Constraining an operation by matching a type parameter to an argument's path-dependent type

Question

I would like to exploit Scala\'s type system to constrain operations in a system where there are versioned references to some values. This is all happening in some transacti

Answer 1

FYI, and to close the question, here is another idea that I like because the client code is fairly clutter free:

trait System[A <: Access[_]] {
  def in[T](v: Version)(fun: A => T): T
}

trait Access[Repr] {
  def version: Version
  def meld[R[_]](v: Version)(fun: Repr => Ref[_, R]): R[this.type]
}

trait Version

trait Ref[A, Repr[_]] {
  def sub[B](b: B): Repr[B]
}

object MyRef {
  def apply[A <: MyAccess](implicit a: A): MyRef[A] = new Impl[A](a)

  private class Impl[A](a: A) extends MyRef[A] {
    def sub[B](b: B) = new Impl[B](b)
    def schnuppi(implicit ev: A <:< MyAccess) = a.gagaism
  }
}
trait MyRef[A] extends Ref[A, MyRef] {
  // this is how we get MyAccess specific functionality
  // in here without getting trapped in more type parameters
  // in all the traits
  def schnuppi(implicit ev: A <:< MyAccess): Int
}

trait MyAccess extends Access[MyAccess] {
  var head: MyRef[this.type]
  var tail: MyRef[this.type]
  def gagaism: Int
}

def test(sys: System[MyAccess], v0: Version, v1: Version): Unit = {
  val v2 = sys.in(v0) { a => a.tail = a.meld(v1)(_.head); a.version }
  val a3 = sys.in(v2) { a => a }
  val (v4, a4) = sys.in(v1) { a =>
    a.head = a.head
    println(a.head.schnuppi) // yes!
    (a.version, a)
  }
  // a3.head = a4.head // forbidden
}