From: Philippe Veber <philippe.ve...@googlemail.com> > I'd like to define a type with a variable that is constrained to accept only > polymorphic variant types included in a given set of tags. That is how I > believed one should do : > > Objective Caml version 3.11.2 > > # type 'a t = 'a constraint 'a = [< `a | `b ];; > type 'a t = 'a constraint 'a = [< `a | `b ] > > But I stumbled upon the following problem, when trying to use this > definition > > > # module type S = sig > val v : 'a t > end;; > module type S = sig val v : [< `a | `b ] t end > > # module I : S = struct > let v = `a > end;; > > Error: Signature mismatch: > Modules do not match: sig val v : [> `a ] end is not included in S > Values do not match: > val v : [> `a ] > is not included in > val v : [< `a | `b ] t > > Does anyone know why the definition of module I is rejected ? And if this is > the intended behavior, why does the following work ? > > # let v : 'a t = `a > ;; > val v : [< `a | `b > `a ] t = `a
But it doesn't really work! More precisely, the type [< `a | `b > `a ] t is an instance of 'a t, not 'a t itself, an a module interface should give a type at most as general as the implementation. In your case, you should simply write type t = [`a | `b] since you don't know what v may be. Jacques Garrigue _______________________________________________ Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management: http://yquem.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/caml-list Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
