less() and edit() are not defined for macros #3377

diegozea · 2013-06-13T06:08:33Z

julia> less( @b_str )
ERROR: wrong number of arguments

julia> less( b_str )
ERROR: b_str not defined

julia> less
# methods for generic function less
less(file::String,line::Integer) at util.jl:174
less(file::String) at util.jl:177
less(f::Function) at util.jl:181
less(f::Function,t) at util.jl:182

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

JeffBezanson · 2013-06-13T23:28:35Z

Macros are not first class, so functions cannot be defined for them. We would need something like maybe @edit @b_str.

simleb · 2013-06-13T23:37:31Z

On a related note, could edit on a type bring you to the line where the type was defined?

mbauman · 2013-12-02T18:13:48Z

I just tried to do this myself as a novice user. Upon seeing the syntax error in less(@b_str), my gut reaction was to try less(:@b_str). There's a whole class of functions that interact with functions (help, less, edit, etc). Perhaps methods could be defined for Expr arguments that would allow interacting with macros as well? This could further allow for method specification (like @which) for functions.

quinnj · 2014-06-10T00:53:54Z

@mbauman, with the rewrite of the less, edit, which methods/macros, can this be managed? I think having the ability to say @edit :@b_str would be a good way to expose this functionality; as you said, once you realize @edit @b_str doesn't work, it's natural to try the macro as a symbol.

mbauman · 2014-06-10T01:12:45Z

It'd take much bigger changes for that to work. The way the @which et al macros work is through the first-class nature of the function objects and their stored meta-information. Macros are not first-class, and so they do not have this data.

This could be possible, perhaps, with the documentation changes.

fix #9627, fix #8846, fix #8701 helps #3377, but additional work is needed there

@time

…edit(:@time)` and `@edit @time 1+1` plus the equivalent for `which` and `less`. `methods` can also check for macro methods as `methods(:@time, Tuple{Any})`. The `@edit`, `@less` and `@which` do also check for method specialization of the macro.

@time

…edit(:@time)` and `@edit @time 1+1` plus the equivalent for `which` and `less`. `methods` can also check for macro methods as `methods(:@time, Tuple{Any})`. The `@edit`, `@less` and `@which` do also check for method specialization of the macro.

@time

…edit(:@time)` and `@edit @time 1+1` plus the equivalent for `which` and `less`. `methods` can also check for macro methods as `methods(:@time, Tuple{Any})`. The `@edit`, `@less` and `@which` do also check for method specialization of the macro.

@time

…, `@functionloc @time 1+1` plus the equivalent for `@which`, `@edit` and `@less`. The macros check for method specialization of the macro and return the dispatched macro.

@time

…, `@functionloc @time 1+1` plus the equivalent for `@which`, `@edit` and `@less`. The macros check for method specialization of the macro and return the dispatched macro.

@time