How do I code a tree of objects in Haskell with pointers to parent and children?

Question

I\'ve got the following problem: I have a tree of objects of different classes where an action in the child class invalidates the parent. In imperative languages, it is trivial

Answer 1

Here is some zipper code that demonstrates easy modification of the data a cursor points at as well as a "global" property of the tree. We build a tree, move the cursor to the node initially containing a 1, change it to a 3, and are left with a cursor pointing at that node in a fully updated tree.

import Data.Maybe (fromJust)
import Data.Tree
import Data.Tree.Zipper

type NodeData = Either Bool Int
type TreePath a = [TreePos Full a -> TreePos Full a]

firstChild' = fromJust . firstChild
parent'     = fromJust . parent
prev'       = fromJust . prev
next'       = fromJust . next

-- Determine the path from the root of the tree to the cursor.
pathToMe :: TreePos Full NodeData -> TreePath NodeData
pathToMe t | isRoot t  = []
           | isFirst t = firstChild' : pathToMe (parent' t)
           | otherwise = next' : pathToMe (prev' t)

-- Mark a tree as invalid, but leave the cursor in the same place.
invalidate :: TreePos Full NodeData -> TreePos Full NodeData
invalidate t = foldr ($) (setLabel (Left False) (root t)) (pathToMe t)

-- Set a node's internal data.
setData :: Int -> TreePos Full NodeData -> TreePos Full NodeData
setData = (invalidate . ) . setLabel . Right

main = let tree1 = Node (Left True) [Node (Right 1) [], Node (Right 2) []]
           Just cursor = firstChild (fromTree tree1)
           tree2 = setData 3 cursor
       in do putStrLn (drawTree (fmap show tree1))
             putStrLn (drawTree (fmap show (toTree tree2)))
             putStrLn $ "Cursor at "++show (label tree2)

Output:

Left True
|
+- Right 1
|
`- Right 2

Left False
|
+- Right 3
|
`- Right 2

Cursor at Right 3