CLHS: Issue CLOS-CONDITIONS-AGAIN Writeup

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## Issue CLOS-CONDITIONS-AGAIN Writeup

    Date: Fri, 8 Jun 90 19:55 EDT
    From: David A. Moon <Moon@STONY-BROOK.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
    Subject: Issue: CLOS-CONDITIONS-AGAIN (Version 6)
    To: X3J13@mcc.com
    Message-ID: <19900608235525.3.MOON@KENNETH-WILLIAMS.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>

    This version includes the amendment that was passed at the X3J13 meeting today.

    Issue:         CLOS-CONDITIONS-AGAIN

    References:    ANSI CL draft specification, page 5-4

    Related issues: CLOS-CONDITIONS

    Category:      ADDITION and CHANGE

    Edit history:  30-Apr-90, Version 1 by Moon (for Pitman)
                   30-Apr-90, Version 2 by Moon (deal with slots)
    	        2-May-90, Version 3 by Pitman (minor wording clarifications)
                    2-May-90, Version 4 by Moon (final check for typos)
                    5-Jun-90, Version 5 by Moon (mention multiple inheritance)
                    8-Jun-90, Version 6, by Moon (as amended at X3J13 meeting)

    Problem description:

      The condition system should not be too tightly integrated into CLOS, for
      two reasons:  Some implementations already have a native condition system
      that is not based on CLOS, and it should be possible to integrate the
      native conditions and the ANSI CL conditions.  Some people would like to
      define an ANSI Common Lisp subset that does not contain CLOS but does
      contain conditions.

      The problem areas are the use of DEFCLASS, MAKE-INSTANCE, and DEFMETHOD
      to define and create conditions, rather than using more abstract macros
      that conceal the implementation of conditions in terms of CLOS, and
      exposure of the implementation of condition slots as CLOS slots.  If user
      code was written in a more abstract way, it could run in a subset language
      that did not contain CLOS.

      This is Symbolics issue #7.

    Proposal (CLOS-CONDITIONS-AGAIN:ALLOW-SUBSET):

      1. Specify that conforming code must use DEFINE-CONDITION (not DEFCLASS)
      to define conditions, and MAKE-CONDITION (not MAKE-INSTANCE) to make
      conditions.  (These two operators already exist in ANSI Common Lisp.)

      2. Specify that conforming code must use the :REPORT option of
      DEFINE-CONDITION (not DEFMETHOD for PRINT-OBJECT) to define a condition
      reporter.

      3. Specify that conforming code must not use SLOT-VALUE, SLOT-BOUNDP,
      SLOT-MAKUNBOUND, or WITH-SLOTS on condition objects.  Instead it must
      call the accessor functions defined by DEFINE-CONDITION.

      4. Clarify that this proposal does not rule out the use of multiple
      parent-types in DEFINE-CONDITION.

    Rationale:

      1. The reasons are two:
         - permit flexibility in making the native class system compatible
           with the ANSI CL one
         - permit dialects that don't want CLOS to be available to run most
           common condition-related code.

      2. The reasons are three:
         - isolate the report part without forcing the user to deal with the
           case of *PRINT-ESCAPE* being true.
         - keep a CL subset from having to implement DEFMETHOD to get this
           important functionality.
         - don't define two ways to do the same thing.

      3. Using the existing accessor functions seems more conservative than
         requiring non-CLOS subsets to implement an ersatz SLOT-VALUE function.

         Note also that the requirement here (in #3) is on conforming -code-.
         An -implementation- can permit the use of SLOT-VALUE, SLOT-BOUNDP,
         SLOT-MAKUNBOUND, and/or WITH-SLOTS as an extension and still be
         conforming.  Programs which used such an extension would not be
         conforming and might not be portable to all implementations.

      4. There is no substitute for multiple inheritance, and given the
         limited set of operations that can be performed on conditions, it
         is easy to fake it.

    Current practice:

      1. DEFINE-CONDITION and MAKE-CONDITION are already in the language.

      2. The :REPORT option to DEFINE-CONDITION exists.

      3. Some implementations support use of WITH-SLOTS and some do not.
         Programs that use WITH-SLOTS are not yet portable.

      4. DEFINE-CONDITION is already specified to support multiple inheritance.

    Cost to Implementors:

      Trivial.

    Cost to Users:

      They have to write their programs in terms of the condition abstractions
      if they want them to be portable.

    Cost of non-adoption:

      Condition-using programs will not be portable to Common Lisp subsets that
      don't have CLOS.

    Performance impact:

      None.

    Benefits:

      See rationale.

    Esthetics:

      Abstraction is more esthetic than revealing the implementation.

    Discussion:

      Pitman and Moon support this proposal.

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