I was looking at this Q&A about using pattern test (pattern_?test
) vs pattern condition (pattern_/;cond
) and came across this example where using condition was the only possible way to restrict the function parameters (function definition added by me):
Clear[fCond]
fCond[x__ /; Plus[x] == 7] := {x}^2
fCond[1, 2, 4]
(* {1, 4, 16} *)
I know that, aside from the built-in tests in MMA (IntegerQ, NumericQ, eg), one can write custom pattern tests using pure functions [2]:
Hence, I was trying to be clever by using tests with sequence pattern (__) coupled with sequence argument for pure function (##). However, this did not work when plugging in values for the parameter/pattern.
Clear[fTest]
fTest[x__?(Plus[##] == 7 &)] := {x}^2
fTest[1, 2, 4]
(* fTest[1, 2, 4] *)
, even though the pure function test alone does work with the plugged in sequence
Plus[##] == 7 &[1, 2, 4]
(* True *)
Why doesn't pattern test work via this method? If so, is there any other way to do pattern test as opposed to pattern condition in this case?
[2]: Ruskeepaa's Mathematica Navigator 2009 p.498
Answer
My apologies to those who closed this question for my unilaterally reopening it, but there is a nontrivial aspect to this question that I wish to address, and it would not nicely fit in comments. (I am not making an exception for myself; when someone has such an answer he wishs to give to a closed question I nearly always reopen it for him to do so.)
While I stated before that: "I can think of no way to do this with PatternTest" was not speaking rigorously and generally, but rather one-to-one substitution of methods. One can apply PatternTest
to a larger expression, e.g. the entire left-hand-side, as I did for your prior question. If handling the entire LHS one must exercise care to prevent infinite recursion. Here is an example of how that may be done:
SetAttributes[sumsTo7, HoldFirst]
sumsTo7[_[s__]] := +s == 7
f[x__]?sumsTo7 := {x}
Now:
f[1, 2]
f[3, 4]
f[1, 2]
{3, 4}
It is possible to do this with an anonymous Function
as well but it becomes rather baroque:
g[x__]?(Function[Null, Plus @@ Unevaluated[#] == 7, HoldAll]) := {x}
g[1, 2, 3]
g[-3, 10]
g[1, 2, 3]
{-3, 10}
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