Building a CLI App

We will utilize the basic calculator app logic from the parsing guide to produce a linked calculator agent %rpn supporting the following operators by the appropriate parsers:

  • numbers (as @rs without . dot prefix) (royl-rs:so)
  • + lus, addition (lus)
  • - hep, subtraction (hep)
  • * tar, multiplication (tar)
  • / fas, division (fas)
  • . dot, display top of stack (dot)

We will leave all regular Gall arms as their defaults, but of course poking, subscribing, and peeking should be supported in a full application.

Agent Logic

/sur/rpn.hoon

We just need to define the expected operators that will show up in the stack. These are @t text constants.

|%
+$ op $? [%op %add]
[%op %sub]
[%op %mul]
[%op %div]
[%op %sho]
==
+$ num @rs
+$ command ?(@rs op)
--

(+$command doesn't really feel like the right name here, but we're pattern-matching with the demo /app/shoe.hoon.)

/lib/rpn.hoon

These are the parsing rules that the CLI agent will use. We could include these directly in the agent file but we'll post them to a library file.

|%
++ num royl-rs:so
++ op-add (cook |=(p=@ ?:(=('+' p) op+%add ~)) lus)
++ op-sub (cook |=(p=@ ?:(=('-' p) op+%sub ~)) hep)
++ op-mul (cook |=(p=@ ?:(=('*' p) op+%mul ~)) tar)
++ op-div (cook |=(p=@ ?:(=('/' p) op+%div ~)) fas)
++ op-sho (cook |=(p=@ ?:(=('.' p) op+%sho ~)) dot)
++ ops ;~(pose op-add op-sub op-mul op-div op-sho)
--

/app/rpn.hoon

++ state-0
$: %0
stack=(list ?(@rs op:rpn))
==

++command-parser

We want this arm to wait until RETURN is pressed so we ++stag the value with | FALSE/%.n.

++ command-parser
|= =sole-id:shoe
^+ |~(nail *(like [? command:rpn]))
%+ stag |
(cook command:rpn ;~(pose num:rpnlib ops:rpnlib))

++on-command

This arm pushes values onto the stack, displays the stack, then checks to parse for the result of an operation.

++ on-command
|= [=sole-id:shoe =command:rpn]
^- (quip card _this)
=/ old-stack (weld stack ~[command])
=/ new-stack (process:rpnlib old-stack)
:_ this(stack new-stack)
:~ [%shoe ~ sole+klr+~[(crip "{<old-stack>} →")]]
[%shoe ~ sole+klr+~[[[`%br ~ `%g] (crip "{<new-stack>}") ~]]]
==

For this we add a helper arm to /lib/rpn.hoon which takes each entry, makes sure it is a @rs atom, and carries out the operation. (This could probably be made more efficient.)

/lib/rpn.hoon

/- rpn
:: * * *
++ process
|= stack=(list command:rpn)
^- (list command:rpn)
~| "Failure processing operation on stack {<stack>}"
?~ stack !!
?- `command:rpn`(snag 0 (flop stack))
[%op %add]
=/ augend ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 1 (flop stack)))
=/ addend ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 2 (flop stack)))
(flop (weld ~[(add:rs augend addend)] (slag 3 (flop stack))))
::
[%op %sub]
=/ minuend ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 1 (flop stack)))
=/ subtrahend ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 2 (flop stack)))
(flop (weld ~[(sub:rs minuend subtrahend)] (slag 3 (flop stack))))
::
[%op %mul]
=/ multiplicand ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 1 (flop stack)))
=/ multiplier ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 2 (flop stack)))
(flop (weld ~[(mul:rs multiplicand multiplier)] (slag 3 (flop stack))))
::
[%op %div]
=/ numerator ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 1 (flop stack)))
=/ denominator ;;(@rs `command:rpn`(snag 2 (flop stack)))
(flop (weld ~[(div:rs numerator denominator)] (slag 3 (flop stack))))
::
[%op %sho]
~& > "{<(snag 1 (flop stack))>}"
(flop (slag 1 (flop stack)))
::
@rs
stack
==

Linking

After a %sole agent has been |installed, it should be registered for Dojo to cycle input to it using |link.

|link %rpn

Now Ctrl+X allows you to switch to that app and evaluate expressions using it.

gall: booted %rpn
> 50
~ →
~[.50]
> 25
~[.50] →
~[.50 .25]
> -
~[.50 .25] →
~[.-25]
> 5
~[.-25] →
~[.-25 .5]
> /
~[.-25 .5] →
~[.-0.19999999]
> 5
~[.-0.19999999] →
~[.-0.19999999 .5]
> *
~[.-0.19999999 .5] →
~[.-0.99999994]
> 1
~[.-0.99999994] →
~[.-0.99999994 .1]
> /
~[.-0.99999994 .1] →
~[.-1]

Exercises

  • Extend the calculator app to support modulus as % cen.
  • Extend the calculator app so it instead operates on @rd values. Either use ++cook to automatically convert the input values from a 1.23-style input to the .~1.23 @rd style or build a different input parser from the entries in ++royl:so.
  • Extend the calculator app so that it can support named variables (using @tas) with = tis. What new data structure do you need? For convenience, expose the result of the last operation as ans (a feature of TI graphing calculators and MATLAB, among other programs).
  • The calculator app stack isn't really a proper CS stack with push and pop operations. Refactor it to use such a type.
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Last modified October 8, 2023