Dispatching Operations of Tagged Types

{AI95-00260-02} {AI95-00335-01} {AI12-0342-1} {AI12-0419-1} The primitive subprograms of a tagged type, the subprograms declared by formal_abstract_subprogram_declarations, the Put_Image attribute (see 4.10) of a specific tagged type, and the stream attributes of a specific tagged type that are available (see 13.13.2) at the end of the declaration list where the type is declared are called dispatching operations. [A dispatching operation can be called using a statically determined controlling tag, in which case the body to be executed is determined at compile time. Alternatively, the controlling tag can be dynamically determined, in which case the call dispatches to a body that is determined at run time;] such a call is termed a dispatching call. [As explained below, the properties of the operands and the context of a particular call on a dispatching operation determine how the controlling tag is determined, and hence whether or not the call is a dispatching call. Run-time polymorphism is achieved when a dispatching operation is called by a dispatching call.]

Reason: {AI95-00335-01} For the stream attributes of a type declared immediately within a package_specification that has a partial view, the declaration list to consider is the visible part of the package. Stream attributes that are not available in the same declaration list are not dispatching as there is no guarantee that descendants of the type have available attributes (there is such a guarantee for visibly available attributes). If we allowed dispatching for any available attribute, then for attributes defined in the private part we could end up executing a nonexistent body.

Language Design Principles

The controlling tag determination rules are analogous to the overload resolution rules, except they deal with run-time type identification (tags) rather than compile-time type resolution. As with overload resolution, controlling tag determination may depend on operands or result context.

Static Semantics

{AI95-00260-02} {AI95-00416-01} {AI05-0076-1} A call on a dispatching operation is a call whose name or prefix denotes the declaration of a dispatching operation. A controlling operand in a call on a dispatching operation of a tagged type T is one whose corresponding formal parameter is of type T or is of an anonymous access type with designated type T; the corresponding formal parameter is called a controlling formal parameter. If the controlling formal parameter is an access parameter, the controlling operand is the object designated by the actual parameter, rather than the actual parameter itself. If the call is to a (primitive) function with result type T (a function with a controlling result), then the call has a controlling result — the context of the call can control the dispatching. Similarly, if the call is to a function with an access result type designating T (a function with a controlling access result), then the call has a controlling access result, and the context can similarly control dispatching.

Ramification: This definition implies that a call through the dereference of an access-to-subprogram value is never considered a call on a dispatching operation. Note also that if the prefix denotes a renaming_declaration, the place where the renaming occurs determines whether it is primitive; the thing being renamed is irrelevant.

{AI12-0236-1} A name or expression of a tagged type is either statically tagged, dynamically tagged, or tag indeterminate, according to whether, when used as a controlling operand, the tag that controls dispatching is determined statically by the operand's (specific) type, dynamically by its tag at run time, or from context. A qualified_expression or parenthesized expression is statically, dynamically, or indeterminately tagged according to its operand. A conditional_expression is statically, dynamically, or indeterminately tagged according to rules given in 4.5.7. A declare_expression is statically, dynamically, or indeterminately tagged according to its body_expression. For other kinds of names and expressions, this is determined as follows:

{AI95-00416-01} The name or expression is statically tagged if it is of a specific tagged type and, if it is a call with a controlling result or controlling access result, it has at least one statically tagged controlling operand;

{AI95-00416-01} The name or expression is dynamically tagged if it is of a class-wide type, or it is a call with a controlling result or controlling access result and at least one dynamically tagged controlling operand;

{8652/0010} {AI95-00127-01} [A type_conversion is statically or dynamically tagged according to whether the type determined by the subtype_mark is specific or class-wide, respectively.] For an object that is designated by an expression whose expected type is an anonymous access-to-specific tagged type, the object is dynamically tagged if the expression, ignoring enclosing parentheses, is of the form X'Access, where X is of a class-wide type, or is of the form new T'(...), where T denotes a class-wide subtype. Otherwise, the object is statically or dynamically tagged according to whether the designated type of the type of the expression is specific or class-wide, respectively.

Legality Rules

A call on a dispatching operation shall not have both dynamically tagged and statically tagged controlling operands.

{8652/0010} {AI95-00127-01} If the expected type for an expression or name is some specific tagged type, then the expression or name shall not be dynamically tagged unless it is a controlling operand in a call on a dispatching operation. Similarly, if the expected type for an expression is an anonymous access-to-specific tagged type, then the object designated by the expression shall not be dynamically tagged unless it is a controlling operand in a call on a dispatching operation.

Ramification: {AI95-00252-01} {AI12-0039-1} This rule applies to all expressions or names with a specific expected type, not just those that are actual parameters to a dispatching call. This rule does not apply to a membership test whose tested_simple_expression is class-wide, since any type that covers the tested type is explicitly allowed. See 4.5.2. This rule also doesn't apply to a selected_component whose selector_name is a subprogram, since the rules explicitly say that the prefix may be class-wide (see 4.1.3).

{8652/0011} {AI95-00117-01} {AI95-00430-01} In the declaration of a dispatching operation of a tagged type, everywhere a subtype of the tagged type appears as a subtype of the profile (see 6.1), it shall statically match the first subtype of the tagged type. If the dispatching operation overrides an inherited subprogram, it shall be subtype conformant with the inherited subprogram. The convention of an inherited dispatching operation is the convention of the corresponding primitive operation of the parent or progenitor type. The default convention of a dispatching operation that overrides an inherited primitive operation is the convention of the inherited operation; if the operation overrides multiple inherited operations, then they shall all have the same convention. An explicitly declared dispatching operation shall not be of convention Intrinsic.

Reason: These rules ensure that constraint checks can be performed by the caller in a dispatching call, and parameter passing conventions match up properly. A special rule on aggregates prevents values of a tagged type from being created that are outside of its first subtype.

{AI95-00416-01} The default_expression for a controlling formal parameter of a dispatching operation shall be tag indeterminate.

Reason: {AI95-00416-01} This rule ensures that the default_expression always produces the "correct" tag when called with or without dispatching, or when inherited by a descendant. If it were statically tagged, the default would be useless for a dispatching call; if it were dynamically tagged, the default would be useless for a nondispatching call.

{AI95-00404-01} If a dispatching operation is defined by a subprogram_renaming_declaration or the instantiation of a generic subprogram, any access parameter of the renamed subprogram or the generic subprogram that corresponds to a controlling access parameter of the dispatching operation, shall have a subtype that excludes null.

A given subprogram shall not be a dispatching operation of two or more distinct tagged types.

Ramification: {8652/0098} {AI95-00183-01} This restriction applies even if the partial view (see 7.3) of one or both of the types is untagged. This follows from the definition of dispatching operation: the operation is a dispatching operation anywhere the full views of the (tagged) types are visible.

The explicit declaration of a primitive subprogram of a tagged type shall occur before the type is frozen (see 13.14). [For example, new dispatching operations cannot be added after objects or values of the type exist, nor after deriving a record extension from it, nor after a body.]

Reason: {AI95-00344-01} This rule is needed because (1) we don't want people dispatching to things that haven't been declared yet, and (2) we want to allow the static part of tagged type descriptors to be static (allocated statically, and initialized to link-time-known symbols). Suppose T2 inherits primitive P from T1, and then overrides P. Suppose P is called before the declaration of the overriding P. What should it dispatch to? If the answer is the new P, we've violated the first principle above. If the answer is the old P, we've violated the second principle. (A call to the new one necessarily raises Program_Error, but that's beside the point.)

We considered applying this rule to all derived types, for uniformity. However, that would be upward incompatible, so we rejected the idea. As in Ada 83, for an untagged type, the above call upon P will call the old P (which is arguably confusing).

Implementation Note: {AI95-00326-01} Because of this rule, the type descriptor can be created (presumably containing linker symbols pointing at the not-yet-compiled bodies) at the first freezing point of the type. It also prevents, for a (nonincomplete) tagged type declared in a package_specification, overriding in the body or by a child subprogram.

Ramification: {AI95-00251-01} A consequence is that for a tagged type declaration in a declarative_part, only the last (overriding) primitive subprogram can be declared by a subprogram_body. (Other overridings must be provided by subprogram_declarations.)

To be honest: {AI05-0222-1} This rule applies only to "original" declarations and not to the completion of a primitive subprogram, even though a completion is technically an explicit declaration, and it may declare a primitive subprogram.

Dynamic Semantics

For the execution of a call on a dispatching operation of a type T, the controlling tag value determines which subprogram body is executed. The controlling tag value is defined as follows:

If one or more controlling operands are dynamically tagged, then the controlling tag value is not statically determined, but is rather determined by the tags of the controlling operands. If there is more than one dynamically tagged controlling operand, a check is made that they all have the same tag. If this check fails, Constraint_Error is raised unless the call is a function_call whose name denotes the declaration of an equality operator (predefined or user defined) that returns Boolean, in which case the result of the call is defined to indicate inequality, and no subprogram_body is executed. This check is performed prior to evaluating any tag-indeterminate controlling operands.

Reason: Tag mismatch is considered an error (except for "=" and "/=") since the corresponding primitive subprograms in each specific type expect all controlling operands to be of the same type. For tag mismatch with an equality operator, rather than raising an exception, "=" returns False and "/=" returns True. No equality operator is actually invoked, since there is no common tag value to control the dispatch. Equality is a special case to be consistent with the existing Ada 83 principle that equality comparisons, even between objects with different constraints, never raise Constraint_Error.

{AI95-00239-01} {AI95-00416-01} If the call has a controlling result or controlling access result and is itself, or designates, a (possibly parenthesized or qualified) controlling operand of an enclosing call on a dispatching operation of a descendant of type T, then its controlling tag value is determined by the controlling tag value of this enclosing call;

Discussion: {AI95-00239-01} For code that a user can write explicitly, the only contexts that can control dispatching of a function with a controlling result of type T are those that involve controlling operands of the same type T: if the two types differ there is an illegality and the dynamic semantics are irrelevant.

In the case of an inherited subprogram however, if a default expression is a function call, it may be of type T while the parameter is of a type derived from T. To cover this case, we talk about "a descendant of T" above. This is safe, because if the type of the parameter is descended from the type of the function result, it is guaranteed to inherit or override the function, and this ensures that there will be an appropriate body to dispatch to. Note that abstract functions are not an issue here because the call to the function is a dispatching call, so it is guaranteed to always land on a concrete body.

{AI95-00196-01} {AI95-00416-01} If the call has a controlling result or controlling access result and (possibly parenthesized, qualified, or dereferenced) is the expression of an assignment_statement whose target is of a class-wide type, then its controlling tag value is determined by the target;

{AI95-00345-01} {AI05-0126-1} For the execution of a call on a dispatching operation, the action performed is determined by the properties of the corresponding dispatching operation of the specific type identified by the controlling tag value:

{AI95-00345-01} {AI05-0126-1} if the corresponding operation is implicitly declared for this type and is implemented by an entry or protected subprogram (see 9.1 and 9.4), then the action comprises a call on this entry or protected subprogram, with the target object being given by the first actual parameter of the call, and the actual parameters of the entry or protected subprogram being given by the remaining actual parameters of the call, if any;

{AI95-00345-01} {AI05-0126-1} {AI05-0197-1} {AI05-0250-1} {AI05-0254-1} otherwise, the action is the same as the action for the corresponding operation of the parent type or progenitor type from which the operation was inherited except that additional invariant checks (see 7.3.2) and class-wide postcondition checks (see 6.1.1) may apply. If there is more than one such corresponding operation, the action is that for the operation that is not a null procedure, if any; otherwise, the action is that of an arbitrary one of the operations.

Ramification: {AI05-0005-1} {AI05-0126-1} “Corresponding dispatching operation” refers to the inheritance relationship between subprograms. Primitive operations are always inherited for a type T, but they might not be declared if the primitive operation is never visible within the immediate scope of the type T. If no corresponding operation is declared, the last bullet is used and the corresponding operation of the parent type is executed (an explicit body that happens to have the same name and profile is not called in that case).

{AI05-0005-1} {AI05-0126-1} We have to talk about progenitors in the last bullet in case the corresponding operation is a null procedure inherited from an interface. In that case, the parent type might not even have the operation in question.

{AI05-0197-1} For the last bullet, if there are multiple corresponding operations for the parent and progenitors, all but one of them have to be a null procedure. (If the progenitors declared abstract routines, there would have to be an explicit overriding of the operation, and then the first bullet would apply.) We call the nonnull routine if one exists.

{AI05-0126-1} Any explicit declaration for an inherited corresponding operation has to be an overriding routine. These rules mean that a dispatching call executes the overriding routine (if any) for the specific type.

Reason: {AI05-0005-1} The wording of the above rules is intended to ensure that the same body is executed for a given tag, whether that tag is determined statically or dynamically. For a type declared in a package, it doesn't matter whether a given subprogram is overridden in the visible part or the private part, and it doesn't matter whether the call is inside or outside the package. For example:

with P1; with P2;
procedure Main is
    X : P2.T2;
    Y : P1.T1'Class := X;
begin
    P2.Op_A(Param => X); -- Nondispatching call to a dispatching operation.
    P1.Op_A(Arg => Y); -- Dispatching call.
    P2.Op_B(Arg => X); -- Nondispatching call to a dispatching operation.
    P1.Op_B(Arg => Y); -- Dispatching call.
end Main;

The two calls to Op_A both execute the body of Op_A that has to occur in the body of package P2. Similarly, the two calls to Op_B both execute the body of Op_B that has to occur in the body of package P2, even though Op_B is overridden in the private part of P2. Note, however, that the formal parameter names are different for P2.Op_A versus P2.Op_B. The overriding declaration for P2.Op_B is not visible in Main, so the name in the call actually denotes the implicit declaration of Op_B inherited from T1.

NOTE 1 The body to be executed for a call on a dispatching operation is determined by the tag; it does not matter whether that tag is determined statically or dynamically, and it does not matter whether the subprogram's declaration is visible at the place of the call.

NOTE 2 {AI95-00260-02} This subclause covers calls on dispatching subprograms of a tagged type. Rules for tagged type membership tests are described in 4.5.2. Controlling tag determination for an assignment_statement is described in 5.2.

NOTE 4 A call through an access-to-subprogram value is never a dispatching call, even if the access value designates a dispatching operation. Similarly a call whose prefix denotes a subprogram_renaming_declaration cannot be a dispatching call unless the renaming itself is the declaration of a primitive subprogram.

Extensions to Ada 83

Incompatibilities With Ada 95

{AI95-00404-01} If a dispatching operation is defined by a subprogram_renaming_declaration, and it has a controlling access parameter, Ada 2005 requires the subtype of the parameter to exclude null. The same applies to instantiations. This is required so that all calls to the subprogram operate the same way (controlling access parameters have to exclude null so that dispatching calls will work). Since Ada 95 didn't have the notion of access subtypes that exclude null, and all access parameters excluded null, it had no such rules. These rules will require the addition of an explicit not null on nondispatching operations that are later renamed to be dispatching, or on a generic that is used to define a dispatching operation.

Extensions to Ada 95

Wording Changes from Ada 95

{8652/0010} {AI95-00127-01} {AI05-0299-1} Corrigendum: Allocators and access attributes of objects of class-wide types can be used as the controlling parameter in a dispatching calls. This was an oversight in the definition of Ada 95. (See 3.10.2 and 4.8).

{8652/0011} {AI95-00117-01} {AI95-00430-01} Corrigendum: Corrected the conventions of dispatching operations. This is extended in Ada 2005 to cover operations inherited from progenitors, and to ensure that the conventions of all inherited operations are the same.

{AI95-00239-01} Fixed the wording to cover default expressions inherited by derived subprograms. A literal reading of the old wording would have implied that operations would be called with objects of the wrong type.

Wording Changes from Ada 2005

Wording Changes from Ada 2012

{AI12-0236-1} Added a special rule for taggedness of declare_expressions, and added a pointer to the existing special rules for conditional_expressions, as the list of exceptions to the usual rules appear to be exhaustive.

3.9.2 Dispatching Operations of Tagged Types