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author | Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> |
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date | Tue, 28 Apr 1998 13:53:50 +0000 |
parents | 11eafe90b842 |
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@c -*-texinfo-*- @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. @c Copyright (C) 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions. @setfilename ../info/advising @node Advising Functions, Debugging, Byte Compilation, Top @chapter Advising Emacs Lisp Functions @cindex advising functions The @dfn{advice} feature lets you add to the existing definition of a function, by @dfn{advising the function}. This a clean method for a library to customize functions defined by other parts of Emacs---cleaner than redefining the function in the usual way. Each piece of advice can be enabled or disabled explicitly. The enabled pieces of advice for any given function actually take effect when you activate advice for that function, or when that function is subsequently defined or redefined. @menu * Defining Advice:: * Computed Advice:: * Activation of Advice:: * Enabling Advice:: * Preactivation:: * Argument Access in Advice:: * Combined Definition:: @end menu @node Defining Advice @section Defining Advice To define a piece of advice, use the macro @code{defadvice}. A call to @code{defadvice} has the following syntax, which is based on the syntax of @code{defun}/@code{defmacro} but adds more: @findex defadvice @example (defadvice @var{function} (@var{class} @var{name} @r{[}@var{position}@r{]} @r{[}@var{arglist}@r{]} @var{flags}...) @r{[}@var{documentation-string}@r{]} @r{[}@var{interactive-form}@r{]} @var{body-forms}...) @end example @noindent Here, @var{function} is the name of the function (or macro or special form) to be advised. From now on, we will write just ``function'' when describing the entity being advised, but this always includes macros and special forms. The argument @var{name} is the name of the advice, a non-@code{nil} symbol. The advice name uniquely identifies one piece of advice, within all the pieces of advice in a particular class for a particular @var{function}. The name allows you to refer to the piece of advice---to redefine it, or to enable or disable it. Where an ordinary definition has an argument list, an advice definition needs several kinds of information. @var{class} specifies the class of the advice---one of @code{before}, @code{after}, or @code{around}. Before-advice runs before the function itself; after-advice runs after the function itself; around-advice is wrapped around the execution of the function itself. After-advice and around-advice can override the return value by setting @code{ad-return-value}. Around-advice specifies where the ``original'' function definition should go by means of the special symbol @code{ad-do-it}. Where this symbol occurs inside the around-advice body, it is replaced with a @code{progn} containing the forms of the surrounded code. If the around-advice does not use @code{ad-do-it}, then the original function definition is never run. This provides a way to override the original definition completely. (It also overrides lower-positioned pieces of around-advice). The optional @var{position} specifies where, in the current list of advice of the specified @var{class}, this new advice should be placed. It should be either @code{first}, @code{last} or a number that specifies a zero-based position (@code{first} is equivalent to 0). If no position is specified, the default is @code{first}. The @var{position} value is ignored when redefining an existing piece of advice. The optional @var{arglist} can be used to define the argument list for the sake of advice. This argument list should of course be compatible with the argument list of the original function, otherwise functions that call the advised function with the original argument list in mind will break. If more than one piece of advice specifies an argument list, then the first one (the one with the smallest position) found in the list of all classes of advice will be used. @var{flags} is a list of symbols that specify further information about how to use this piece of advice. Here are the valid symbols and their meanings: @table @code @item activate Activate all the advice for @var{function} after making this definition. This is ignored when @var{function} itself is not defined yet (which is known as @dfn{forward advice}). @item protect Protect this piece of advice against non-local exits and errors in preceding code and advice. @item compile Says that the combined definition which implements advice should be byte-compiled. This flag is ignored unless @code{activate} is also specified. @item disable Disable this piece of advice, so that it will not be used unless subsequently explicitly enabled. @item preactivate Activate advice for @var{function} when this @code{defadvice} is compiled or macroexpanded. This generates a compiled advised definition according to the current advice state, which will be used during activation if appropriate. This is useful only if this @code{defadvice} is byte-compiled. @end table The optional @var{documentation-string} serves to document this piece of advice. If the @code{documentation} function gets the documentation for @var{function} when its advice is active, the result will combine the documentation strings of all the advice with that of the original function. The optional @var{interactive-form} form can be supplied to change the interactive behavior of the original function. If more than one piece of advice has an @var{interactive-form}, then the first one (the one with the smallest position) found among all the advice takes precedence. The possibly empty list of @var{body-forms} specifies the body of the advice. The body of an advice can access or change the arguments, the return value, the binding environment, and perform any other kind of side effect. @strong{Warning:} When you advise a macro, keep in mind that macros are expanded when a program is compiled, not when a compiled program is run. All subroutines used by the advice need to be available when the byte compiler expands the macro. @node Computed Advice @section Computed Advice The macro @code{defadvice} resembles @code{defun} in that the code for the advice, and all other information about it, are explicitly stated in the source code. You can also create advice whose details are computed, using the function @code{ad-add-advice}. @defun ad-add-advice function advice class position Calling @code{ad-add-advice} adds @var{advice} as a piece of advice to @var{function} in class @var{class}. The argument @var{advice} has this form: @example (@var{name} @var{protected} @var{enabled} @var{definition}) @end example Here @var{protected} and @var{enabled} are flags, and @var{definition} is an expression that says what the advice should do. If @var{function} already has one or more pieces of advice in the specified @var{class}, then @var{position} specifies where in the list to put the new piece of advice. The value of @var{position} can either be @code{first}, @code{last}, or a number (counting from 0 at the beginning of the list). Numbers outside the range are mapped to the closest extreme position. If @var{function} already has a piece of @var{advice} with the same name, then the position argument is ignored and the old advice is replaced with the new one. @end defun @node Activation of Advice @section Activation of Advice @cindex activating advice By default, advice does not take effect when you define it---only when you @dfn{activate} advice for the function that was advised. You can request the activation of advice for a function when you define the advice, by specifying the @code{activate} flag in the @code{defadvice}. But normally you activate the advice for a function by calling the function @code{ad-activate} or one of the other activation commands listed below. Separating the activation of advice from the act of defining it permits you to add several pieces of advice to one function efficiently, without redefining the function over and over as each advice is added. More importantly, it permits defining advice for a function before that function is actually defined. When a function is first activated, its original definition is saved, and all enabled pieces of advice for that function are combined with the original definition to make a new definition. This definition is installed, and optionally byte-compiled as well, depending on conditions described below. In all of the commands to activate advice, if @var{compile} is @code{t}, the command also compiles the combined definition which implements the advice. @deffn Command ad-activate function &optional compile This command activates the advice for @var{function}. @end deffn To activate a function whose advice is already active is not a no-op. It is a useful operation which puts into effect any changes in advice since the previous activation of the same function. @deffn Command ad-deactivate function This command deactivates the advice for @var{function}. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-activate-all &optional compile This command activates the advice for all functions. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-deactivate-all This command deactivates the advice for all functions. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-activate-regexp regexp &optional compile This command activates all pieces of advice whose names match @var{regexp}. More precisely, it activates all advice for any function which has at least one piece of advice that matches @var{regexp}. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-deactivate-regexp regexp This command deactivates the advice for all functions whose names match @var{regexp}. More precisely, it deactivates all advice for any function which has at least one piece of advice that matches @var{regexp}. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-update-regexp regexp &optional compile This command activates pieces of advice whose names match @var{regexp}, but only those that are already activated. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-stop-advice Turn off automatic advice activation when a function is defined or redefined. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-start-advice Turn off automatic advice activation when a function is defined or redefined. @end deffn @defopt ad-default-compilation-action This variable controls whether to compile the combined definition that results from activating advice for a function. @end defopt If the advised definition was constructed during ``preactivation'' (see below), then that definition must already be compiled, because it was constructed during byte-compilation of the file that contained the @code{defadvice} with the @code{preactivate} flag. @node Enabling Advice @section Enabling and Disabling Advice Each piece of advice has a flag that says whether it is enabled or not. By enabling or disabling a piece of advice, you can turn it off and on without having to undefine and redefine it. For example, here is how to disable a particular piece of advice named @code{my-advice} for the function @code{foo}: @example (ad-disable-advice 'foo 'before 'my-advice) @end example This call by itself only changes the enable flag for this piece of advice. To make this change take effect in the advised definition, you must activate the advice for @code{foo} again: @example (ad-activate 'foo) @end example @deffn Command ad-disable-advice function class name This command disables the piece of advice named @var{name} in class @var{class} on @var{function}. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-enable-advice function class name This command enables the piece of advice named @var{name} in class @var{class} on @var{function}. @end deffn You can also disable many pieces of advice at once using a regular expression. @deffn Command ad-disable-regexp regexp This command disables all pieces of advice whose names match @var{regexp}, in all classes, on all functions. @end deffn @deffn Command ad-enable-regexp regexp This command enables all pieces of advice whose names match @var{regexp}, in all classes, on all functions. @end deffn @node Preactivation @section Preactivation Constructing a combined definition to execute advice is moderately expensive. When a library advises many functions, this can make loading the library slow. In that case, you can use @dfn{preactivation} to construct suitable combined definitions in advance. To use preactivation, specify the @code{preactivate} flag when you define the advice with @code{defadvice}. This @code{defadvice} call creates a combined definition which embodies this piece of advice (whether enabled or not) plus any other currently enabled advice for the same function, and the function's own definition. If the @code{defadvice} is compiled, that compiles the combined definition also. When the function is subsequently activated, if the enabled advice for the function matches what was used to make this combined definition. then the existing combined definition is used, and there is no need to construct one. Thus, preactivation never causes wrong results---but it may fail to do any good, if the enabled advice at the time of activation doesn't match. Here are some symptoms that can indicate that a preactivation did not work properly, because of a mismatch. @itemize @bullet @item Activation of the advised function takes longer than usual. @item The byte-compiler gets loaded while an advised function gets activated. @item @code{byte-compile} is included in the value of @code{features} even though you did not ever explicitly use the byte-compiler. @end itemize Compiled preactivated advice works properly even if the function itself is not defined until later; however, the function needs to be defined when you @emph{compile} the preactivated advice. There is no elegant way to find out why preactivated advice is not being used. What you can do is to trace the function @code{ad-cache-id-verification-code} (with the function @code{trace-function-background}) before the advised function is activated. After activation, check the value returned by @code{ad-cache-id-verification-code} for that function: @code{verified} means that the preactivated advice was used, while other values give some information about why they were considered inappropriate. @strong{Warning:} There is one known case that can make preactivation fail, in that a preconstructed combined definition is used even though it fails to match the current state of advice. This can happen when two packages define different pieces of advice with the same name, in the same class, for the same function. But you should avoid that anyway. @node Argument Access in Advice @section Argument Access in Advice The simplest way to access the arguments of an advised function in the body of a piece of advice is to use the same names that the function definition uses. To do this, you need to know the names of the argument variables of the original function. While this simple method is sufficient in many cases, it has a disadvantage: it is not robust, because it hard-codes the argument names into the advice. If the definition of the original function changes, the advice might break. A more robust method is to use macros that are translated into the proper access forms at activation time, i.e., when constructing the advised definition. Access macros access actual arguments by position regardless of how these actual argument get distributed onto the argument variables of a function. This is robust because in Emacs Lisp the meaning of an argument is strictly determined by its position in the argument list. @defmac ad-get-arg position This returns the actual argument that was supplied at @var{position}. @end defmac @defmac ad-get-args position This returns the list of actual arguments supplied starting at @var{position}. @end defmac @defmac ad-set-arg position value This sets the value of the actual argument at @var{position} to @var{value} @end defmac @defmac ad-set-args position value-list This sets the list of actual arguments starting at @var{position} to @var{value-list}. @end defmac Now an example. Suppose the function @code{foo} is defined as @example (defun foo (x y &optional z &rest r) ...) @end example @noindent and is then called with @example (foo 0 1 2 3 4 5 6) @end example @noindent which means that @var{x} is 0, @var{y} is 1, @var{z} is 2 and @var{r} is @code{(3 4 5 6)} within the body of @code{foo}. Here is what @code{ad-get-arg} and @code{ad-get-args} return in this case: @example (ad-get-arg 0) @result{} 0 (ad-get-arg 1) @result{} 1 (ad-get-arg 2) @result{} 2 (ad-get-arg 3) @result{} 3 (ad-get-args 2) @result{} (2 3 4 5 6) (ad-get-args 4) @result{} (4 5 6) @end example Setting arguments also makes sense in this example: @example (ad-set-arg 5 "five") @end example @noindent has the effect of changing the sixth argument to @code{"five"}. If this happens in advice executed before the body of @code{foo} is run, then @var{r} will be @code{(3 4 "five" 6)} within that body. Here is an example of setting a tail of the argument list: @example (ad-set-args 0 '(5 4 3 2 1 0)) @end example @noindent If this happens in advice executed before the body of @code{foo} is run, then within that body, @var{x} will be 5, @var{y} will be 4, @var{z} will be 3, and @var{r} will be @code{(2 1 0)} inside the body of @code{foo}. These argument constructs are not really implemented as Lisp macros. Instead they are implemented specially by the advice mechanism. @subsection Definition of Subr Argument Lists When the advice facility constructs the combined definition, it needs to know the argument list of the original function. This is not always possible for primitive functions. When advice cannot determine the argument list, it uses @code{(&rest ad-subr-args)}, which always works but is inefficient because it constructs a list of the argument values. You can use @code{ad-define-subr-args} to declare the proper argument names for a primitive function: @defun ad-define-subr-args function arglist This function specifies that @var{arglist} should be used as the argument list for function @var{function}. @end defun For example, @example (ad-define-subr-args 'fset '(sym newdef)) @end example @noindent specifies the argument list for the function @code{fset}. @node Combined Definition @section The Combined Definition Suppose that a function has @var{n} pieces of before-advice, @var{m} pieces of around-advice and @var{k} pieces of after-advice. Assuming no piece of advice is protected, the combined definition produced to implement the advice for a function looks like this: @example (lambda @var{arglist} @r{[} @r{[}@var{advised-docstring}@r{]} @r{[}(interactive ...)@r{]} @r{]} (let (ad-return-value) @r{before-0-body-form}... .... @r{before-@var{n}-1-body-form}... @r{around-0-body-form}... @r{around-1-body-form}... .... @r{around-@var{m}-1-body-form}... (setq ad-return-value @r{apply original definition to @var{arglist}}) @r{other-around-@var{m}-1-body-form}... .... @r{other-around-1-body-form}... @r{other-around-0-body-form}... @r{after-0-body-form}... .... @r{after-@var{k}-1-body-form}... ad-return-value)) @end example Macros are redefined as macros, which means adding @code{macro} to the beginning of the combined definition. The interactive form is present if the original function or some piece of advice specifies one. When an interactive primitive function is advised, a special method is used: to call the primitive with @code{call-interactively} so that it will read its own arguments. In this case, the advice cannot access the arguments. The body forms of the various advice in each class are assembled according to their specified order. The forms of around-advice @var{l} are included in one of the forms of around-advice @var{l} @minus{} 1. The innermost part of the around advice onion is @display apply original definition to @var{arglist} @end display @noindent whose form depends on the type of the original function. The variable @code{ad-return-value} is set to whatever this returns. The variable is visible to all pieces of advice, which can access and modify it before it is actually returned from the advised function. The semantic structure of advised functions that contain protected pieces of advice is the same. The only difference is that @code{unwind-protect} forms ensure that the protected advice gets executed even if some previous piece of advice had an error or a non-local exit. If any around-advice is protected, then the whole around-advice onion is protected as a result.