Re: [Caml-list] Re: Why can't I call a function over a subclass?

[Edgar Friendly <thelema314@gmail.com>]

Luca de Alfaro wrote:
> Yes, here is some code.  Any help would be very much appreciated.
> The following fails to type check:
> 
> class p (x: int) = object
>   method plus1 : int = x + 1
> end
> 
> class p2 (x: int) = object
>   inherit p x
>   method plus2 : int = x + 2
> end
> 
> class r = object (self)
>   val mutable l = []
>   method make_el x = new p x
>   method add (x: int) : unit = l <- (self#make_el x) :: l
>   method length : int = List.length l
>   method total : int = List.fold_left (fun t el -> t + el#plus1) 0 l
> end
> 
> class r2 = object
>   inherit r
>   method make_el x = new p2 x
>   method total2 : int = List.fold_left (fun t el -> t + el#plus2) 0 l
> end
> 
if I manually perform the inherit operation by pasting the code from r1
into r2, I get:

class r2 = object (self)
  val mutable l = []
  method make_el x = new p2 x
  method add (x: int) : unit = l <- (self#make_el x) :: l
  method length : int = List.length l
  method total2 : int = List.fold_left (fun t el -> t + el#plus2) 0 l
end

which compiles just fine, and probably works as intended.  If I include
the original method make_el above the new one like this:
  method make_el x = new p x
  method make_el x = new p2 x
Ignoring the warning about overriding methods within the same class, we
come to the root of the type problem: make_el must have a type.  After
inference completes on the first line, make_el's type is determined to
be p.  The second make_el's type must match, but it doesn't.  I don't
see a solution for your problem that doesn't involve this kind of manual
expansion and removal of duplicate methods, but I'm fairly sure this is
the real problem for you.

E.