Bramer M. Logic Programming with Prolog
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Changing the Prolog Database 111
The clause used for the first argument should be written without a terminating
full stop. Rules must be enclosed in an additional pair of parentheses, e.g.
?-asserta(dog(fido)).
?-asserta((go:-write('hello world'),nl)).
8.3 Deleting Clauses
Two main predicates are available for deleting clauses from the database.
retract(Clause)
The predicate retract/1 takes a single argument, which must be a clause, i.e. a fact
or a rule. It causes the first clause in the database that matches (i.e. unifies with)
Clause to be deleted.
If the following clauses are in the database
dog(jim).
dog(fido).
dog(X).
the query
?-retract(dog(fido)).
will delete the second clause and the further query
?-retract(dog(X)).
will delete the dog(jim) clause, which is the first one of the remaining two clauses
to unify with the query.
This will leave the dog(X) clause in the database. Although unusual, this is a
valid Prolog fact which signifies 'everything is a dog'.
retractall(Head)
The predicate retractall/1 takes a single argument which must be the head of a
clause. It causes every clause in the database whose head matches Head to be
deleted. The retractall goal always succeeds even if no clauses are deleted.
Some examples are:
?-retractall(mypred(_,_,_)).
which deletes all the clauses for the mypred/3 predicate, and
112 Logic Programming With Prolog
?-retractall(parent(john,Y)).
which deletes all clauses for the parent/2 predicate which have the atom john as
their first argument.
Note that the directive
?-retractall(mypred).
only removes the clauses for predicate mypred/0. To delete all the clauses for
predicate mypred/3 it is necessary to use
?-retractall(mypred(_,_,_)).
with three anonymous variables.
8.4 Changing the Database: Example
The following example, which comprises a series of goals entered at the system
prompt, illustrates the use of the assertz, asserta, retract and retractall predicates
for changing the database.
?- listing(mypred).
yes
Initially there is no predicate mypred in
the database
?- assertz(mypred(first)).
yes
?- assertz(mypred(second)).
yes
?- assertz(mypred(third)).
yes
?- assertz(mypred(fourth)).
yes
Four mypred clauses are added to the
database
?- listing(mypred).
/* mypred/1 */
mypred( first ).
mypred( second ).
mypred( third ).
mypred( fourth ).
yes
The four mypred clauses are now in the
database
?- asserta(mypred(new1)).
yes
A new mypred clause is added to the
database, using the asserta predicate
Changing the Prolog Database 113
?- listing(mypred).
/* mypred/1 */
mypred( new1 ).
mypred( first ).
mypred( second ).
mypred( third ).
mypred( fourth ).
yes
This shows that asserta places the new
clause above the other mypred clauses in
the database
?- assertz(mypred(new2)).
yes
A further mypred clause is added to the
database using the assertz predicate
?- listing(mypred).
/* mypred/1 */
mypred( new1 ).
mypred( first ).
mypred( second ).
mypred( third ).
mypred( fourth ).
mypred( new2 ).
yes
This shows that assertz places the new
clause below the other mypred clauses in
the database
?- mypred(X).
X = new1 ;
X = first ;
X = second ;
X = third ;
X = fourth ;
X = new2
This shows that retrieving mypred
clauses from the database will give the
first one listed by the listing predicate
Subsequent backtracking will obtain the
remaining clauses in top to bottom order
?- retract(mypred(first)).
yes
One of the mypred clauses is removed
from the database using the retract
predicate
?- listing(mypred).
/* mypred/1 */
mypred( new1 ).
mypred( second ).
mypred( third ).
mypred( fourth ).
mypred( new2 ).
yes
This shows that it has successfully been
removed
114 Logic Programming With Prolog
?- retractall(mypred).
yes
This is an attempt to remove all the
mypred clauses from the database, but is
incorrect
?- listing(mypred).
/* mypred/1 */
mypred( new1 ).
mypred( second ).
mypred( third ).
mypred( fourth ).
mypred( new2 ).
This shows that the database is unaltered
?- retractall(mypred(_)).
yes
This is the correct way to remove all
mypred clauses with one argument from
the database
?- listing(mypred).
yes
This shows that all the mypred clauses
have now been removed
8.5 Maintaining a Database of Facts
The predicates assertz, retract etc. can be used to create and maintain a database
of related facts within the full Prolog database of facts and rules.
Creating a Database
Assume file people.txt contains the six lines
john. smith. 45. london. doctor.
martin. williams. 33. birmingham. teacher.
henry. smith. 26. manchester. plumber.
jane. wilson. 62. london. teacher.
mary. smith. 29. glasgow. surveyor.
end.
Predicate setup defined below will cause the file to be read and five clauses
such as
person(john,smith,45,london,doctor).
to be added to the Prolog database. The effect is the same as if the five clauses had
been included in the original program.
Changing the Prolog Database 115
setup:-seeing(S),see('people.txt'),
read_data,
write('Data read'),nl,
seen,see(S).
read_data:-
read(A),process(A).
process(end).
process(A):-
read(B),read(C),read(D),read(E),
assertz(person(A,B,C,D,E)),read_data.
?- setup.
Data read
yes
The listing predicate can be used to show all the clauses defining the person
predicate.
?- listing(person).
/* person/5 */
person( john, smith, 45, london, doctor ).
person( martin, williams, 33, birmingham, teacher ).
person( henry, smith, 26, manchester, plumber ).
person( jane, wilson, 62, london, teacher ).
person( mary, smith, 29, glasgow, surveyor ).
yes
Removing a Clause
Predicate remove will delete a single clause from the database.
remove(Forename,Surname):-
retract(person(Forename,Surname,_,_,_)).
?- remove(henry,smith).
yes
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?- listing(person).
/* person/5 */
person( john, smith, 45, london, doctor ).
person( martin, williams, 33, birmingham, teacher ).
person( jane, wilson, 62, london, teacher ).
person( mary, smith, 29, glasgow, surveyor ).
yes
Changing a Clause
Predicate change will change a clause by retracting the old version and asserting a
new one.
change(Forename,Surname,New_Profession):-
person(Forename,Surname,Age,City,Profession),
retract(person(Forename,Surname,Age,City,Profession)),
assertz(person(Forename,Surname,Age,City,New_Profession)).
?- change(jane,wilson,architect).
yes
?- listing(person).
/* person/5 */
person( john, smith, 45, london, doctor ).
person( martin, williams, 33, birmingham, teacher ).
person( mary, smith, 29, glasgow, surveyor ).
person( jane, wilson, 62, london, architect ).
yes
Outputting the Database to a File
Predicate output_data will write out the person clauses to a new file in the same
format as the original file.
output_data:-
telling(T),tell('people2.txt'),
write_data,told,tell(T),
write('Data written'),nl.
Changing the Prolog Database 117
write_data:-person(A,B,C,D,E),
write(A),write('. '),
write(B),write('. '),
write(C),write('. '),
write(D),write('. '),
write(E),write('.'),nl,
fail.
write_data:-write('end.'),nl.
?- output_data.
Data written
yes
creates file people2.txt
john. smith. 45. london. doctor.
martin. williams. 33. birmingham. teacher.
mary. smith. 29. glasgow. surveyor.
jane. wilson. 62. london. architect.
end.
Chapter Summary
This chapter describes the built-in predicates for adding clauses to or deleting
clauses from the Prolog database and shows how to use them to create and
maintain a database of related facts within the overall Prolog database.
118 Logic Programming With Prolog
Practical Exercise 8
(1) Define and test a predicate add_data which reads a series of names of animals
(e.g. cat, dog, mouse) entered by the user, terminated by end. It should add a
corresponding series of facts, e.g. animal(dog) to the Prolog database, ignoring
any names that have already been entered.
(2) Define and test a predicate display_animals which lists the names of all the
animals in the database, one per line.
(3) Define and test a predicate remove2 which removes any clauses corresponding
to either a dog or a cat from the database, if they are present, and otherwise has no
effect.
9
List Processing
Chapter Aims
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
• Represent data in the form of lists
• Use built-in predicates to manipulate lists
• Define predicates to work through a list element by element from left to
right using recursion.
9.1 Representing Data as Lists
Prolog's compound terms give a flexible way of representing data, especially as the
arguments may be other terms of any complexity. For example, the following is a
valid term: mypred(a,-6.3,pred2(p,pred3(3,q,aaa),r)).
However, in common with most other programming languages, compound
terms suffer from the limitation that each predicate must have a fixed number of
arguments. It is possible to use mypred sometimes with three arguments and
sometimes with four, say, but Prolog regards these as two entirely different
predicates.
To overcome this limitation, Prolog provides a very flexible type of data object
called a list. A list is written as a sequence of values, known as list elements,
separated by commas and enclosed in square brackets, e.g. [dog,cat,fish,man].
A list element does not have to be an atom. It can be any Prolog term, including
a bound or unbound variable or another list, so [X,Y,mypred(a,b,c),[p,q,r],z] is a
valid list. A list element that is itself a list is known as a sublist.
Lists can have any number of elements, including zero. The list with no
elements is known as the empty list and is written as [].
120 Logic Programming With Prolog
For non-empty lists, the first element is known as the head. The list remaining
after the first element is removed is called the tail. For example, the head of the list
[dog,cat,fish,man] is the atom dog and the tail is the list [cat,fish,man].
The head of list [x,y,mypred(a,b,c),[p,q,r],z] is the atom x. The tail is the list
[y,mypred(a,b,c),[p,q,r],z].
Some further examples of lists are:
[john,mary,10,robert,20,jane,X,bill]
[[john,28],[mary,56,teacher],robert,parent(victoria,albert),[a,b,[c,d,e],f],28]
[[portsmouth,london,glasgow],[portsmouth,london,edinburgh],[glasgow]]
9.2 Notation for Lists
Up to now lists have been written as a sequence of list elements written in order,
separated by commas and enclosed in square brackets. We will call this 'standard
bracketed notation'.
Lists are generally, although not always, written in this notation in queries
entered by the user at the system prompt, for example
?- X=alpha,Y=27,Z=[alpha,beta],write('List is: '),write([X,Y,Z]),nl.
List is: [alpha,27,[alpha,beta]]
However (with the exception of the empty list) lists are seldom written in this
way in a Prolog program. The explanation for this is that lists are most useful (and
generally only used) when the programmer does not know in advance how many
elements they will contain. If we know that a list will always contain three
elements, say a person's forename, surname and nationality, it would generally be
better to use a compound term with three arguments, such as person(john, smith,
british).
Lists are most valuable when the number of elements needed cannot be known
in advance and would probably vary from one use of the program to another. For
example, we might want to define a predicate that reads in information about an
organisation's purchases in a given financial year and writes out a list of all the
items of computer hardware or software purchased in the months from March to
June inclusive that cost more than a certain amount. In this case we would certainly
not wish to build in any assumption that the list will always have fifteen or any
other fixed number of elements. It might potentially be any number, from zero
upwards.
We need an alternative way of representing a list in a Prolog clause that does
not make any commitment to the number of elements it will have when the clause
is used. This is provided by the 'cons' (standing for list constructor) notation.
In this notation a list is written in a more complicated form than before, with
two parts joined together by the vertical bar character | which is known as the cons