9 Macros

.macro

.MACRO procname :input1 :input2 ...			(special form)
.DEFMACRO procname text

A macro is a special kind of procedure whose output is evaluated as Logo instructions in the context of the macro’s caller. .MACRO is exactly like TO except that the new procedure becomes a macro; .DEFMACRO is exactly like DEFINE with the same exception.

Macros are useful for inventing new control structures comparable to REPEAT, IF, and so on. Such control structures can almost, but not quite, be duplicated by ordinary Logo procedures. For example, here is an ordinary procedure version of REPEAT:

to my.repeat :num :instructions
if :num=0 [stop]
run :instructions
my.repeat :num-1 :instructions
end

This version works fine for most purposes, e.g.,

my.repeat 5 [print "hello]

But it doesn’t work if the instructions to be carried out include OUTPUT, STOP, or LOCAL. For example, consider this procedure:

to example
print [Guess my secret word.  You get three guesses.]
repeat 3 [type "|?? | ~
          if readword = "secret [pr "Right! stop]]
print [Sorry, the word was "secret"!]
end

This procedure works as written, but if MY.REPEAT is used instead of REPEAT, it won’t work because the STOP will stop MY.REPEAT instead of stopping EXAMPLE as desired.

The solution is to make MY.REPEAT a macro. Instead of actually carrying out the computation, a macro must return a list containing Logo instructions. The contents of that list are evaluated as if they appeared in place of the call to the macro. Here’s a macro version of REPEAT:

.macro my.repeat :num :instructions
if :num=0 [output []]
output sentence :instructions ~
                (list "my.repeat :num-1 :instructions)
end

Every macro is an operation — it must always output something. Even in the base case, MY.REPEAT outputs an empty instruction list. To show how MY.REPEAT works, let’s take the example

my.repeat 5 [print "hello]

For this example, MY.REPEAT will output the instruction list

[print "hello my.repeat 4 [print "hello]]

Logo then executes these instructions in place of the original invocation of MY.REPEAT; this prints hello once and invokes another repetition.

The technique just shown, although fairly easy to understand, has the defect of slowness because each repetition has to construct an instruction list for evaluation. Another approach is to make MY.REPEAT a macro that works just like the non-macro version unless the instructions to be repeated include OUTPUT or STOP:

.macro my.repeat :num :instructions
catch "repeat.catchtag ~
      [op repeat.done runresult [repeat1 :num :instructions]]
op []
end

to repeat1 :num :instructions
if :num=0 [throw "repeat.catchtag]
run :instructions
.maybeoutput repeat1 :num-1 :instructions
end

to repeat.done :repeat.result
if emptyp :repeat.result [op [stop]]
op list "output quoted first :repeat.result
end

If the instructions do not include STOP or OUTPUT, then REPEAT1 will reach its base case and invoke THROW. As a result, MY.REPEAT’s last instruction line will output an empty list, so the evaluation of the macro result by the caller will do nothing. But if a STOP or OUTPUT happens, then REPEAT.DONE will output a STOP or OUTPUT instruction that will be executed in the caller’s context.

The macro-defining commands have names starting with a dot because macros are an advanced feature of Logo; it’s easy to get in trouble by defining a macro that doesn’t terminate, or by failing to construct the instruction list properly.

Lisp users should note that Logo macros are not special forms. That is, the inputs to the macro are evaluated normally, as they would be for any other Logo procedure. It’s only the output from the macro that’s handled unusually.

Here’s another example:

.macro localmake :name :value
output (list "local          ~
             word "" :name   ~
             "apply          ~
             ""make          ~
             (list :name :value))
end

It’s used this way:

to try
localmake "garply "hello
print :garply
end

LOCALMAKE outputs the list

[local "garply apply "make [garply hello]]

The reason for the use of APPLY is to avoid having to decide whether or not the second input to MAKE requires a quotation mark before it. (In this case it would — MAKE "GARPLY "HELLO — but the quotation mark would be wrong if the value were a list.)

It’s often convenient to use the ‘ function to construct the instruction list:

.macro localmake :name :value
op `[local ,[word "" :name] apply "make [,[:name] ,[:value]]]
end

On the other hand, ‘ is pretty slow, since it’s tree recursive and written in Logo.

See section to , define , apply , stop , output .

.defmacro

See section .macro .

macrop

MACROP name
MACRO? name

outputs TRUE if its input is the name of a macro.

macroexpand

MACROEXPAND expr				(library procedure)

takes as its input a Logo expression that invokes a macro (that is, one that begins with the name of a macro) and outputs the the Logo expression into which the macro would translate the input expression.

.macro localmake :name :value
op `[local ,[word "" :name] apply "make [,[:name] ,[:value]]]
end

? show macroexpand [localmake "pi 3.14159]
[local "pi apply "make [pi 3.14159]]

This document was generated on December 27, 2019 using texi2html 5.0.