Module Generic_core.Repr

module Repr: Generic_core_repr

Representation of abstract datatypes.

type ('a, 'b) repr_by = {

`repr_ty : 'b Ty.T.ty;`	`(*`	Representation type.	`*)`
`to_repr : 'a -> 'b;`	`(*`	Conversion from the abstract type to the representation.	`*)`
`from_repr : 'b -> 'a option;`	`(*`	Partial conversion from representation to the abstract type. May fail if the representation isn't valid.	`*)`
`default : 'a;`	`(*`	Default value, used temporarily when converting cyclic data.	`*)`
`update : 'a -> 'b -> unit;`	`(*`	Restore the cycles.	`*)`

}

(a,b) repr_by explains how a is represented by b.

type 'a repr =

`\|`	`Repr : ('a0, 'b) repr_by -> 'a0 repr`

The concrete representation type is existentially quantified. Thus the type a repr means: a is representable.

type 'a t = 'a repr

A synonym, so that repr might be referred to as Repr.t

type repr_fun = {

f : 'a. 'a Ty.T.ty -> 'a repr;

}

Type-indexed function that associates a representation to an abstract type.

val repr : 'a Ty.T.ty -> 'a repr

Returns the representation associated to an abstract type.

val view : 'a Ty.T.ty -> 'a repr

val ext : 'a Ty.pat -> repr_fun -> unit

ext t f extends function repr with a new case for type t defined by f.

val repr_name : string