What kind of types can be sent on an Erlang message?

Question

Mainly I want to know if I can send a function in a message in a distributed Erlang setup.

On Machine 1:

F1 = Fun(         


        

Answer 1

As for anonymous functions, it seems they can be sent and work as expected.

t1@localhost:

(t1@localhost)7> register(shell, self()).
true
(t1@localhost)10> A = me, receive Fun when is_function(Fun) -> Fun(A) end.
hello me you
ok

t2@localhost:

(t2@localhost)11> B = you.
you
(t2@localhost)12> Fn2 = fun (A) -> io:format("hello ~p ~p~n", [A, B]) end.
#Fun
(t2@localhost)13> {shell, 't1@localhost'} ! Fn2.

I am adding coverage logic to an app built on riak-core, and the merge of results gathered can be tricky if anonymous functions cannot be used in messages.

Also check out riak_kv/src/riak_kv_coverage_filter.erl

riak_kv might be using it to filter result, I guess.