lymegreen

4 > c(visualise). {ok,visualise} 5 > visualise:test1(). [start, {here,[is,{ 3.141592 , 999 },true,false],ball}, to_you] is list of length 3 list comprising of | start is an atom | {here,[is,{ 3.141592 , 999 },true,false],ball} is a tuple of size 3 | tuple comprising of | | here is an atom | | [is,{ 3.141592 , 999 },true,false] is list of length 4 | | list comprising of | | | is is an atom | | | { 3.141592 , 999 } is a tuple of size 2 | | | tuple comprising of | | | | 3.141592 (decimal)is a number and a float (approx to 6 digits) 3.14159 | | | | 999 (decimal)is a number and an integer 2 # 1111100111 , 8 # 1747 , 12 #6B3 | | | tuple end | | | true is a boolean | | | false is a boolean | | list end | | ball is an atom | tuple end | to_you is an atom list end [start, {here,[is,{ 3.141592 , 999 },true,false],ball}, to...

In my experimentation with functional languages such as Scheme and Erlang, I have found that often (especially when looking at examples) it is difficult to determine or visualise what an Erlang Term's type and structure is. The languages usually give methods to determine the type of Terms (or variables).These methods are not wholly obvious to beginners and the Terms may contain in turn other Terms nested to an arbitrary depth. What is required is a method of determining recursively all the Terms in a given Term, without great overheads, and by a means that does not change the normal operation of the function who's Terms are being visualised. The module visualise.erl is designed to meet these needs. It is used as follows: import the module into the module being examined -import(visualise,[itsa/1]). then call itsa(Term_to_be_examined) The function itsa/1 returns its argument, i.e. the above usage of itsa/1 returns the Term_to_be_examined The side-effect of the function is to out...