Scala: How to write a generic check function that evaluates any function that returns boolean? - function

Question

I'm struggling a bit with this: I need a function that takes any function
of type fun(Any*) : Boolean as parameter, evaluates the function and returns true or
false, depending on the success of the function evaluation.
Essentially, what I need is a function type that allows any number and any type of parameter but the function must return Boolean.
Which would allow me to write functions like:
def checkLenght(str : String, length : Int) : Boolean ={
if (str.lenght == length)}
or
def ceckAB(a : Int, b : Int) : Boolean = {
if(a < b && a >= 23 && b < 42) }
so that, for example
eval(checkLenght(abc, 3)) //returns true
eval(ceckAB(4,1)) // returns false
I thought, a function type of:
type CheckFunction = (Any*) => Boolean
may does the trick but I struggle with writing the generic eval function.
Any advise?
Thank you
Solution:
The function requires
1) Another function of return type Boolean: "(func : => Boolean)"
2) Return type Boolean ": Boolean"
3) Returns the value of the passed function-parameter: " = func"
Altogether the function is:
def eval(func : => Boolean) : Boolean = func
It amazes me over again how simple simple things are in Scala.
As pointed out by the comments, this is a rather unusual function with no obvious
sense. Just a word about the underlying reasons.
Motivation:
There were a lot of question about the underlying motivation, so here a short
summary why such a function is needed.
Essentially, there are two reasons.
First one is about moving the failure handling away from the function itself
into a handler function. This preserves the purity of the check function and even allows
re-usage of generic checks.
Second, it's all about "pluggable failure handling". This means, the eval function only
tells if a failure happened (or not). In case of a failure, a handler is called through an interface. The implementation of the handler can be swapped using profiles as required.
Why?
Swapping profiles means, I code my checks and functions as usual but by switching the
profile, I switch the handler which means I can chose between full-stop, console print out, email alert, SNMP notification, push message... you name it. To do so, I need to decouple the check function from its evaluation and from its handling. That's the motivation for such a rather strange looking eval function.
And for the sake of completeness, I've already implemented all that stuff but was I facing the limitation of only handling trivial checks i.e. check(Boolean*) which is neat but often I would prefer to write a function to do more sophisticated checks.
Solved
The function is defined by returning the value of the passed function:
def eval(func : => Boolean) : Boolean = {func}

Answer 1

I can't say that I really understand your motivations for wanting to do what you want to do, but I guess that's beside the point. Maybe the eval function will check something before invoking the supplied function and not invoke that other function (like a fast fail) given some certain condition. Maybe you do some post checking after invoking the function and change the result based on something else. Either way, I suppose you could accomplish something similar to what you want with code looking like this:
def main(args: Array[String]) {
val str = "hello world"
println(eval(checkLength(str, 3)))
println(eval(intsEqual(1,1)))
}
def eval(func: => Boolean):Boolean = {
//Do whetever you want before invoking func, maybe
//not even invoke it if some other condition is present
val fres = func
//Maybe change something here before returning based on post conditions
fres
}
def checkLength(s:String, len:Int) = s.length() == len
def intsEqual(a:Int, b:Int) = a == b
If you really want the eval function to be able to support any function that takes any types of args and returns a Boolean, then using a by-name function like this, and then leveraging closure inside the by-name function to pass any params along to whatever actual function you want to invoke. A better way to demonstrate this is as follows:
def checkMyString(str:String, len:Int) = {
eval(str.length == len)
}
It's probably hard to see that the check str.length == len is not invoked unless eval decides to invoke it until you expand it to it's true form:
def checkMyString(str:String, len:Int) = {
def check = {
str.length == len
}
eval(check)
}
Here, the nested function check has access to str and len due to closure, and this will allow you to get around the requirement that eval must be able to invoke a function with any params that returns a Boolean.
This is just one way to solve your problem, and it might not even be suitable given your needs, but I just wanted to throw it out there.

Answer 2

If your input functions only have 2 arguments, like your two examples, you can write a semi generic function take takes all functions with two arguments of any type:
def eval[A,B](func: (A,B) => Boolean, arg1: A, arg2: B) = {
func(arg1, arg2)
}
def checkLength(str: String, length: Int) : Boolean = {
str.length == length
}
eval(checkLength, "ham", 4)
res0: Boolean = false
But if you want to support functions with more arguments, you would have to write one eval function for three arguments, four arguments, etc
Maybe there is a better way that can handle all cases?