CLHS: Issue SETF-MACRO-EXPANSION Writeup

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## Issue SETF-MACRO-EXPANSION Writeup

    Issue:         SETF-MACRO-EXPANSION

    References:    DEFSETF, DEFINE-SETF-METHOD, SETF
    	       CLtL pages 97, 102, 105
                   ANSI CL spec 6-162 (Sep 89 version)

    Related issues: FUNCTION-NAME:LARGE

    Category:      CLARIFICATION

    Edit history:  29-Apr-90, Version 1 by Moon

    Problem description:

      CLtL is inconsistent because pages 102 and 105 say DEFSETF and
      DEFINE-SETF-METHOD can be used with a function or a macro, while page 97
      says that SETF expands macros before it looks for setf-methods.

      This is Symbolics issue #9.

    Proposal (SETF-MACRO-EXPANSION:LAST):

      Clarify that SETF (actually GET-SETF-METHOD-MULTIPLE-VALUE) only expands
      macros after exhausting all other possibilities other than expanding into
      a call to a function named (SETF reader).  Clarify that it expands macros
      in the style of MACROEXPAND-1 rather than MACROEXPAND (this was point 11
      of FUNCTION-NAME:LARGE and is repeated here for clarity only).

    Examples:

      (defvar *foo-trace* nil)

      (defmacro foo (x y) `(aref ,x ,y))

      (defun (setf foo) (z x y)	;wrong
        (push `(,x ,y ,z) *foo-trace*)
        (setf (aref x y) z))

      (defsetf foo (x y) (z)	;right
        `(progn
           (push `(,,x ,,y ,,z) *foo-trace*)
           (setf (aref ,x ,y) ,z)))

      (macroexpand-1 '(setf (foo array i) (val)))

      The last form should include a push onto *foo-trace*, rather than
      first macroexpanding (foo array i) into (aref array i) and then
      setf'ing that.

      The defun form has no effect because SETF expands macros before expanding
      into a call to such a function, so this function will not be used.

    Rationale:

      In the absence of this clarification, the language specification is not
      self-consistent.  The example given above will not work in implementations
      that chose to believe CLtL page 97 rather than page 102.

      The rationale for FUNCTION-NAME:LARGE point 11 suggests that we thought
      we had exchanged the two bullets on page 97, so that SETF looks for setf
      methods before it expands macros.  However there doesn't seem to be any
      cleanup issue that explicitly addresses this.

    Current practice:

      Symbolics Genera looks for setf methods before expanding macros, I didn't
      check any other implementations.

    Cost to Implementors:

      Trivial.

    Cost to Users:

      None.

    Cost of non-adoption:

      The Common Lisp language will be a joke.

    Performance impact:

      None.

    Benefits:

      Consistency.

    Esthetics:

      Consistency.

    Discussion:

      None.

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