old-mac)
> 
> where old-mac would be an expansion of the old macro mac with exactly
> the same arguments.  This would enable macros to be extended in a way
> that is compatible with their earlier definitions, without duplicating
> the original expansion explicitly.
> 
> Now
> 
>   (define-syntax (mac x r c)
>     (let (      (%if (r 'if))
>                 (%printf (r 'printf)
>         (%string? (r 'string?)))
>       `(,%if (,%string? ,(cadr x))
>          (,%printf "mactest2 ~s~%" ,(cadr x))
>          ,(mac (cadr x)))))
> 
> However this doesn't work because as well as expanding the old version
> of the macro it also executes it.

What you want is to test the string at macro expansion time and either
expand to the new definition or an application of the old macro:

   (define-syntax (mac x r c)
     (let (      (%if (r 'if))
                 (%printf (r 'printf))
                 (%old-mac (r 'old-mac)))
          (%string? (r 'string?)))
       (if (string? (cadr x))
           `(,%printf "mactest2 ~s~%" ,(cadr x))
           `(,%old-mac ,(cadr x)))))

I think you need to import the old macro under a different name,
otherwise you would indeed be calling yourself.  So the file in which
the above macro is located would contain something like:

   (import (rename macro-supplying-module (mac old-mac)))

I haven't tested any of the above.  Unfortunately, I haven't proved
it correct either ;)

Cheers,
Peter
-- 
http://sjamaan.ath.cx
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