16.8.1 Example

Consider the following implementation of doubly-linked lists.

(defstruct (dll (:constructor construct-dll)

                (:print-function print-dll))

  previous-cell

  value

  next-cell)

(defun make-dll (&rest list)

  (loop with first-cell 

        for element in list

        for previous = nil then cell

        for cell = (construct-dll :previous-cell cell

                                  :value element)

        doing

        (if previous

            (setf (dll-next-cell previous) cell)

          (setq first-cell cell))

        finally

        (return first-cell)))

(defun print-dll (dll stream depth)

  (declare (ignore depth))

  (format stream "#<dll-cell ~A>" (dll-value dll)))

You can inspect a single cell by inspecting the following object:

The resulting Inspector shows three slots: dll::previous-cell with value nil , value with value "mary" and dll::next-cell with value #<dll-cell had> .

In practice, you are more likely to want to inspect the whole doubly-linked list in one window. To do this, define the following method on get-inspector-values .

(defun dll-root (object)

  (loop for try = object then next

        for next = (dll-previous-cell try)

        while next

        finally

        (return try)))

(defun dll-cell (object number)

  (loop for count to number

        for cell = object then (dll-next-cell cell)

        finally

        (return cell)))

(defmethod lw:get-inspector-values ((object dll) 

  (mode (eql 'follow-links)))

  (let ((root (dll-root object)))

     (values

       (loop for cell = root then (dll-next-cell cell)

             for count from 0

             while cell

             collecting count)

       (loop for cell = root then (dll-next-cell cell)

     while cell

             collecting (dll-value cell))

       nil

       #'(lambda (object key index new-value)

     (declare (ignore key))

     (setf (dll-value (dll-cell (dll-root object) index)) new-value))

       "FOLLOW-LINKS")))

Inspecting the same object with the new method defined displays a new tab in the Inspector "Follow Links". This shows five slots, numbered from 0 to 4 with values "mary" "had" "a" "little" and "lamb" .

The following example adds another method to get-inspector-values which inspects cells rather than their value slots. The cells are displayed in a "Fllow Cells" tab of Inspector. The setter updates the next-cell . Use this new mode to inspect the "lamb" cell - that is, double-clink on the "lamb" cell in the "Follow Cells" tab - and then set its next-cell slot to (make-dll "with" "mint" "sauce") .

(defmethod lw:get-inspector-values

 ((object dll) (mode (eql 'follow-cells)))

  (let ((root (dll-root object)))

     (values

       (loop for cell = root then (dll-next-cell cell)

             for count from 0

             while cell

             collecting count)

       (loop for cell = root then (dll-next-cell cell)

     while cell

             collecting cell)

       nil

       #'(lambda (object key index new-value)

     (declare (ignore key))

     (setf (dll-next-cell (dll-cell (dll-root object) index)) new-value))

       "FOLLOW-CELLS")))

The extended sentence can now be inspected in the follow-links mode.