Hi,<div><br></div><div>Often I'd like to make a wrapper for a given function that has default values (possibly with keywords).</div><div>So if I want my function to have the same default values for one particular optional argument, I need to redefine it myself.</div>
<div><br></div><div>For example, suppose there already exists a function foo like this:</div><div><br></div><div>(define (foo arg1 [arg2 <some-complicated-default-value>])</div><div> ....)</div><div><br></div><div>
And I want to make a wrapper for foo on arg1, but keep foo's arg2 default value:</div><div><br></div><div>(define (bar [arg2 <the-same-complicated-default-value>])</div><div> (foo 5 arg2))</div><div><br></div>
<div>
But I don't feel right when I need to redefine the default argument, for a few reasons:</div><div>- I feel bar should not need to know foo's arg2 default value.</div><div>- if arg2 has a complicated default argument, it is "painful" and error-prone to rewrite it (and if the docs for the default value for arg2 are simplified, it may be problematic),</div>
<div>- if the specification of foo's arg2 changes, I need to change bar too (though sometimes bar's arg2 needs not reflect the change, but often it does),</div><div><br></div><div>I would prefer something like:</div>
<div><br></div><div>(define (bar [arg2 (get-default-value foo arg2)])</div><div> (foo 5 arg2))</div><div><br></div><div>which is transparent w.r.t. foo.</div><div><br></div><div>Does this feature exist, or does it even have a name? Or can it be easily implemented (maybe keywords could help)?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div>Laurent</div>