We have this assignment for our Prolog course. After two months of one hour per week of Prolog, it is still an enigma to me, my thinking seems unable to adapt from procedural languages - yet.
There is a knowledge base containing predicates/functors with the same name and arities 1, 2 and 3.
The call form should be
search(functor_name, argument, S).
The answers should find all occurrences with this functor name and argument, regardless of arity.
The answers should be of the form:
S = functor_name(argument);
S = functor_name(argument,_);
S = functor_name(_,argument);
S = functor_name(argument,_,_);
S = functor_name(_,argument,_);
S = functor_name(_,_,argument);
false.
I have found out that I could use call to test if the entry in the knowledge base exists.
But call does not seem to work with a variable for the functor name. I am totally baffled, no idea how to use a variable for a functor name.
UPDATE:
My question has been partly answered.
My new code gives me true and false for arities 1, 2 and 3 (see below).
search(Person,Predicate) :-
ID = Person, Key = Predicate, current_functor(Key,1),
call(Key,ID)
; ID = Person, Key = Predicate, current_functor(Key,2),
(call(Key,ID,_);call(Key,_,ID))
; ID = Person, Key = Predicate, current_functor(Key,3),
(call(Key,ID,_,_);call(Key,_,ID,_);call(Key,_,_,ID)).
UPDATE2:
Another partial answer has come in. That one gives me S as a list of terms, but the "other" arguments are placeholders:
search2(Predicate, Arg, S) :-
( Arity = 2 ; Arity = 3 ; Arity = 4 ),
functor(S, Predicate, Arity),
S =.. [_,Predicate|Args],
member(Arg, Args).
The result is quite nice. Still missing: the Predicate should not be inside the brackets and the other arguments should be taken literally from the knowledge base, not written as placeholders. The current result looks like this:
?- search2(parent,lars,S).
S = parent(parent, lars) ;
S = parent(parent, lars, _G1575) ;
S = parent(parent, _G1574, lars) ;
S = parent(parent, lars, _G1575, _G1576) ;
S = parent(parent, _G1574, lars, _G1576) ;
S = parent(parent, _G1574, _G1575, lars).
I am giving up with this question, because the question was posed in the wrong way from the beginning. I should have asked more specifically - which I could not, because I am still no good in Prolog.
#false helped me most. I am accepting his answer.
There are two approaches here, one "traditional" (1970s) that implements literally what you want:
search(F, Arg, S) :-
( N = 1 ; N = 2 ; N = 3 ), % more compactly: between(1,3, N)
functor(S, F, N),
S =.. [_|Args], % more compactly: between(1,N, I), arg(I,S,Arg)
member(Arg, Args).
The other reconsiders the explicit construction of the goal. Actually, if you have a functor F, and arguments A1, A2, A3 you can immediately write the goal call(F, A1, A2, A3) without any use of functor/3 or (=..)/2.
There are many advantages of using call(F, A1, A2, A3) in place of Goal =.. [F, A1, A2, A3], call(Goal): In many situations it is cleaner, faster, and much easier to typecheck. Further, when using a module system, the handling of potential module qualifications for F will work seamlessly. Whereas (=..)/2 will have to handle all ugly details explicitly, that is more code, more errors.
search(F,A,call(F,A)).
search(F,A,call(F,A,_)).
search(F,A,call(F,_,A)).
search(F,A,call(F,A,_,_)).
search(F,A,call(F,_,A,_)).
search(F,A,call(F,_,_,A)).
If you want to shorten this, then rather construct call/N dynamically:
search(F, Arg, S) :-
( N = 2 ; N = 3 ; N = 4 ),
functor(S, call, N),
S =.. [_,F|Args],
member(Arg, Args).
Note that call needs an extra argument for the functor F!
You can use the "univ" operator, =.., to construct a goal dynamically:
?- F=member, X=1, L=[1,2,3], Goal =.. [F, X, L], call(Goal).
F = member,
X = 1,
L = [1, 2, 3],
Goal = member(1, [1, 2, 3]) .
Related
How the game works is that there is a 3-digit number, and you have to guess it. If you guess a digit in the right spot, you get a strike, and if you guess a digit but in the wrong spot you get a ball. I've coded it like this.
x = random.randint(1, 9)
y = random.randint(1, 9)
z = random.randint(1, 9)
userguessunlisted = input('What number do you want to guess?')
numbertoguess = list[x, y, z]
userguess = list(userguessunlisted)
b = 0
s = 0
while 0 == 0:
if userguess[0] == numbertoguess[0]:
s = s + 1
if userguess[0] == numbertoguess[1]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[0] == numbertoguess[2]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[1] == numbertoguess[0]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[1] == numbertoguess[1]:
s = s + 1
if userguess[1] == numbertoguess[2]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[2] == numbertoguess[0]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[2] == numbertoguess[1]:
b = b + 1
if userguess[2] == numbertoguess[2]:
s = s + 1
print(s + "S", b + "B")
if s != 3:
b = 0
s = 0
else:
print('you win!')
break
When you said list[x, y, z] on line 5, you used square brackets, which python interprets to be a type annotation. For example, if I wanted to specify that a variable is a list of ints, I could say
my_list_of_ints: list[int] = [1, 2, 3]
I think what you meant to do is create a new list from x, y, and z. One way to do this is
numbertoguess = list([x, y, z])
which is probably what you meant to write. This is valid because the list function takes an iterable as its one and only argument.
However, the list portion is redundant; square brackets on the right-hand side of an assignment statement already means "create a list with this content," so instead you should simply say
numbertoguess = [x, y, z]
A few other notes:
input will return a string, but you are comparing that string to integers further down, so none of the comparisons will ever be true. What you want to say is something like the following:
while True:
try:
userguessunlisted = int(input('What number do you want to guess?'))
except:
continue
break
What this code does is attempts to parse the string returned from input into an int. If it fails to do so, which would happen if the user inputted something other than a valid integer, an exception would be thrown, and the except block would be entered. continue means go to the top of the loop, so the input line runs repeatedly until a valid int is entered. When that happens, the except block is skipped, so break runs, which means "exit the loop."
userguessunlisted is only ever going to contain 1 number as written, so userguess will be a list of length 1, and all of the comparisons using userguess[1] and userguess[2] will throw an IndexError. Try to figure out how to wrap the code from (1) in another loop to gather multiple guesses from the user. Hint: use a for loop with range.
It might also be that you meant for the user to input a 3-digit number all at once. In that case, you can use a list comprehension to grab each character from the input and parse it into a separate int. This is probably a bit complicated for a beginner, so I'll help you out:
[int(char) for char in input('What number do you want to guess?')]
print(s + "S", b + "B") will throw TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'. There are lots of ways to combine non-string types with strings, but the most modern way is using f-strings. For example, to combine s with "S", you can say f"{s}S".
When adding some amount to a variable, instead of saying e.g. b = b + 1, you can use the += operator to more concisely say b += 1.
It's idiomatic in python to use snake_case for variables and Pascal case for classes. So instead of writing e.g. numbertoguess, you should use number_to_guess. This makes your code more readable and familiar to other python programmers.
Happy coding!
I have 4 non negative real variable that are A, B, C and X. Based on the current problem that I have, I notice that the variable X must belong to the interval of [B,C] and the relation will be a bunch of if-else conditions like this:
If A < B:
x = B
elseif A > C:
x = C
elseif B<=A<=C:
x = A
As you can see, it quite difficult to reformulate as a Mixed Integer Programming problem with corresponding decision variable (d1, d2 and d3). I have try reading some instructions regarding if-then formulation using big M method at this site:
https://www.math.cuhk.edu.hk/course_builder/1415/math3220/L2%20(without%20solution).pdf but it seem that this problem is more challenging than their tutorial.
Could you kindly provide me with a formulation for this situation ?
Thank you very much !
I am trying to follow the tutorial of using the optimization tool box in MATLAB. Specifically, I have a function
f = exp(x(1))*(4*x(1)^2+2*x(2)^2+4*x(1)*x(2)+2*x(2)+1)+b
subject to the constraint:
(x(1))^2+x(2)-1=0,
-x(1)*x(2)-10<=0.
and I want to minimize this function for a range of b=[0,20]. (That is, I want to minimize this function for b=0, b=1,b=2 ... and so on).
Below is the steps taken from the MATLAB's tutorial webpage(http://www.mathworks.com/help/optim/ug/nonlinear-equality-and-inequality-constraints.html), how should I change the code so that, the optimization will run for 20 times, and save the optimal values for each b?
Step 1: Write a file objfun.m.
function f = objfun(x)
f = exp(x(1))*(4*x(1)^2+2*x(2)^2+4*x(1)*x(2)+2*x(2)+1)+b;
Step 2: Write a file confuneq.m for the nonlinear constraints.
function [c, ceq] = confuneq(x)
% Nonlinear inequality constraints
c = -x(1)*x(2) - 10;
% Nonlinear equality constraints
ceq = x(1)^2 + x(2) - 1;
Step 3: Invoke constrained optimization routine.
x0 = [-1,1]; % Make a starting guess at the solution
options = optimoptions(#fmincon,'Algorithm','sqp');
[x,fval] = fmincon(#objfun,x0,[],[],[],[],[],[],...
#confuneq,options);
After 21 function evaluations, the solution produced is
x, fval
x =
-0.7529 0.4332
fval =
1.5093
Update:
I tried your answer, but I am encountering problem with your step 2. Bascially, I just fill the my step 2 to your step 2 (below the comment "optimization just like before").
%initialize list of targets
b = 0:1:20;
%preallocate/initialize result vectors using zeros (increases speed)
opt_x = zeros(length(b));
opt_fval = zeros(length(b));
>> for idx = 1, length(b)
objfun = #(x)objfun_builder(x,b)
%optimization just like before
x0 = [-1,1]; % Make a starting guess at the solution
options = optimoptions(#fmincon,'Algorithm','sqp');
[x,fval] = fmincon(#objfun,x0,[],[],[],[],[],[],...
#confuneq,options);
%end the stuff I fill in
opt_x(idx) = x
opt_fval(idx) = fval
end
However, it gave me the output is:
Error: "objfun" was previously used as a variable, conflicting
with its use here as the name of a function or command.
See "How MATLAB Recognizes Command Syntax" in the MATLAB
documentation for details.
There are two things you need to change about your code:
Creation of the objective function.
Multiple optimizations using a loop.
1st Step
For more flexibility with regard to b, you need to set up another function that returns a handle to the desired objective function, e.g.
function h = objfun_builder(x, b)
h = #(x)(objfun(x));
function f = objfun(x)
f = exp(x(1))*(4*x(1)^2+2*x(2)^2+4*x(1)*x(2)+2*x(2)+1) + b;
end
end
A more elegant and shorter approach are anonymous functions, e.g.
objfun_builder = #(x,b)(exp(x(1))*(4*x(1)^2+2*x(2)^2+4*x(1)*x(2)+2*x(2)+1) + b);
After all, this works out to be the same as above. It might be less intuitive for a Matlab-beginner, though.
2nd Step
Instead of placing an .m-file objfun.m in your path, you will need to call
objfun = #(x)(objfun_builder(x,myB));
to create an objective function in your workspace. In order to loop over the interval b=[0,20], use the following loop
%initialize list of targets
b = 0:1:20;
%preallocate/initialize result vectors using zeros (increases speed)
opt_x = zeros(length(b))
opt_fval = zeros(length(b))
%start optimization of list of targets (`b`s)
for idx = 1, length(b)
objfun = #(x)objfun_builder(x,b)
%optimization just like before
opt_x(idx) = x
opt_fval(idx) = fval
end
Here's a contrived example I've come up with:
fn = (f, a, b, c)-> alert("#{f() + a + b + c}")
fn((-> "hi"), 1, 2, 3)
I'm wondering what's the suggested way to format that last line? This example is easy to understand, but imagine if the anonymous function (the (-> "hi")) was multi-line and took multiple arguments. This code would become very ugly and start to look lisp-like.
fn2 = (f, a, b, c)-> alert("#{f(1, 2) + a + b + c}")
fn2(((a, b) ->
c = a + b
c), 1, 2, 3)
This can get pretty nasty. Is there some way I should format this code to make it more readable or is the best advice to name the anonymous function?
I notice a few similar questions asking how to do this. The difference here is I'm asking how to format it.
I've seen this style used a couple of times:
fn2 (a, b) ->
a + b
, 1, 2, 3
For example, in setTimeout calls:
setTimeout ->
alert '1 second has passed'
, 1000
But i think in general it's better to separate the parameter function in a variable:
add = (a, b) ->
a + b
fn2 add, 1, 2, 3
Or, if it's possible to change the function definition, make the function parameter the last one:
fn2 1, 2, 3, (a, b) ->
a + b
In the Coffeescript documentation there's an example with function parameter last
task 'build:parser', 'rebuild the Jison parser', (options) ->
require 'jison'
code = require('./lib/grammar').parser.generate()
dir = options.output or 'lib'
fs.writeFile "#{dir}/parser.js", code
The Coffeescript test files have lots of examples with function last
test "multiple semicolon-separated statements in parentheticals", ->
nonce = {}
eq nonce, (1; 2; nonce)
eq nonce, (-> return (1; 2; nonce))()
It's when the function isn't last that you need messier indentation and commas, or extra parenthesis to define the function's boundaries.
I've read about it in a book but it wasn't explained at all. I also never saw it in a program. Is part of Prolog syntax? What's it for? Do you use it?
It represents implication. The righthand side is only executed if the lefthand side is true. Thus, if you have this code,
implication(X) :-
(X = a ->
write('Argument a received.'), nl
; X = b ->
write('Argument b received.'), nl
;
write('Received unknown argument.'), nl
).
Then it will write different things depending on it argument:
?- implication(a).
Argument a received.
true.
?- implication(b).
Argument b received.
true.
?- implication(c).
Received unknown argument.
true.
(link to documentation.)
It's a local version of the cut, see for example the section on control predicated in the SWI manual.
It is mostly used to implement if-then-else by (condition -> true-branch ; false-branch). Once the condition succeeds there is no backtracking from the true branch back into the condition or into the false branch, but backtracking out of the if-then-else is still possible:
?- member(X,[1,2,3]), (X=1 -> Y=a ; X=2 -> Y=b ; Y=c).
X = 1,
Y = a ;
X = 2,
Y = b ;
X = 3,
Y = c.
?- member(X,[1,2,3]), (X=1, !, Y=a ; X=2 -> Y=b ; Y=c).
X = 1,
Y = a.
Therefore it is called a local cut.
It is possible to avoid using it by writing something more wordy. If I rewrite Stephan's predicate:
implication(X) :-
(
X = a,
write('Argument a received.'), nl
;
X = b,
write('Argument b received.'), nl
;
X \= a,
X \= b,
write('Received unknown argument.'), nl
).
(Yeah I don't think there is any problem with using it, but my boss was paranoid about it for some reason, so we always used the above approach.)
With either version, you need to be careful that you are covering all cases you intend to cover, especially if you have many branches.
ETA: I am not sure if this is completely equivalent to Stephan's, because of backtracking if you have implication(X). But I don't have a Prolog interpreter right now to check.