REDO-FLAT.html -- ACL2 Version 6.3

## REDO-FLAT

redo on failure of a `progn`, `encapsulate`, or `certify-book`

    Major Section:  OTHER

When one submits an `encapsulate`, `progn`, or `certify-book` command and there is a failure, ACL2 restores its logical world as though the command had not been run. But sometimes one would like to debug the failure by re-executing all sub-events that succeeded up to the point of failure, and then re-executing the failed sub-event. Said differently, imagine that the events under an `encapsulate`, `progn`, or `certify-book` form were flattened into a list of events that were then submitted to ACL2 up to the point of failure. This would put us in the state in which the original failed event had failed, so we could now replay that failed event and try modifying it, or first proving additional events, in order to get it admitted.

`Redo-flat` is provided for this purpose. Consider the following (rather nonsensical) example, in which the `defun` of `f3` fails (the body is `y` but the formal parameter list is `(x)`).

    (encapsulate
     ()
     (defun f1 (x) x)
     (encapsulate ()
                  (local (defthm hack (equal (car (cons x y)) x))))
     (encapsulate ()
                  (local (defthm hack (equal (+ x y) (+ y x)))))
     (encapsulate ()
                  (make-event '(defun f2 (x) x))
                  (progn (defthm foo (equal x x) :rule-classes nil)
                         (defun f3 (x) y)))
     (defun f4 (x) x)
     (defun f5 (x) y))

After this attempt fails, you can evaluate the following form.

    (redo-flat)

This will first lay down a `deflabel` event, `(deflabel r)`, so that you can eventually remove your debugging work with `(:ubt! r)`. Then the successful sub-events that preceded the failure will be executed with proofs skipped (so that this execution is fast). Then, the failed event will be executed. Finally, a `:``pbt` command is executed so that you can see a summary of the events that executed successfully.

You can eliminate some of the steps above by supplying keyword values, as follows.

    (redo-flat
     :succ  succ ; Skip the successful sub-events if val is nil.
     :fail  fail ; Skip the failed sub-event if val is nil.
     :label lab  ; Skip deflabel if lab or succ is nil, else use (deflabel lab).
     :pbt   val  ; Skip the final :pbt if val, lab, or succ is nil.
     )

Also, you can avoid skipping proofs for the successful sub-events by supplying keyword `:succ-ld-skip-proofsp` with a valid value for `ld-skip-proofsp`; see ld-skip-proofsp. For example, you might want to execute `(redo-flat :succ-ld-skip-proofsp nil)` if you use the `must-fail` utility from community book `make-event/eval.lisp`, since for example `(must-fail (thm (equal x y)))` normally succeeds but would cause an error if proofs are skipped.

If you prefer only to see the successful and failed sub-events, without any events being re-executed, you may evaluate the following form instead.

    (redo-flat :show t)

For the example above, this command produces the following output.

    List of events preceding the failure:

    ((DEFUN F1 (X) X)
     (ENCAPSULATE NIL
                  (LOCAL (DEFTHM HACK (EQUAL (CAR (CONS X Y)) X))))
     (ENCAPSULATE NIL
                  (LOCAL (DEFTHM HACK (EQUAL (+ X Y) (+ Y X)))))
     (MAKE-EVENT '(DEFUN F2 (X) X))
     (DEFTHM FOO (EQUAL X X)
             :RULE-CLASSES NIL))

    Failed event:

    (DEFUN F3 (X) Y)
    ACL2 !>

`Redo-flat` uses a scheme that should not cause spurious name conflicts for `local` events. Above, it is mentioned that events are ``flattened''; now we clarify this notion. Each sub-event that succeeds and is an `encapsulate` or `progn` is left intact. Only such events that fail are replaced by their component events. Thus, in the example above, there is no conflict between the two `local` sub-events named ```hack`,'' because these are contained in successful `encapsulate` sub-events, which are therefore not flattened. The `progn` and two `encapsulate` events surrounding the definition of `f3` are, however, flattened, because that definition failed to be admitted.

Normally, `redo-flat` will have the desired effect even if you interrupted a proof (with control-c). However, `redo-flat` will not produce the desired result after an interrupt if you have enabled the debugger using `(set-debugger-enable t)`,