Is it possible to generate and run TemplateHaskell generated code at runtime?

Question

Is it possible to generate and run TemplateHaskell generated code at runtime?

Using C, at runtime, I can:

• create the source code of a function,
• call out to gcc to compile it to a .so (linux) (or use llvm, etc.),
• load the .so and
• call the function.

Is a similar thing possible with Template Haskell?

Pourboire

Template haskell generated code is run at runtime :P – Piet

@Piet - obviously at the generated code's runtime, but I'm specifically interesed in running the generated code at the generator's runtime – Pourboire

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible. The GHC API will compile Template Haskell. A proof-of-concept is available at https://github.com/JohnLato/meta-th, which, although not very sophisticated, shows one general technique that even provides a modicum of type safety. Template Haskell expressions are build using the Meta type, which can then be compiled and loaded into a usable function.

{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}

{-# OPTIONS_GHC -Wall #-}
module Data.Meta.Meta (
-- * Meta type
  Meta (..)

-- * Functions
, metaCompile
) where

import Language.Haskell.TH

import Data.Typeable as Typ
import Control.Exception (bracket)

import System.Plugins -- from plugins
import System.IO
import System.Directory

newtype Meta a = Meta { unMeta :: ExpQ }

-- | Super-dodgy for the moment, the Meta type should register the
-- imports it needs.
metaCompile :: forall a. Typeable a => Meta a -> IO (Either String a)
metaCompile (Meta expr) = do
  expr' <- runQ expr

  -- pretty-print the TH expression as source code to be compiled at
  -- run-time
  let interpStr = pprint expr'
      typeTypeRep = Typ.typeOf (undefined :: a)

  let opener = do
        (tfile, h) <- openTempFile "." "fooTmpFile.hs"
        hPutStr h (unlines
              [ "module TempMod where"
              , "import Prelude"
              , "import Language.Haskell.TH"
              , "import GHC.Num"
              , "import GHC.Base"
              , ""
              , "myFunc :: " ++ show typeTypeRep
              , "myFunc = " ++ interpStr] )
        hFlush h
        hClose h
        return tfile
  bracket opener removeFile $ \tfile -> do

      res <- make tfile ["-O2", "-ddump-simpl"]
      let ofile = case res of
                    MakeSuccess _ fp -> fp
                    MakeFailure errs -> error $ show errs
      print $ "loading from: " ++ show ofile
      r2 <- load (ofile) [] [] "myFunc"
      print "loaded"

      case r2 of
        LoadFailure er -> return (Left (show er))
        LoadSuccess _ (fn :: a) -> return $ Right fn

This function takes an ExpQ, and first runs it in IO to create a plain Exp. The Exp is then pretty-printed into source code, which is compiled and loaded at run-time. In practice, I've found that one of the more difficult obstacles is specifying the correct imports in the generated TH code.

Teagan

That's slightly terrifying. – Galbreath

Answer 2

From what I understand you want to create and run a code at runtime which I think you can do using GHC API but I am not very sure of the scope of what you can achieve. If you want something like hot code swapping you can look at the package hotswap.

Piet

Yes, it looks like GHC API + Hotswap may do what I'm looking for. – Pourboire