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Completely new to prolog. Interesting journey so far in trying to change how I think, so appreciate any help here.
I am trying to assert facts for a pre-defined set of names. For example, assume I have a a set of people [alice, bob, ...] in one file. I would like to assert facts about these folks in other files, but want to make sure that these folks exist and that is checked when the facts are loaded/compiled(?).
For example, assume I don't have 'chuck' in the list and I make an assertion:
user: swipl app.pl
?- full_name(chuck, "Charlie Steel").
should result in an error.
What is the best way I can do this?
So, here's the code I came up with:
person(deborah).
person(tony).
read_my_file(Filename) :-
open(Filename, read, In),
read_my_file1(In),
close(In).
read_my_file1(In) :-
read(In, Term),
( Term == end_of_file
-> true
; assert_or_abort(Term),
read_my_file1(In)
).
assert_or_abort(Term) :-
( full_name(Person, Name) = Term
-> ( person(Person)
-> assertz(full_name(Person, Name))
; format(user, '~w is not a person I recognize~n', [Person])
)
; format(user, '~w is not a term I know how to parse~n', [Term])
).
The trick here is using read/2 to obtain a Prolog term from the stream, and then doing some deterministic tests of it, hence the nested conditional structure inside assert_or_abort/1. Supposing you have an input file that looks like this:
full_name(deborah, 'Deborah Ismyname').
full_name(chuck, 'Charlie Steel').
full_name(this, has, too, many, arguments).
squant.
You get this output:
?- read_my_file('foo.txt').
chuck is not a person I recognize
full_name(this,has,too,many,arguments) is not a term I know how to parse
squant is not a term I know how to parse
true.
?- full_name(X,Y).
X = deborah,
Y = 'Deborah Ismyname'.
another way to ask the question is:
How I can list all the properties of an atom?
For example:
movie(agora).
director(agora, 'Alejandro Amenabar')
duration(agora, '2h').
so, I will like to receive all the predicates that has agora for argument. In this case it will be: movie, director, duration, with the other parameters ('Alejandro Amenabar', '2h').
I found: this, and this questions, but I couldn't understand well.
I want to have the value of false in the "variable Answer" if PersonInvited doesn't like something about the movie.
My query will be:
answer(Answer, PersonInvited, PersonWhoMadeInvitation, Movie)
Answer: I don't like this director
answer(false, PersonInvited, PersonWhoMadeInvitation, Movie):-
director(Movie, DirectorName),not(like(PersonInvited,DirectorName)).
The same thing will happen with any property like genre, for example.
Answer: I don't like this genre
answer(false, PersonInvited, PersonWhoMadeInvitation, Movie):-
genre(Movie, Genre), not(like(PersonInvited,Genre)).
So, I want to generalize this situation, instead of writing repeatedly every feature of every object.
I found two solutions the 2nd is cleaner from my point of view, but they are different.
Parameters:
PredName: Name of the predicate.
Arity: The Arity of the Predicate.
ParamValue: If I want to filter by one specific parameter.
PosParam: Which is the position of the parameter in the predicate.
ListParam: All the value of the posibles values parameters (mustbe a Variable all the time).
Solution 1:
filter_predicate(PredName, Arity, ParamValue,PosParam, ListParam):-
current_predicate(PredName/Arity),
Arity >= PosParam,
nth(PosParam, ListParam, ParamValue),
append([PredName], ListParam, PredList),
GlobalArity is Arity + 1,
length(PredList, GlobalArity),
Predicate =.. PredList,
Predicate.
Query
filter_predicate(PredName, Arity, agora, 1, Pm).
Output
Arity = 2
Pm = [agora,'Alejandro Amenabar']
PredName = director ?
yes
Solution2:
filter_predicate(PredName, Arity, ParamList):-
current_predicate(PredName/Arity),
append([PredName], ParamList, PredList),
GlobalArity is Arity + 1,
length(PredList, GlobalArity),
Predicate =.. PredList,
Predicate.
Query 1:
filter_predicate(PredName, Arity, [agora, X]).
Output
Arity = 2
PredName = director
X = 'Alejandro Amenabar' ?
Query 2:
filter_predicate(PredName, Arity, [X, 'Alejandro Amenabar']).
Output
Arity = 2
PredName = director
X = agora ?
here is my attempt, using SWI-Prolog
?- current_predicate(so:F/N), N>0, length(As,N), Head =.. [F|As], clause(so:Head,Body), As=[A|_], A==agora.
note that I coded into a module called so the facts, so I qualify with the module name the relevant calls. Such builtins (clause/2 and current_predicate/1) are ISO compliant, while modules (in SWI-prolog) are not. So I'm not sure about portability, etc...
clause/2 it's a builtin that allows for easy writing metainterprets. See the link for an awesome introduction to this Prolog historical 'point of strength'.
The 2 last calls (I mean, As=[A|_], A==agora) avoid matching clauses having a variable as first argument.
Using reading lines into lists with prolog
All your predicates are in a file 'my_file.pl'.
e.g. my_file.pl contains:
movie(agora).
director(agora, 'Alejandro Amenabar').
duration(agora, '2h').
You can use:
getLines(File,L):-
setup_call_cleanup(
open(File, read, In),
readData(In, L),
close(In)
).
readData(In, L):-
read_term(In, H, []),
( H == end_of_file
-> L = []
; L = [H|T],
readData(In,T)
).
pred_arg_file(Pred,Argue,File):-
getLines(File,L),
member(M,L),
M=..List,
member(Argue,List),
List=[Pred|_].
Then you can query:
?-pred_arg_file(Pred,agora,'my_file.pl').
Pred = movie ;
Pred = director ;
Pred = duration ;
false
or
?- findall(Pred,pred_arg_file(Pred,agora,'my_file.pl'),Preds).
Preds = [movie,director,duration].
If you want to return the properties, return the whole List not just the head.
pred_arg_file(List,Argue,File):-
getLines(File,L),
member(M,L),
M=..List,
member(Argue,List).
From my understanding you should change your data representation so that you can query the relations.As other answers have pointed out, So use triples, you can easily write code to change all your relations into this form as a one off. You then need to work out what the best way to store likes or dislikes are. This will effect how negation works. In this example:
relation(starwars,is,movie).
relation(lucas, directs,starwars).
relation(agora, is,movie).
relation('Alejandro Amenabar', directs, agora).
relation(agora, duration, '2h').
like(ma,'Alejandro Amenabar').
like(ma,movie).
like(ma,'2h').
ma_does_not_want_to_go(Film):-
relation(Film,is,movie),
relation(Film,_,Test), \+like(ma,Test).
ma_does_not_want_to_go(Film):-
relation(Film,is,movie),
relation(Test,_,Film), \+like(ma,Test).
ma_wants_to_go(Film):-
relation(Film,is,movie),
\+ma_does_not_want_to_go(Film).
sa_invites_ma(Film,true):-
ma_wants_to_go(Film).
sa_invites_ma(Film,false):-
ma_does_not_want_to_go(Film).
A draft of a solution using Logtalk with GNU Prolog as the backend compiler:
% a movie protocol
:- protocol(movie).
:- public([
director/1,
duration/1,
genre/1
]).
:- end_protocol.
% a real movie
:- object('Agora',
implements(movie)).
director('Alejandro Amenabar').
duration(120).
genre(drama).
:- end_object.
% another real movie
:- object('The Terminator',
implements(movie)).
director('James Cameron').
duration(112).
genre(syfy).
:- end_object.
% a prototype person
:- object(person).
:- public([
likes_director/1,
likes_genre/1
]).
:- public(likes/1).
likes(Movie) :-
conforms_to_protocol(Movie, movie),
( Movie::genre(Genre),
::likes_genre(Genre) ->
true
; Movie::director(Director),
::likes_director(Director) ->
true
; fail
).
:- end_object.
% a real person
:- object(mauricio,
extends(person)).
likes_director('Ridlye Scott').
likes_genre(drama).
likes_genre(syfy).
:- end_object.
Some sample queries:
$ gplgt
...
| ?- {movies}.
...
(5 ms) yes
| ?- mauricio::likes('Agora').
true ?
yes
| ?- mauricio::likes(Movie).
Movie = 'Agora' ? ;
Movie = 'The Terminator' ? ;
no
| ?- 'The Terminator'::director(Director).
Director = 'James Cameron'
yes
The code can be improved in several ways but it should be enough to give you a clear idea to evaluate this solution.
If I understood your question properly I propose the follow:
What if you change your schema or following this idea you can make a method that simulate the same thing.
class(movie, agora).
property(director, agora, 'Alejandro Amenabar').
property(duration, agora, '2h').
If do you want the types of agora, the query will be:
class(Type, agora)
If you want all the properties of agora, that will be:
property( PropertyName, agora, Value).
I'm currently trying to to interpret user-entered strings via Prolog. I'm using code I've found on the internet, which converts a string into a list of atoms.
"Men are stupid." => [men,are,stupid,'.'] % Example
From this I would like to create a rule, which then can be used in the Prolog command-line.
% everyone is a keyword for a rule. If the list doesn't contain 'everyone'
% it's a fact.
% [men,are,stupid]
% should become ...
stupid(men).
% [everyone,who,is,stupid,is,tall]
% should become ...
tall(X) :- stupid(X).
% [everyone,who,is,not,tall,is,green]
% should become ...
green(X) :- not(tall(X)).
% Therefore, this query should return true/yes:
?- green(women).
true.
I don't need anything super fancy for this as my input will always follow a couple of rules and therefore just needs to be analyzed according to these rules.
I've been thinking about this for probably an hour now, but didn't come to anything even considerable, so I can't provide you with what I've tried so far. Can anyone push me into the right direction?
Consider using a DCG. For example:
list_clause(List, Clause) :-
phrase(clause_(Clause), List).
clause_(Fact) --> [X,are,Y], { Fact =.. [Y,X] }.
clause_(Head :- Body) --> [everyone,who,is,B,is,A],
{ Head =.. [A,X], Body =.. [B,X] }.
Examples:
?- list_clause([men,are,stupid], Clause).
Clause = stupid(men).
?- list_clause([everyone,who,is,stupid,is,tall], Clause).
Clause = tall(_G2763):-stupid(_G2763).
I leave the remaining example as an easy exercise.
You can use assertz/1 to assert such clauses dynamically:
?- List = <your list>, list_clause(List, Clause), assertz(Clause).
First of all, you could already during the tokenization step make terms instead of lists, and even directly assert rules into the database. Let's take the "men are stupid" example.
You want to write down something like:
?- assert_rule_from_sentence("Men are stupid.").
and end up with a rule of the form stupid(men).
assert_rule_from_sentence(Sentence) :-
phrase(sentence_to_database, Sentence).
sentence_to_database -->
subject(Subject), " ",
"are", " ",
object(Object), " ",
{ Rule =.. [Object, Subject],
assertz(Rule)
}.
(let's assume you know how to write the DCGs for subject and object)
This is it! Of course, your sentence_to_database//0 will need to have more clauses, or use helper clauses and predicates, but this is at least a start.
As #mat says, it is cleaner to first tokenize and then deal with the tokenized sentence. But then, it would go something like this:
tokenize_sentence(be(Subject, Object)) -->
subject(Subject), space,
be, !,
object(Object), end.
(now you also need to probably define what a space and an end of sentence is...)
be -->
"is".
be -->
"are".
assert_tokenized(be(Subject, Object)) :-
Fact =.. [Object, Subject],
assertz(Fact).
The main reason for doing it this way is that you know during the tokenization what sort of sentence you have: subject - verb - object, or subject - modifier - object - modifier etc, and you can use this information to write your assert_tokenized/1 in a more explicit way.
Definite Clause Grammars are Prolog's go-to tool for translating from strings (such as your English sentences) to Prolog terms (such as the Prolog clauses you want to generate), or the other way around. Here are two introductions I'd recommend:
http://www.learnprolognow.org/lpnpage.php?pagetype=html&pageid=lpn-htmlse29
http://www.pathwayslms.com/swipltuts/dcg/
I am writing a little Prolog program, which is expected to do something as following:
?-input([allan,is,a,name]).
true.
?-input([Is,allan,a,name]).
true.
and here is my code:
% Simple answering agent
input(Text) :-
phrase(sentence(S), Text),
perform(S).
sentence(statement(S)) --> statement(S).
sentence(query(Q)) --> query(Q).
statement(Statement) -->
[Thing, 'is', 'a', Category],
{ Statement =.. [Category, Thing]}.
query(Query) -->
['Is', Thing, 'a', Category],
{ Query =.. [Category, Thing]}.
perform(statement(S)) :- asserta(S).
perform(query(Q)) :- Q.
the input([allan,is,a,name]). part seems working fine, but there is a trouble with the query part, for which if I type in input([Is,allan,a,name])., it prints
Is = 'Is'
Can someone please take a look at this problem for me, thank you.
Well, the problem is that Is is a variable and thus prolog instantiates it (with 'Is'). It would be good practise to ensure that all the members of the list are atoms but for a quick fix you could just do:
query(Query) -->
[_, Thing, 'a', Category],
{ Query =.. [Category, Thing]}.
this way, Is won't get instantiated and prolog will just say true. The only problem is that a statement could be interpreted as a query:
9 ?- input([allan, is, a, name]).
true ;
false.
10 ?- input([is, is, a, name]).
true .
11 ?- input([allan, is, a, name]).
true ;
true.
which can be fixed with some cuts (or be saying that Thing should be different than 'is' - if that's acceptable)
Edit: for a more general solution: it really depends on what kind of sentences you want to parse and what compromises the user can make. For example, it might be possible to ask him to give you words that are prolog atoms; if a word that starts with an upper case letter is requested he will have to use ''. Otherwise, it will be better to just give them in a string/atom ('Is allan a name' or "Is allan a name"). It's easy to separate it to individual atoms: use atomic_list_concat/3. For what is allan you still don't need to do something special; it's a 3 word sentence while the rest were 4 so you can separate it immediately.
go :- match(Mn,Fn),
write('--Matching Result--'),
nl,
write(Mn),
write(' match with '),
write(Fn),
match(Mn1,Fn1).
person(may,female,25,blue).
person(rose,female,20,blue).
person(hock,male,30,blue).
person(ali,male,24,blue).
match(Mn,Fn):-person(Fn,'female',Fage,Fatt),
person(Mn,'male',Mage,Matt),
Mage>=Fage,
Fatt=Matt.
Hi,this is my code...but it's only can show the 1 output...but there are 3 pair of matching in match(X,Y).how to show them all in my go function.
Thank you
You get all your matches if you force backtracking, usually by entering ; (e.g. in SWI Prolog). But you also see that you are getting unnecessary outputs true. This is because the last clause in go is match(Mn1,Fn1). This clause succeeds three times and binds the variables Mn1,Fn1 but then only true is output, because you do not write() after that clause. The fourth time match(Mn1,Fn1) fails and by backtracking you come back to the first clause match(Mn,Fn) that matches, the match is output, etc.
You surely do not want to have this behavior. You should remove the last clause match(Mn1,Fn1) in go. Now by pressing ; you get the 3 matches without any output true in between.
But what you likely want is that the program does the backtracking. To achieve this, you just need to force backtracking by adding false as the last clause. To get proper formatting of the output, use the following program. The last clause go2. is added to get true at the very end.
go2 :- write('--Matching Result--'), nl,
match(Mn,Fn),
write(Mn), write(' match with '), write(Fn), nl,
fail.
go2.
This technique is called failure driven loop.
If you have any predicate that has multiple results and want to to find all of them, you should use findall/3
For example, in your case, you could do something like:
findall([X,Y], match(X,Y),L).
L will be a list that will contain all the X,Y that satisfy match(X,Y) in the format [X,Y].
for example, assuming that:
match(m1,f1).
match(m2,f2).
the result will be L = [ [m1,f1], [m2,f2] ]
note that you can define the format as you wish, for example you could write:
findall(pair(X,Y), match(X,Y), L).
L = [ pair(m1,f1), pair(m2,f2) ]
findall( X, match(X,Y), L).
L = [ m1, m2]
findall( 42, match(X,Y), L).
L = [42, 42]
then you have to recurse on the list to print them.
However, if you wish to find one result, run some code and then continue you could use forall/2:
forall(match(X,Y), my_print(X,Y).
Prolog is a lazy language. Which means that it will stop once it has found a condition that made your problem true. This will be the very first match alone.
IF your code is working (I haven't tried it), then you should try and run the match-statement like this in your prolog inspector: match(X,Y)
The prolog inspector will return all states and print them for you.