Record Syntax

Basic Syntax

Records are an extension of sum algebraic data type that allow fields to be named:

data StandardType = StandardType String Int Bool --standard way to create a sum type

data RecordType = RecordType { -- the same sum type with record syntax
    aString :: String
  , aNumber :: Int
  , isTrue  :: Bool
  }

The field names can then be used to get the named field out of the record

> let r = RecordType {aString = "Foobar", aNumber= 42, isTrue = True}
> :t r
  r :: RecordType
> :t aString
  aString :: RecordType -> String
> aString r
  "Foobar"

Records can be pattern matched against

case r of
  RecordType{aNumber = x, aString=str} -> ... -- x = 42, str = "Foobar"

Notice that not all fields need be named

Records are created by naming their fields, but can also be created as ordinary sum types (often useful when the number of fields is small and not likely to change)

r  = RecordType {aString = "Foobar", aNumber= 42, isTrue = True}
r' = RecordType  "Foobar" 42 True

If a record is created without a named field, the compiler will issue a warning, and the resulting value will be undefined.

> let r = RecordType {aString = "Foobar", aNumber= 42}
  <interactive>:1:9: Warning:
     Fields of RecordType not initialized: isTrue
> isTrue r
  Error 'undefined'

A field of a record can be updated by setting its value. Unmentioned fields do not change.

> let r = RecordType {aString = "Foobar", aNumber= 42, isTrue = True}
> let r' = r{aNumber=117}
    -- r'{aString = "Foobar", aNumber= 117, isTrue = True}

It is often useful to create lenses for complicated record types.

Copying Records while Changing Field Values

Suppose you have this type:

data Person = Person { name :: String, age:: Int } deriving (Show, Eq)

and two values:

alex = Person { name = "Alex", age = 21 }
jenny = Person { name = "Jenny", age = 36 }

a new value of type Person can be created by copying from alex, specifying which values to change:

anotherAlex = alex { age = 31 }

The values of alex and anotherAlex will now be:

Person {name = "Alex", age = 21}

Person {name = "Alex", age = 31}

Records with newtype

Record syntax can be used with newtype with the restriction that there is exactly one constructor with exactly one field. The benefit here is the automatic creation of a function to unwrap the newtype. These fields are often named starting with run for monads, get for monoids, and un for other types.

newtype State s a = State { runState :: s -> (s, a) }

newtype Product a = Product { getProduct :: a }

newtype Fancy = Fancy { unfancy :: String } 
  -- a fancy string that wants to avoid concatenation with ordinary strings

It is important to note that the record syntax is typically never used to form values and the field name is used strictly for unwrapping

getProduct $ mconcat [Product 7, Product 9, Product 12]
-- > 756

RecordWildCards

{-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}

data Client = Client { firstName     :: String
                     , lastName      :: String
                     , clientID      :: String 
                     } deriving (Show)

printClientName :: Client -> IO ()
printClientName Client{..} = do
    putStrLn firstName
    putStrLn lastName
    putStrLn clientID

The pattern Client{..} brings in scope all the fields of the constructor Client, and is equivalent to the pattern

Client{ firstName = firstName, lastName = lastName, clientID = clientID }

It can also be combined with other field matchers like so:

Client { firstName = "Joe", .. }

This is equivalent to

Client{ firstName = "Joe", lastName = lastName, clientID = clientID }

Basic Syntax

Copying Records while Changing Field Values

Records with newtype

RecordWildCards

Defining a data type with field labels