6.4 Imports: require

► |  | Guide: Racket

1 | Welcome to Racket
2 | Racket Essentials
3 | Built-In Datatypes
4 | Expressions and Definitions
5 | Programmer-Defined Datatypes
6 | Modules
7 | Contracts
8 | Input and Output
9 | Regular Expressions
10 | Exceptions and Control
11 | Iterations and Comprehensions
12 | Pattern Matching
13 | Classes and Objects
14 | Units (Components)
15 | Reflection and Dynamic Evaluation
16 | Macros
17 | Creating Languages
18 | Performance
19 | Running and Creating Executables
20 | Compilation and Configuration
21 | More Libraries
22 | Dialects of Racket and Scheme
| Bibliography
| Index

▼ | 6 | Modules

6.1 | Module Basics
6.2 | Module Syntax
6.3 | Module Paths
6.4 | Imports: require
6.5 | Exports: provide
6.6 | Assignment and Redefinition

top← prev up next →

#### 6.4`` Imports: require

The require form imports from another module. A require form can appear within a module, in which case it introduces bindings from the specified module into importing module. A require form can also appear at the top level, in which case it both imports bindings and instantiates the specified module; that is, it evaluates the body definitions and expressions of the specified module, if they have not been evaluated already.

A single require can specify multiple imports at once:

> ( require require-spec ...)

Specifying multiple require-specs in a single require is essentially the same as using multiple requires, each with a single require-spec. The difference is minor, and confined to the top-level: a single require can import a given identifier at most once, whereas a separate require can replace the bindings of a previous require (both only at the top level, outside of a module).

The allowed shape of a require-spec is defined recursively:

> > module-path

> > In its simplest form, a require-spec is a module-path (as defined in the previous section, Module Paths). In this case, the bindings introduced by require are determined by provide declarations within each module referenced by each module-path.

> > Examples:

> > > ( module m racket
> > ( provide color)
> > ( define color "blue"))

> > > ( module n racket
> > ( provide size)
> > ( define size 17))

> > > ( require 'm 'n)
> > > ( list color size)
> > '("blue" 17)

> > ( only-in require-spec id-maybe-renamed ...)

> > id-maybe-renamed |  | = |  | id
> > |  | | |  | [orig-id bind-id]

> > An only-in form limits the set of bindings that would be introduced by a base require-spec. Also, only-in optionally renames each binding that is preserved: in a [orig-id bind-id] form, the orig-id refers to a binding implied by require-spec, and bind-id is the name that will be bound in the importing context instead of bind-id.

> > Examples:

> > > ( module m ( lib "racket")
> > ( provide tastes-great?
> > less-filling?)
> > ( define tastes-great? #t)
> > ( define less-filling? #t))

> > > ( require ( only-in 'm tastes-great?))
> > > tastes-great?
> > #t
> > > less-filling?
> > reference to undefined identifier: less-filling?
> > > ( require ( only-in 'm [less-filling? lite?]))
> > > lite?
> > #t

> > ( except-in require-spec id ...)

> > This form is the complement of only: it excludes specific bindings from the set specified by require-spec.

> > ( rename-in require-spec [orig-id bind-id] ...)

> > This form supports renaming like only-in, but leaving alone identifiers from require-spec that are not mentioned as an orig-id.

> > ( prefix-in prefix-id require-spec)

> > This is a shorthand for renaming, where prefix-id is added to the front of each identifier specified by require-spec.

The only-in, except-in, rename-in, and prefix-in forms can be nested to implement more complex manipulations of imported bindings. For example,

( require ( prefix-in m: ( except-in 'm ghost)))

imports all bindings that m exports, except for the ghost binding, and with local names that are prefixed with m:.

Equivalently, the prefix-in could be applied before except-in, as long as the omission with except-in is specified using the m: prefix:

( require ( except-in (prefix m: 'm) m:ghost))

top← prev up next →