I have, for a change, a relatively simple problem with type classes. Can
somebody explain to me, or point me to an explanation of the behaviour I see?
Here is a short and useless example:
{-# LANGUAGE MultiParamTypeClasses, FlexibleInstances #-}
import Data.Maybe
class Container x y where
wrapper :: x -> Bool
unwrap :: x -> y
rewrap :: y -> x
liftWrap :: Container x y => (y -> y) -> (x -> x)
liftWrap f x = (if wrapper x then rewrap . f . unwrap else id) x
instance Container (Maybe x) x where
wrapper = isJust
unwrap = fromJust
rewrap = Just
main = print (liftWrap (succ :: Int -> Int) (Just 1 :: Maybe Int))
GHC 6.10.1 refuses to typecheck the 'wrapper' function in definition of
'liftWrap', with the following error message:
Could not deduce (Container x y) from the context (Container x y1)
arising from a use of `wrapper' at Test.hs:11:22-30
Possible fix:
add (Container x y) to the context of
the type signature for `liftWrap'
In the expression: wrapper x
In the expression:
(if wrapper x then rewrap . f . unwrap else id) x
In the definition of `liftWrap':
liftWrap f x = (if wrapper x then rewrap . f . unwrap else id) x
Let me clarify that I'm aware that in this particular example a functional
dependecy should be used. Also, I can think of a few workarounds for my actual
problem, so I'm not asking for any solutions. I'm looking for an explanation.
It bugs me that my intuition of how this type class should have worked is
completely wrong. The error message does not help, to put it mildly. Where
should I go, what should I read?
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