using "apply()" with methods that return void in specman

Question

Specman has the apply() method to perform the same action on all elements of a list:

var a: list of int;
a = somefunction.that.returns.list.of.int();
var b:= a.apply(it * 2);

Where apply() does the same as:

for each in a {
    b.add(it.*2);
};

Now, if I want to call a method on the elements of a, I can use apply() so long as the method returns a value. However, if I have:

struct bar {
    x: int;

    foo() is {
       message(LOW, "x is ", x); 
    };
};

And I try to do:

var a: list of bar;
a = somefunction.that.returns.list.of.bar();
a.apply(it.foo());

It doesn't compile, because foo() returns void. Instead, I have to use an explicit loop:

for each in a {
    it.foo();
};

Is there a method in specman similar to apply() that doesn't require a return value?

Answer 1

Hi Nathan,

I think the basic problem here is that you want to mis-use apply(). I would say this function has some functional programming background and its purpose is to do something which each item of a list and return a new list (like map in Python or Perl).

If you are interested in the side-effects of a function call, which you are if the function doesn't return a value, its more correct to use the explicit loop. See also Is there a value in using map() vs for?

This said I can't think of a different solution at the moment. Maybe wrapping foo() in a value-returning function but this definitely seems overload.