update-dependent

Generic Function UPDATE-DEPENDENT

Syntax:

update-dependent metaobject dependent &rest initargs => unspecified

Arguments and values:

metaobject -- A class or generic function metaobject. It is the metaobject being reinitialized or otherwise modified.

dependent -- An object. It is the dependent being updated.

initargs -- A list of the initialization arguments for the metaobject redefinition.

unspecified -- The return value is unspecified.

Description:

This generic function is called to update a dependent of metaobject.

When a class or a generic function is reinitialized each of its dependents is updated. The initargs argument to update-dependent is the set of initialization arguments received byreinitialize-instance.

When a method is added to a generic function, each of the generic function's dependents is updated. The initargs argument is a list of two elements: the symbol add-method, and the method that was added.

When a method is removed from a generic function, each of the generic function's dependents is updated. The initargs argument is a list of two elements: the symbol remove-method, and the method that was removed.

In each case, map-dependents is used to call update-dependent on each of the dependents. So, for example, the update of a generic function's dependents when a method is added could be performed by the following code:

(map-dependents generic-function #'(lambda (dep) (update-dependent generic-function dep 'add-method new-method)))

Methods:

There are no specified methods on this generic function.

Comments and remarks:

See the ``Dependent Maintenance Protocol'' section for remarks about the use of this facility.